how much land did mexico lose in the mexican american war
Mexican–American War Before the secession of Texas, Mexico comprised almost 1,700,000 sq mi (4,400,000 km2), but by 1849 it was just under 800,000 square miles (2,100,000 km2). Another 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) were sold to the U.S. in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, so the total reduction of Mexican territory was more than 55%, or 900,000 square miles (2,300,000 km2).[166]
Mexican–American War The Mexicanâ€“American War,[a] also known as the Mexican War in the United States and in Mexico as the American intervention in Mexico,[b] was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States (Mexico) from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 American annexation of the independent Republic of Texas, which Mexico still considered its northeastern province and a part of its territory after its de facto secession in the 1836 Texas Revolution a decade earlier.
Mexican–American War In 1845, newly elected U.S. President James K. Polk made a proposition to the Mexican government to purchase the disputed lands between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande river further south. When that offer was rejected, President Polk moved U.S. troops commanded by Major General Zachary Taylor further south into the disputed territory. Mexican forces attacked an American Army outpost ("Thornton Affair") in the occupied territory, killing 12 U.S. soldiers and capturing 52. These same Mexican troops later laid siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande.[6] Polk cited this attack as an invasion of U.S. territory and requested that the Congress declare war.
Mexican–American War Once the U.S. declared war on Mexico, Antonio López de Santa Anna wrote to the Mexican government, saying he no longer had aspirations to the presidency, but would eagerly use his military experience to fight off the foreign invasion of Mexico as he had before. President Valentín Gómez Farías, a civilian, was desperate enough to accept the offer and allowed Santa Anna to return. Meanwhile, Santa Anna had secretly been dealing with representatives of the U.S., pledging that if he were allowed back in Mexico through the U.S. naval blockades he would work to sell all contested territory to the United States at a reasonable price.[58] Once back in Mexico at the head of an army, Santa Anna reneged on both agreements. He declared himself president once again and unsuccessfully tried to fight off the U.S. invasion.