Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - Period 1 - Gabriel X. Szantai

The United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848 just north of Mexico City. The treaty brought an end to the war between America and Mexico that began in order to secure the territory of Texas from Mexico. The two year war initially began when America decided to annex Texas, and add it to the union. Mexico on the other hand stated that Texas was a territory of Mexico and would be retrieved. Texans stated that their border was located on the Rio Grande River, but this was not recognized by Mexico. Instead they said that the Rio Nueces river is in fact the border of the territory. War broke out between the two nations and Mexico found itself on the losing side. After the capital city of Mexico fell to the American’s, Mexico surrendered and entered talks for a peaceful settlement with the United States. Nicholas P. Trist was sent out by President James Polk in order to conduct the treaty negotiations with the Mexicans. Nicholas P. Trist was serving as the chief of the state department when he carried out the negations of the treaty. Trist wrote up a treaty that would break Texas off from all ties to Mexico and add it into the union. In addition, it stated that the border of Texas would be indeed located on the Rio Grande river. The treaty also forced Mexico to give many of it’s territories to they United States. The total amount of these territories that were to be given up amounted to over 50% of Mexico’s North American land. The lands that were given to the united States includes New Mexico, California, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. In exchange for all this land, the United States paid Mexico fifteen million dollars in “damages”. These “damages” were for damage to property that happened during the fighting. Before Trist could have the Mexican’s sign the treaty however, he was actually  recalled to America. This was because Polk believed that now that the war was over, the negations would happen by way of a Mexican ambassador who would arrive at Washington. Polk was unaware however that discussions of Mexico’s surrender were already underway. By the time Trist received the recall notifications, the talks were to far into the process for Trist to abandon his job. He continued to remain in Mexico and eventually had his treaty signed by Mexico. When he retured to the united States, Trist was not treated as a hero by Polk and the American people. Trist was fired by Polk for not obeying his orders to return to America and he was not paid for the work he did in Mexico. While Trist’s treaty added a lot of new land to the United States, it also created problems by inflaming old wounds. The old debate of slave-states and free-states raged again over the new territory. Trist’s treaty also helped settle California with American’s who were in possession of it during the gold rush.

  

Works Cited

1836, February. "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Hispanic Reading Room, Hispanic Division)." Library of Congress Home. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. <http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/ghtreaty/>.

DelCastillo, Richard G. "The U.S.-Mexican War . War (1846-1848) . Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. PBS. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/war/wars_end_guadalupe.html>.

Gray, Tom. "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo." National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. <http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/guadalupe-hidalgo/>.