Title: Mexican Cession History Territory Mexican Cession Summary US
Headings: Mexican Cession and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Introduction
Summary
Mexican War and Principal Battles Fought to Achieve Mexican Cession
B ackground
Mexican Cession and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Aftermath
Analysis
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Content: Mexican Cession History Territory Mexican Cession Summary US



























Mexican Cession and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Mexican Cession History Lesson
Official Mexican Cession Map

Mexican Cession Map, aka Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Introduction
The Mexican Cession, officially the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ended the Mexican-American War (1846–48) and was signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a city to which the Mexican government had fled. The major concession from Mexico in the Cession was its exchange of fifty five percent of its territory to the United States  for a sum of fifteen million dollars. As a result of the Treaty, including the official recognition of the State of Texas,  the United States had enlarged its territorial boundaries by more than sixty percent and it stretched its borders from sea  to shining sea. In only four years, from its annexation and statehood of Texas in 1845 to the lands gained by the Mexican  Cession in 1848, the United States had literally become a global power. The country also enjoyed its position as a nation  bordered by a conquered foe to its south, a sparsely populated Canada to its north, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans  on its west and east coasts, respectively. Once the Treaty was signed, the United States owned more  than one-half of Mexico and it boundaries now spanned from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans. From the signing of the Declaration  of Independence on July 4, 1776, the fledgling 13 Colonies had expanded westward and from sea to shining sea in merely 72  years, and by doing so it had henceforth removed the presence of the global powers of England, Spain, and France. The cost of the Mexican Cession was  immense for both nations, however. Following the humiliating defeat Mexico plunged into civil war and with its loss of vast  territory to its north, the nation was bankrupt and its economy and infrastructure would be stymied for nearly a century. Just weeks after the Mexican Cession was signed, gold was discovered in California  (California was known for a long time as El Dorado, which means “the land of gold” in Spanish), leading to the  largest gold rush in the history of the United States.