Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

On February 2, 1848, representative of the governments (United States and Mexico) signed a peace treaty at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a small town located near Mexico City.

This treaty ended the Mexican - American War.

Mexico abandoned (gave up) all claims to Texas and accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary/border between the United States and Mexico.

Mexico also surrendered (gave up) to the United States all territory between western Texas and the Pacific Ocean.

This land, known historically as the Mexican Cession, included all of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

The Mexican Cession was a land transfer also known as an cede. (To cede means to give up, especially by treaty. A Cession is a transfer of land from one country to another)

In return for this land, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and agreed to pay claims of American citizen against Mexico up to 3.25 million. 

Mexican living in the ceded territory were guaranteed all rights of U.S. citizenship.

This included political rights and the right to keep their land. They had a year to decide if they wished to become American citizens.