When you hear some of the hate-Anglo groups start spouting their lies about how the U.S. acquired and owns the Southwest portion of this country, refer them here. It is called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and it came about because the United States kicked Mexico’s ass in a war (1846-1848). And that’s the truth!

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (gwah-dah-loop-ay ee-dahl-go), which brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a city north of the capital where the Mexican government had fled with the advance of U.S. forces.

With the defeat of its army and the fall of the capital, Mexico City, in September 1847 the Mexican government surrendered to the United States and entered into negotiations to end the war.

Under the terms of the treaty Mexico ceded to the United States Upper California and New Mexico. This was known as the Mexican Cession and included present-day Arizona and New Mexico and parts of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado (see Article V of the treaty). Mexico relinquished all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as the southern boundary with the United States (see Article V).

The United States [also] paid Mexico $15,000,000 to compensate for war-related damage to Mexican property (see Article XII of the treaty).

When the Senate reluctantly ratified the treaty (by a vote of 34 to 14) on March 10, 1848, it deleted Article X guaranteeing the protection of Mexican land grants. Following the ratification, U.S. troops were removed from the Mexican capital.

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