The U.S. Mexican War

The status of Texas was in limbo—the United States government was undecided whether or not to grant the Republic statehood. To complicate matters, Mexico never formally recognized Texas’ independence. The Mexican government simply viewed Texas as a rebellious territory that they would eventually reconquer.

Meanwhile, President James Polk looked farther west for areas to expand the young nation. In 1845, Polk sent a diplomat to Mexico with an offer to purchase New Mexico and California from the Mexican government. He also wanted Mexico to agree to establish the Rio Grande river as the border between the two countries, which would make Texas part of the United States. As payment, the United States would relinquish legal claims against Mexico, an amount totaling more than $3 million.

The people of Mexico were still angered by the issue of Texas’ independence, however, and public sentiment forced the Mexican government to refuse any deal with the United States. The Mexican government still considered Texas part of their republic. Polk was outraged, and sent military forces, under the direction of Zachary Taylor, to the Rio Grande river. Skirmishes immediately broke out. One of these battles took place just north of the Rio Grande, in disputed territory. Polk interpreted this as an act of aggression against the United States and asked Congress to declare war on Mexico, which it did.

During this time, Taylor’s army was winning battles with regularity in the Rio Grande area. Taylor pushed into Northern Mexico while to the west Americans were infiltrating northern California. Soon, a rebellion against Mexican rule in California was underway. By mid-1846, California was known as the Bear Flag Republic, which had a brief life span of 19 days. The U.S. military occupied the Los Angeles area and declared authority over the whole republic. Control of California was the heart of Polk’s Manifest Destiny doctrine, the belief that providence had willed the Americans a moral mission to conquer adjacent lands.

Captain Allen recruits 500 Mormon men at Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Although victory in California and New Mexico had been gained with relative ease, there were a few battles of note, including the Battle of San Pasqual, the only one in which the Americans were defeated by the Californios, people of Spanish, Indian and Mexican blood who ruled California before the American takeover.

On Dec. 6, 1846, Mexican troops under the command of Major Andrés Pico encountered U.S. forces -- led by Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny -- at San Pasqual, in the northeastern area of what is now the County of San Diego in Southern California. The Californios inflicted heavy casualties on the Americans, who, having lost the battle, retreated to San Diego. The Americans would later defeat Pico’s forces in several battles throughout the state and Pico eventually surrendered in January, 1847, signing the Cahuenga Capitulaton that ended hostilities in California.

In New Mexico, Gov. Bent and others sympathetic to the American takeover were killed on Jan. 19, 1847 by a group of Spanish descendants, Indians and Mexicans. It was the start of what became known as the Taos Revolt. The New Mexicans were opposed to the occupation of their territory by U.S. forces. Col. Sterling Price and his troops retaliated, defeating the rebels at Santa Cruz, and later at Taos, where Price’s forces decisively beat the insurgents in a final battle that took place at the Taos Pueblo Church.

Feeling secure with California and New Mexico under U.S. control, Polk sent peace offerings to Mexico, which continually failed. Polk continued his effort at peace, however, and asked Congress for $2 million to buy the cherished western lands of New Mexico and California and end the war. The Senate agreed, but the House denied the motion. Their denial was largely due to the Wilmot Proviso that was added to the motion. In the Wilmot Proviso, Polk attempted to have Congress mandate that no slavery would be allowed in any territory acquired as a product of the Mexican War.

Discouraged, Polk started on another strategy to end the war. No significant progress was made in peace accords, however, until the Army seized Mexico City. Shortly after the New Year of 1848, the peace Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was completed and the war ended.

With the annexation of Texas in early 1845, war with Mexico became all but inevitable. President James K. Polk hoped to settle matters peacefully but was determined to have his way by war if necessary. In November 1845 he sent John Slidell to Mexico with an offer of $5,000,000 for the purchase of New Mexico and $25,000,000 for California. The offer was refused. On May 9, 1846, word reached Washington, D.C. that American troops had been attacked by Mexican forces on April 4. Polk asked Congress, and was granted, a declaration of war. Congress authorized the president to call for 50,000 volunteers and appropriated $10,000,000. Congress and the nation, however, were far from united on the idea of waging war. Southerners favored war as likely to extend slave territory, while notherners opposed the war for the same reason.

