Title: GADSDEN PURCHASE Of 1853 Changed The Old West
Headings: The Gadsden Purchase Of 1853
The Gadsden Purchase Of 1853
The Gadsden Purchase Had A Dramatic Effect On The Southwestern United States
History
Railroads Moving West
The Deal With Mexico
The Outcome
Conclusion

Content: The Deal With Mexico
With friends in high places inside the Government, Gadsden was able to receive an appointment as the U. S. Minister to Mexico by President Pierce. He was given instructions, by way of his design, to acquire enough land to build a railroad to the Gulf of California. The plot was immediately put into action. The territory to be acquired was basically a no man’s land in northern Mexico. In the mid 1800’s the area was hardly settled and experiencing frequent Indian raids. Earlier in the history between the Federal Government and Mexico at the time, was the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed February 2, 1848. This treaty had put closure to the Mexican war and ended Mexico’s claim to compelled to abandon its claim to Texas and the territory that would become New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. Now, after the war and subsequent transfer of territory to the Federal Government, Mexico was in need of money. Gadsden ceased the opportunity. In 1852 Gadsden agreed to pay Santa Anna, the Dictator of Mexico, $10,000,000 for a strip of territory south of the Gila River.