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: 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. But unfortunately for Mexico, El Dorado was not part of Mexico anymore. Americans known as 49ers would enjoy one of the greatest spoils of war in world history. ( Now you  know the origin of the namesake San Francisco 49ers.) The United States and its  major territorial acquisition made slavery and its expansion the center of numerous heated debates in both Houses. General Zachary Taylor had won fame in the Mexican War and would ride his battlefield successes into the White House.