President James K. Polk ordered U.S. troops into the region in southern Texas disputed with Mexico, between roughly parallel Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. The commanding general was Zachary Taylor.

1846

1. May 1846 - first battle at Palo Alto

2. Battle of Resaca de La Palma - General Taylor becomes a hero

3. Sign Treaty with Great Britain for Oregon - 49th parallel

4. Republic of California - Commodore John Sloat lands at Monterey, California and claims California for United States.

5. Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney annexes New Mexico for U.S..

6. Buena Vista - General Zachary Taylor and Jefferson Davis win.

1846- Battle of Palo Alto, the first important engagement of the Mexican War, was fought with the Mexicans on the losing side.

1846- Battle of Resaca de la Palma, U.S. forces under General Taylor forced the Mexican army back across the Rio Grande.

1846- U.S. forces crossed the Rio Grande, led by General Zachary Taylor. The Americans occupied Matamoros.

1846- Monterrey, Mexico, was captured by U.S. forces under General Zachary Taylor after a four day engagement that made "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor, a Whig, into a national hero. His relations with President Polk, a Democrat, cooled subsequently.

1847

1847- Battle of Buena Vista, U.S. forces under General Zachary Taylor defeated the Mexicans under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

Scott takes Mexico City - United States Marines

1847- To negotiate peace with Mexico, President James K. Polk appointed as his special agent Nicholas P. Trist, a State Department veteran.

1847- At Cerro Gordo General Winfield Scott, marching on Mexico City, met and defeated a Mexican force of about 13,000.

1847- Peace negotiations with Mexico were initiated through the British minister, Charles Bankhead.

1847- At Churubusco General Winfield Scott defeated a Mexican army of 20,000.

1847- At the Battle of Molino del Rey U.S. forces under General Winfield Scott defeated an estimated 12,000 Mexicans.

1848

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed by the U.S. and Mexico on February 2, 1848, formally ended the Mexican War (1846-1848). The treaty called for Mexico to give up almost half of its territory, which included modern-day California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, over 500,000 square miles. In return, the U.S. paid $15 million in compensation for war-related damage to Mexican land and assumed the claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico, amounting to $3,250,000. The U.S. became an enormous continental republic, but the acquisition of the new territory aggravated the dispute between slavery and antislavery forces. The war resulted in 1,721 dead and 4,102 wounded. In addition, some 11,155 Americans died of disease as a result of the war. The total cost of the war was estimated at $97,500,000.

Among the notable aspects of the treaty, it set the Texas border at the Rio Grande; it provided for the protection of the property and civil rights of Mexican nationals who would now be living on U.S. soil; the United States agreed to police its side of the border; and both countries agreed to compulsory arbitration of future disputes. However, when the United States Senate ratified the treaty, it erased Article 10, which guaranteed the protection of Mexican land grants; Article 9, which deals with citizenship rights, was also weakened. This in turn created an anti-Mexican atmosphere that spurred the violation of their civil rights. In Texas, Mexicans were restricted from voting. In New Mexico, Mexicans were the victims of violence, while in California, laws against them were passed, some of which were known as the Greaser Laws.

At the time of the treaty, approximately 80,000 Mexicans lived in the ceded territory, which comprised only about 4 percent of Mexico’s population. Only a few people chose to remain Mexican citizens compared to the many that became United States citizens. Most of the 80,000 residents continued to live in the Southwest, believing in the guarantee that their property and civil rights would be protected. Sadly, this would not always be the case. By the end of the 19th century, most Mexicans had lost their land, either through force or fraud.

In the Chicano movement in the late 1960s, New Mexico land rights leader Reies Lopez Tijerina and his Alianza movement cited the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in their fight to regain American-seized Mexican land. In 1972, the Brown Berets youth organization also cited the Treaty in their takeover of Catalina Island.

In terms of property ownership, many property rights existing under Spanish and Mexican land grants were not recognized by the United States. In California, approximately 27 percent of land grant claims were rejected; in the territory of New Mexico, some 76 percent of such claims were rejected.

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