The United States secured the third-largest territorial acquisition in its history after a U.S. diplomat defied the president who appointed him.
marks the 178th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which formally ended the Mexican-American War. The treaty takes its name from the village just north of Mexico City, where it was signed. Under the terms of the agreement, the United States took control of what is now the states of California, Nevada, and Utah, most of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, and a slice of Wyoming. In return, Mexico received $15 million, and Washington agreed to pay for $3.25 million in financial claims that U.S. citizens had against the Mexican government.
The anniversary is worth noting not just because it is the third-largest territorial acquisition in U.S. history, after the Louisiana Purchase and the Alaska Purchase. The anniversary is also significant because the treaty was negotiated by a U.S. diplomat in direct defiance of the president of the United States. Add in a heavy dose of domestic politics, and you have a diplomatic negotiation for the ages.
First, some background. The origins of the Mexican-American War are shrouded in controversy; in many ways, it was the nineteenth century version of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The United States annexed Texas in early March 1845, just days before President James K. Polk took office.
Click here to read the complete, original article by James M. Lindsay on CFR.org
Source: CFR.org
