Mexican–American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Date
- 1846–1848 (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 2 February 1848)
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- North America (United States & Mexico)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
Fought between 1846 and 1848, the Mexican–American War grew out of the United States' 1845 annexation of Texas and a disputed border on the Rio Grande, set against the expansionist ideology of Manifest Destiny.
After fighting erupted in April 1846, American forces under Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott won a series of victories, culminating in the capture of Mexico City. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on 2 February 1848, ended the war: Mexico recognised the Rio Grande boundary and ceded an enormous expanse—including present-day California, Nevada and Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming—amounting to roughly half its territory. In return the United States paid $15 million and assumed certain claims. The Mexican Cession enlarged the United States by about a third and, almost immediately, the discovery of gold in California triggered a mass migration. The war's vast acquisitions reignited the explosive national debate over the extension of slavery into the territories, helping to set the stage for the Civil War, while in Mexico the loss was a lasting national trauma.
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Empires active in 1846–1848 (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 2 February 1848)
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related military & conflict events
- The Taiping Rebellion1850–1864
- First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking1839–1842 (Treaty of Nanking, 29 August 1842)
- American Civil War and the abolition of slavery1861–1865 (Emancipation Proclamation 1 January 1863; 13th Amendment ratified 6 December 1865)
- The Franco-Prussian War, German unification and the Paris Commune19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871; German Empire proclaimed 18 January 1871
- Battle of Waterloo18 June 1815
- Napoleon's invasion of RussiaJune–December 1812
Further reading
The wider story
Empire of the Summer Moon
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