Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - The Treaty that Ended the Mexican War and Won the US More than One Half of Mexican Territory

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Nicholas Trist, the man who negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with the Mexican provisional government was not appreciated for his achievement in his time and was even fired for concluding the treaty against his instructions. Many leading US politicians including President Polk were convinced that the United States could get more out of victory against Mexico, however, the President accepted the treaty anyway and passed it to the US Senate which ratified it on March 10, 1848.

After the fall of Mexico City to the US Army commanded by General Winfield Scott in September 1847, the Mexican authorities had no choice but to enter peace negotiations with the United States. As the victorious belligerent, the United States was able to dictate the terms of the peace treaty although the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that was signed in the Mexico City’s suburb of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, was actually a “one man action“.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War (1846-48) was negotiated by Nicholas Trist, the State Department chief clerk and President James K. Polk’s representative despite the fact that he had been recalled by the President who was tempted by occupation of the entire Mexico. Trist decided to ignore his recall and persuade the Mexican provisional government to sign the peace treaty by which it ceded to the United States the present-day US states of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona (excluding the present-day southern Arizona that was acquired with the Gadsden Purchase in 1854), and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.

In addition to giving up more than one half of its territory, the Mexican provisional government also agreed to give up the claims to Texas and recognize Rio Grande as the new border between the United States and Mexico. In behalf of the United States, Trist agreed to pay $15 million to Mexico for the territorial cession, take over $3 million of Mexican debt to the US citizens, and granted civil rights and protection of property to the Mexicans in the ceded territories.

Trist sent a copy of the treaty he had negotiated to President Polk who reluctantly forwarded it to the US Senate. The latter ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on March 10, 1848, however, it modified the article that promised rapid US citizenship to the Mexicans in the transferred lands and deleted the article promising protection of the Mexican land grants. The Mexican Congress ratified the treaty on May 25 and five days later, the former belligerents exchanged ratifications of the treaty that temporary ended the territorial dispute between the United States and Mexico.