Download Chapter 12, Section 3

WAR WITH MEXICO
Chapter 12, Section 3
The New Mexico
Territory
In the 1800s, New Mexico was the large area between
the Texas and California territories.
Spanish conquistadors had made the region a
Spanish colony in the 1500s.
They founded a settlement there called Santa Fe.
Once free from Spain, Mexico won the New Mexico
territory.
The New Mexico Territory
Mexico welcomed Americans into the
area.
It hoped that trade would boost the
economy.
William Becknell was the first American
trader to reach Santa Fe in 1821.
His route to the settlement was known
as the Santa Fe Trail.
Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
Beginning in Missouri, the trail crossed the Rocky
Mountains.
As more traders came to Santa Fe, the trail became
a busy route.
Americans also began settling in the area.
They hoped it would one day be part of the United
States.
California’s Spanish Culture
California became a state in the new Mexican
nation.
Mexican settlers in California set up huge estates
called ranchos.
The rancheros, or ranch owners, treated
the Native Americans who worked for
them almost like enslaved people.
Moving West
In the 1840s, more Americans
came to California.
Army officer John C. Frémont
wrote of the area’s mild
climate and vast resources.
Americans talked about
annexing California.
They wanted the United States
to stretch from the Atlantic to
the Pacific.
War con Mexico
U.S.–Mexico relations were tense in the early
1800s.
Both countries argued over the border between
Texas and Mexico.
President Polk wanted California and New
Mexico and plotted to get them.
He decided to go to war for the land, but he
wanted Mexico to make the first strike.
Polk offered Mexico a deal.
The United States would pay Mexico $30 million
for California and New Mexico if Mexico would
agree to make the Rio Grande River the Texas
border.
In addition, the United States would take over
Mexico’s war debts to Americans.
Mexico did not like the offer.
It refused and threatened to reclaim Texas.
War!
Polk sent troops into the
disputed area between
Texas and Mexico.
On April 24, 1846,
Mexican troops attacked
U.S. forces.
On May 11, Congress
declared war on Mexico.
US - War Plan
Polk went ahead with his war plan.
First, U.S. troops would secure the Texas border.
Then they would take New Mexico and
California.
Finally, they would seize Mexico City, the capital
of Mexico.
Bear Flag Republic
In June 1864, a group of Americans took a
northern town in California and declared that
California was independent.
They called it the Bear Flag Republic.
Continued Conflict...
In July 1846, U.S. forces landed in California.
They took over the republic and put down a revolt
by the Californios, or the Mexicans who lived in
California.
In August 1846, U.S. forces captured
Santa Fe.
By the end of 1847, the U.S. army under
General Winfield Scott had taken
Mexico City.
Mexico surrendered.
The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo was signed in
1848.
Mexico agreed to the Rio
Grande as the border
between Texas and
Mexico.
In what is called the
Mexican Cession, Mexico
also ceded, or gave,
California and New
Mexico to the United
States for $15 million.
Gadsden Purchase
Then, in 1853, Mexico sold the United States a strip of
land south of New Mexico.
This purchase, called the Gadsden Purchase, brought
the U.S. mainland to its current size.