Title: 
Headings: The Gold Rush and Westward Expansion
The
 
Gold
 
Rush
 
and
 
Westward
 
Expansion
  

U.S.
 
Territorial
 
Acquisition
 
map,
 
www.nationatlas.gov

The
 
Discovery
 
of
 
Gold
 

Arrival
 
of
 
the
 
Forty-niners
 

Miners
 
in
 
the
 
Sierras
(detail),
 
1851-1852,
 
Charles
 
Christian
 
Nahl
 
and
 
August
 
Wenderoth
 

Outcome
 

Glossary
 


Content: But
 
Mexico
 
had
 
refused
 
to
 
acknowledge
 
this
 
action
 
and
 
warned
 
the
 
U.S.
 
that
 
if
 
it
 
tried
 
to
 
make
 
Texas
 
part
 
of
 
the
 
U.S.,
 
Mexico
 
would
 
declare
 
war. In
 
1845
 
Texas
 
voluntarily
 
asked
 
to
 
join
 
the
 
U.S.,
 
and
 
became
 
the
 
28th
 
state. This
 
action
 
led
 
to
 
Mexico
 
to
 
declare
 
war
 
on
 
the
 
United
 
States,
 
starting
 
the
 
Mexican-American
 
War. After
 
a
 
series
 
of
 
conflicts
 
spanning
 
two
 
years,
 
the
 
United
 
States
 
won
 
the
 
war. When
 
the
 
dust
 
settled,
 
the
 
U.S.
 
had
 
gained
 
a
 
significant
 
amount
 
of
 
new
 
territory. The
 
region
 
collectively
 
known
 
as
 
the
 
Mexican
 
Cession
 
included
 
all
 
of
 
present-day
 
California,
 
Texas,
 
Colorado,
 
Arizona,
 
New
 
Mexico,
 
Nevada,
 
and
 
Utah. The
 
signing
 
of
 
the
 
Treaty
 
of
 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo
 
officially
 
ended
 
the
 
war
 
on
 
February
 
2,
 
1848. In
 
addition
 
to
 
the
 
ceded
 
territory,
 
Mexico
 
gave
 
up
 
its
 
claims
 
on
 
Texas
 
and
 
U.S.
 
Territorial
 
Acquisition
 
map,
 
www.nationatlas.gov
recognized
 
the
 
Rio
 
Grande
 
River
 
as
 
America’s
 
southern
 
border. At
 
the
 
time,
 
the
 
war
 
was
 
regarded
 
as
 
a
 
major
 
American
 
victory
 
over
 
a
 
hostile
 
foe,
 
but
 
in
 
the
 
wake
 
of
 
the
 
sectional
 
strife
 
of
 
the
 
Civil
 
War
 
the
 
Mexican-American
 
War
 
was
 
all
 
but
 
forgotten
 
by
 
history. But
 
the
 
war
 
was
 
pivotal
 
in
 
shaping
 
our
 
nation’s
 
future.