After the Mexican-American war of 1846, why didn't the U.S. absorb Mexico as new American territory? With Manifest Destiny being so prevalent in this century, wasn't this a great opportunity for the U.S. to get a massive piece of land after their victory?

by lolcubsfans
hatari_bwana

There's an old response that may interest you - Why didn't the US expand further south into Mexican territory?, with an answer from me that I wouldn't post today due to lack of sources and depth (but did lead to good discussion) and a very good one from /u/Irishfafnir.

AncientHistory

Hey there,

Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.

If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!