14.3-4 - The Mexican War and California

Open Trouble With Mexico

• After the resolution to annex Texas was

passed, Mexico protested the annexation

and refused to recognize the Rio Grande

as the southern border of Texas

• When Mexican activity threatened war, a detachment of army troops under the command of General Zachary Taylor, who would come to be known as “Old Rough and Ready,” was sent to protect the Texas border against possible invasion by Mexican forces.

Open Trouble With Mexico

• In an attempt to keep the peace, President Polk sent John Slidell as a special envoy to Mexico, authorized to offer that if Mexico would recognize Texas independence and the Rio Grande as the southern border, the U.S. would assume responsibility for two million dollars in claims by U.S. citizens against the government

Open Trouble With Mexico

• Slidell was also authorized to offer 5 million dollars to purchase New Mexico and up to 25 million dollars for California but the Mexican government refused to even see Slidell.

War Breaks Out

• Because of the disagreement on the southern border of Texas, when Zachary Taylor marched his troops down to the Rio Grande, Mexico considered the move to be an invasion of Mexico.

• Likewise, the U.S. believed that they had been attacked on their own soil and congress officially declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846.

War Breaks Out

• The war with Mexico was popular every in the United States except in New England, where the Whigs opposed it and called it a move to bring prestige to the Democratic party.

The United States is Victorious

• After early victories against Mexico on the border and in Monterrey, “Old Rough and Ready” won a decisive victory against overwhelming odds at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847 and by September the American flag was raised over the Mexican capital.
• Soon after the declaration of war on Mexico, American settlers in the Sacramento Valley rebelled against Mexican authority and raised the “Bear Flag” of the California Republic

The United States is Victorious

• Mexicans in California put up very little resistance, many welcoming the idea of being a part of the union, and within days California had fallen into American hands.

• At the same time, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny led forces into New Mexico and, in August 1846, captured Santa Fe without firing a shot.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• In 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, recognizing the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas and ceding California and New Mexico the U.S.; the United States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and assume the claims of American citizens against the Mexican government.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• The half-million square miles of land granted by Mexico to the United States is known as the Mexican Cession and came to be organized into New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming

The California Gold Rush

• In January 1848, gold was discovered in a stream at a sawmill owned by John Sutter in the Sacramento Valley

• By 1849, the California Gold Rush began as thousands gold seekers called “forty-niners” descended upon northern California

The California Gold Rush

• “Forty-niners” came from all backgrounds by any means of transportation to face all kinds of dangers for the chance to find their fortune.

• By the end of 1849, California was well populated and drafted a constitution.

• In 1850 California applied for statehood and was admitted as the 31st state later that year.

The Gadsden Purchase

• In 1853, the United States minister to Mexico, James Gadsden, arranged the purchase of a narrow strip of land along the southern boundary of the New Mexico territory that the U.S. wanted to use to build a railroad to the Pacific.

• The United States paid Mexico $10 million for the Gadsden Purchase