The Impacts of the Mexican American War

632 Words3 Pages
AuthorLastName2 The impacts of the Mexican American War The impacts of the Mexican American War differed in scope and size. While some of the impacts of the war were small, others were enormous. Goldfield et al. (363) contend that the Mexican American War ended with victory for the U.S. The resultant treaty also considerably increased the geographical size of the U.S. However, all the impacts had a considerable impact on the histories of the U.S. and Mexico. The Mexican American War led to the expansion of the territory of the U.S. After defeating the Mexicans, Texas became a state of the U.S. (Goldfield et al 412). Similarly, Mexico ceded New Mexico and California to the U.S. after signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This considerably increased the geographical size of the U.S. Being a rich state, the U.S. benefited from the mineral resources found in Texas. Similarly, California had abundant gold (Goldfield et al. 416). The discovery of gold in California led to what historians refer to as the “gold rush.” People started immigrating to California with the hope of finding gold. While these were positive developments, the acquisition of Texas as a state of the U.S. had a negative impact on the U.S. According to Goldfield et al. (456), Texas legalized slavery after attaining independence from Mexico. Before, Mexico had banned slavery in its territory. In the U.S., slavery had been a major political issue pitting the Northern States against the Southern States. While some states supported slavery, other states opposed it. Texas under Mexico was a safe haven where slaves could seek refuge. However, as an independent state, the slaves could no longer seek AuthorLastName3 refuge in this state. By allowing slavery, Texas was legalizing what several leaders and the U.S. had spent many years

More about The Impacts of the Mexican American War

Open Document