Feb 2, 201210:29 AMThe Telegraph
The Premier Blog of the West
Today in History: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
February 2, 1848 — Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico relinquished a massive amount of territory to the United States just one year after the fall of the Mexican army and the capture of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War. The Mexican Cession, just one part of the treaty, included all of present-day California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as much of Arizona and New Mexico. Mexico also recinded all claims to both Colorado and Texas.
The overall effect was the biggest single expansion to the western boundries of the U.S. since the Louisiana Purchase. Controversy over whether or not to make all this new territory into slave-holding states became a crucial factor in the decisions that would lead to the Civil War just a few years later.
In fact, many of the great names of both North and South made their bones during the Mexican-American War: the expedetionary forces that invaded Mexico under the command of Gen. Winfield Scott included Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, George Meade, and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
You can see a copy of the map used in the treaty negotiations over at the Library of Congress.
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