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The Mexican - American War

Page history last edited by Robert W. Maloy 2 years, 1 month ago

Link here for an expanded view of the Mexican War Overview Map

 

 

The Mexican American War in a Nutshell, National Constitution Center 

 

  • Set a border between Texas and Mexico and ceded 
    • California,
    • Nevada,
    • Utah,
    • New Mexico,
    • Most of Arizona and Colorado, and
    • Parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming to the United States.

 

  • Cut the territorial size of Mexico in half.

 

  • Acquisition of so much territory with the issue of slavery unresolved lit the fuse that eventually set off the Civil War in 1861.

 

  • The underlying issue was how adding new states and territories would alter the balance between free and slave states was critical.

 

 

The Mexican War was ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago, and was organized by General Winfeld Scott, and Nicholas Trist, who served as President Polk's representative diplomat.

 

  • More resource material can be found here.


Two previous peace treaties had been attempted and had failed and so now, Scott and Trist planned to treat Mexico as a conquered enemy.

 

  • Trist believed that only complete surrender, including surrender of territory would be sufficient to end the fighting and began to draw up the treaty. Polk, wanting to be more diplomatic and believing that the delegations could be carried out in Washington, recalled Trist.
    • Briefly, Trist became a controversial figure, because he ignored the recall and opted instead to stay and force negotiations in Mexico.

 

  • This resulted in Mexico ceding to the United States much more territory (also known as the Mexican Cession) than Polk originally anticipated, including:
    • Upper California
    • New Mexico (territory encompassing present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado)
    • and Texas, with the Rio Grande as the southern border of the United States

 

  • Trist sent the treaty directly to Congress to be ratified (and they did), forcing Polk to accept his handiwork.


Photographs of the original document can be found here, as well as more information on the document here.

 

  • The National Archives has provided a wealth of other links to resources regarding the Mexican War 

 

  • Click here to view President Polk's message to Congress on War with Mexico in 1946.

 

 

 

  • Jefferson Davis was a Mexican War hero and served in the House of Representatives and the Senate, but he is nest known as the president of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

 

    • The Papers of Jefferson Davis is a documentary editing project started at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The site contains Davis's letters, speeches, genealogy, and numerous images.

 

  • Link here for a collection of primary sources from the Mexican-American War.

 

 

 

 Women in the U.S. Mexican War

 

Learning Activities


Click here for a lesson plan on the Mexican-American War

 

 

 

 Multimedia Sources

 

  • National Park Service has put together an article showcasing both US and Mexican women's efforts during the war. Click here to view it and read more.

 

A short informational video, lots of games, and even a few easy quizzes on The Mexican-American War can be found here, part of the BrainPop series, easily accessible for younger kids.

 

 

 

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