The US–Mexican War

Abstract

Abstract Usually thought of as a two-year-long conflict between the United States and Mexico, the US–Mexican War (1846–1848) represents the culmination of a much longer struggle over the control of what became the American Southwest. Years before Mexico declared its independence, early citizens of the United States resolved to seize Spain’s North American possessions. Devastated by a decade of revolt, Mexico lacked the unity needed to halt American efforts to acquire land at its expense. The US–Mexican War revealed an important divide among Mexicans over the issue of federalism. In the end, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo defined the modern political boundary between the two nations. Far from bringing peace to either nation, though, the war generated internal strife for both the United States and Mexico. The historic conflict still affects the relationship between the two nations.