TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Introduction

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which came into effect on 2 February 1848, completed the Mexican-American conflict and formally resolved territorial arguments producing from that conflict. The treaty needed the U.S. government to pay the Mexican government $15 million dollars, this in return for an expanse of territory that subsequent became the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and components of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. Ipropose to contend that the treaty benefitted the people who inhabited, and subsequent came to live, that territory. I also propose that, as a result of the transfer of territory from a dictatorial regime to one that was based on democratic principles, both Mexico and the United States ultimately benefitted in several ways.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was not easily negotiated, for the disputes which underlay it went back to the question of Texas. Following the successful revolt of the Texans, including Mexicans who lived north of the Rio Grande, against the dictator Santa Ana, the Mexican government did not reconcile itself to the loss of this vast territory. Instead, it plotted and planned to recover Texas, by military force if necessary. The accession of Texas to the Union in 2 March 1845 poisoned relations between the United States and Mexico and set the stage for the Mexican-American War. (Christensen 1998)

Discussion and Analysis

The American leader, JamesK. Polk, wanted to resolve these and other issues peacefully, but he also wanted to acquire California for the Union. When the Mexican government rejected his emissary, John Slidell, the stage was set for war. The causus belli was the crossing of the Rio Grande by a body of Mexican troops. A skirmish broke out and several American soldiers were killed. America announced conflict and motored the Mexican force out of U.S. territory. A force under General Stephen Kearny took Arizona, New Mexico, and California, while General Zachary Taylor drove south into Mexico. While his campaign was a disappointment, General Winfield Scott was much more successful. He landed at Veracruz, on the Mexican coast, and marched to Mexico City. (Christensen 1998) The Mexicans capitulated. The war had lasted 21 months. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was marked in a suburb of Mexico City, finish the territorial stress between the joined States and Mexico for all time. The two nations not ever afresh battled a war.

Reason of the War

Was it driven by a blood lust for victory on the part of America? Some historians argue that the war was caused by America's hunger for land, a form of greed. Other historians, seeing Mexico as a corrupt dictatorship, argue that war was a result of Mexican aggression, not only against its American neighbors, but also against their own people. In this reading, Mexico was so determined to recover Texas, regardless of the wishes of the people who resided in that state, that it was willing to risk war with the United States. (Gordon, 1983)

The treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo contained twenty ...