Preview

Essay On The Gadsden Purchase

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
668 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On The Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was a treaty that was signed by President Antonio de Santa Anna and James Gadsden on December 30, 1853. The treaty said that America agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for 29,670 square miles of land. This all started because America and Mexico couldn't agree where the border would be. America said the Mesilla Valley was part of their country. However, Mexico also said that the Mesilla Valley was part of their country. America wanted the Mesilla Valley to build a transcontinental railroad with slave labor, even though there were debates over slave labor. They also wanted to accomplish a belief they had that was called Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was America's God-given right and duty to buy …show more content…
The Senates were against slavery and they were worried that the land would become slave states. So they reduced price to $10 million, and they reduced the land to only 29,670 square miles instead of 45,000 square miles of land. The Senate also removed anything about financing Native American attacks. President Pierce signed the treaty, then Gadsden brought the treaty to President Antonio de Santa Anna in Mexico, which he signed on June 8, 1854. The treaty failed to fix the financial issues with Native American border attacks against Mexico. Mexico had already lost a lot of land to America and This made the Mexicans worry. This made the Mexicans worry because they were afraid of losing more land to America. So, Mexican opponents got together and drove President Antonio de Santa Anna from power in 1855. James Gadsden died on December 26, 1858. Antislavery forces in America were afraid that the new territory would become slavery states. So, they opposed of the Gadsden Purchase. People who supported the transcontinental railroad got disappointed because the land was too mountainous for it. The transcontinental railroad got finished in 1882. The Gadsden makes up part of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It also helped establish the border of America and
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Summary: From Compromise To Secession
    • 4459 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Summary: From Compromise To Secession

    At this time, the Mexican American War had just ended and the US had an equal number of free and slave states. The war ended in 1848. If you remember right, the Mexican American War left America with, through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Mexican Cession), the former Mexican provinces of California and Mexico. Mexico would also, in subsequence of the treaty, recognize the Rio Grande as the Southern Border of Mexico. In return, the US would pay Mexico 15 million and assume claims of Mexican citizens against Americans.…

    • 4459 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    US Hisotry Unit 7 study guide
    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages

    US Hisotry Unit 7 study guide

    The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 when the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad met at…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Louisiana Purchase Dbq Analysis
    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Louisiana Purchase Dbq Analysis

    By the treaty we acquire territory; therefore, the treaty is unconstitutional.” (Doc A) however, ironically, the federalists were known for having a loose interpretation of the constitution, and, instead, Jefferson was the one who had a hard time with the strict interpretation of the constitution on the issue. Other excuses brought up by the federalists against the issue of the Louisiana purchase were the threat that the, now bordering, Spanish now posed against the United States due to the standing army that Spain had, and because it would “destroy with a single operation the whole weight and importance of the eastern states”. Despite the opposition by the federalists, Jefferson was able to pass the Louisiana Purchase in congress, as the benefits of the extreme bargain far outweighed the excuses that the federalists were offering; thus, giving many citizens the hoped of a new beginning in the west and the start of the westward expansion. Although the war of 1812 did not acquire more land for the United States, it helped to clear the way for expansion by removing the British from United States territory, thus clearing the way for American expansion. Not only did the war remove the British but it also led to the demise of the Federalist…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compromise Of 1850 Dbq
    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page

    Compromise Of 1850 Dbq

    The compromise of 1850 was a document constructed by Henry Clay to ease tensions between North and South. The compromise consisted of the following five points—(1) writing a new fugitive slave law, since beforehand white citizens could give runaway slaves room and board and not be penalized, therefore appeasing the South, (2) annexing California as a free state to the Union, an advantage to the North, (3) prohibiting the slave trade, but not slavery itself, in the District of Columbia, (4) reorganizing the Mexican Cession into the New Mexico and Utah territories with the slavery issue being decided by popular sovereignty, and (5) declaring a border between Texas and New Mexico, with $10 million in reparations for the territory Texas surrendered…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Louisiana Purchase of 1803: The Key Turning Point
    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Louisiana Purchase of 1803: The Key Turning Point

    The Louisiana Purchase was a very significant event as it increased the size of the United States by double overnight for only $15 million. This was a key turning point in expansion as it opened up a huge amount of land for more settlers (an extra 828,000 square miles). Alongside this it created opportunities for people to travel west as it gave access to the Mississippi river which was important for travel and commerce. This purchase was also significant in the fact that it created a more secure environment for settlers as it eliminated the French from imperial competition, Jefferson believed the French were restricting US commerce and that they tried to control surrounding territory. Therefore this event affected the process of change as it allowed America to spread its resources and encouraged people to move west, such as the Indians which were encouraged to settle there. The most important reason for this event being a turning point was that it opened up a large amount of land to settle in, a lot of the further events which take place would not have happened if it wasn’t for this territory being the United States’ and so provided many reasons for expansion to continue.…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    First Transcontinental Railroad Research Paper
    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First Transcontinental Railroad Research Paper

    The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built in the 1860’s. Its construction was considered to be one of the greatest American technological achievements of the 19th century. The purpose of the railroad was to connect the developing railway network of the Eastern coast with the western United States. The railway was completed in its entirety on May 10, 1869. The infrastructure not only gave America a nation-wide transportation network, but it forever changed the American West.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Manifest Destiny Dbq Analysis
    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Manifest Destiny Dbq Analysis

    Around the 1840s, the US aspired to annex Texas and incorporate it as a state within the Union. However, gaining Texas had its consequences as it lead a war with Mexico. William Ellery Channing, an abolitionist and pacifist, saw that the policy regarding obtaining Texas would led the “nation into war” as it severed as “encroachment,” and a way “to propagate the curse of slavery.” (Doc 2) The annexation of Texas was seen invading Texas’ link to Mexico as in document one, the American Review stated the annexation “shall dissolve the slight bounds that now link the province to Mexico” (Doc 1) This served as a situation for Mexico, who had refused to recognize Texas’ independence and its takeover by the United States, although President James Polk, a strong supporter of the annexation of Texas as seen in his Inaugural Address- where he stated “none can fail to see the danger to our safety and future peace if Texas remains an independent states,” attempted to aid Mexico in coming to an understanding. Therefore, the Mexican War broke out, out of the effort for Texas to break free its bond to Mexico. Eventually, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war, and came to an agreement that included setting boundaries for Texas and the acquisition of new territory- California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona,…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social change in the United States in the period 1820-1860?
    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social change in the United States in the period 1820-1860?

    Transportation had also played a major role in expansion of the west. Transportation was a way to keep the country connected while moving more westward into the country. Turnpikes and roads were the beginning of it all. Roads such as the National Road, which crossed the Appalachian Mountains and through the Ohio River Valley, were made. Transportation was unable to keep up after the Mexican War. Settlers traveled on wagons through the Oregon and Santa Fe trails, and Stephen Douglas called for railroads to go through the west. In 1852, the Gadsden Purchase was…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Louisiana Purchase Research Paper
    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Louisiana Purchase Research Paper

    The Louisiana Purchase is the doing of Thomas Jefferson acquiring the territory of Louisiana from France in 1803 for about $15,000,000 which is approximately $236 million ("Louisiana Purchase, 1803"). The payment for the land was given with two million dollars up front, eleven million dollars over the course of a twenty year loan, and a French debt of almost four million dollars was forgiven by the United States ("How the Louisiana Purchase"). Originally the only interest of the purchase was the port city known as New Orleans but seeing that the French where in a slightly tight spot financially it was a very good deal for the United States.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unit 2 The Physical World Essay
    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Unit 2 The Physical World Essay

    The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the great projects of the 1800s, and could be considered as something that remade the American West. Consider the fact that any railroad was, by nature, a form of transportation the was significantly more dependent on geography than anything that had preceded it. It was not tied onto preexisting waterways such as other technology, like the steamboat, and given its overall speed, it could cross almost any terrain with ease - given that its built correctly on the land. As technology improved, railroads developed the capacity to span rivers and gorges, topple hills, and tunnel through various mountains. When terrain couldn’t be surmounted, it was changed.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
    • 966 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is an agreement, signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, which is a city north from the capital of Mexico, between the United States and Mexico that marked the end of the Mexican War. With the defeat of the troops and the fall of the Mexican capital on September 1847, the Mexican government surrendered to the United States and wanted negotiations between the United States to end the war. Signing the treaty was only the beginning of the process because it still had to be approved by the congresses of both the United States and Mexico. No one could tell how the Polk administration would receive a treaty negotiated by an unofficial agent, and could they know the goods and the negative things of the Mexican political scene for the next few months. In both the U.S. and Mexican governments there was opposition to the treaty. In the United States, the northern abolitionists opposed the annexation of Mexican territory. In the Mexican congress, a sizable minority was in favor of continuing the fight. Both countries ratified the document. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo marked the end of the war.…

    • 966 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Negative Effects Of The Transcontinental Railroad
    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Negative Effects Of The Transcontinental Railroad

    Social Issue: The Transcontinental Railroad- Before the Transcontinental Railroad, traveling West in the United States was a costly and difficult journey through deserts, and over mountains. After the invention of locomotives, railroads began to show up everywhere. Many saw an opportunity in railroads to expand settlement in the west and transform the United States into a more modern nation. The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies formed the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862, which was an agreement to build a transcontinental railroad that would begin in the east and west and meet together (History). The two railroads met on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah (Railroad. lindahall). The Transcontinental Railroad allowed cities to be built west and goods to be transported at a cheaper cost. It expanded the United States economy and brought more settlers to the west.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad

    The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built in the 1860s, linking the well developed railway network of the Eastern coast with rapidly growing California. The main line was officially completed on May 10, 1869. The vast number of people who traveled the line, and the network that followed, set the USA on the path to economic abundance. It also ended the centuries old way of life of the Native Americans and greatly altered the environment.…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wilmot Proviso
    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Wilmot Proviso

    Fighting over slavery expansion also occurred on the floors of Congress. In 1846, shortly after the violence in Mexico startred, James K. Polk requested two million dollars to be appropriated to expand land. Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, fearful of the southern “slavocracy”, introduced an amendment, stipulating that slavery should never exist in any of the territory acquired from Mexico. Those who were in favor of Wilmot’s amendment were against slavery, while those who were opposed to the plan were for the institution of slavery. Though popular in the House, the bill never passed in the Senate. Southern senators did not want the bill to pass, and wanted to gain equal slave land for free land. The “Wilmot Proviso” never became fedderal law, but it was eventually endorsed by free states in legislatures, providing evidence that slavery was a pressing issue.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Transcontinental Railroad
    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Transcontinental Railroad

    The transcontinental railroad is considered one of the greatest American technological feats of the 19th century. It is considered to surpass the building of the Erie Canal in the 1820s and the crossing of the Isthmus of Panama by the Panama Railroad in 1855. It served as a vital link for trade, commerce and travel that joined the eastern and western halves of late 19th-century United…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics