Mexican-American War Timeline

Thomas' Legion
American Civil War HOMEPAGE
American Civil War
Causes of the Civil War : What Caused the Civil War
Organization of Union and Confederate Armies: Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery
Civil War Navy: Union Navy and Confederate Navy
American Civil War: The Soldier's Life
Civil War Turning Points
American Civil War: Casualties, Battles and Battlefields
Civil War Casualties, Fatalities & Statistics
Civil War Generals
American Civil War Desertion and Deserters: Union and Confederate
Civil War Prisoner of War: Union and Confederate Prison History
Civil War Reconstruction Era and Aftermath
American Civil War Genealogy and Research
Civil War
American Civil War Pictures - Photographs
African Americans and American Civil War History
American Civil War Store
American Civil War Polls
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY
North Carolina Civil War History
North Carolina American Civil War Statistics, Battles, History
North Carolina Civil War History and Battles
North Carolina Civil War Regiments and Battles
North Carolina Coast: American Civil War
HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
Western North Carolina and the American Civil War
Western North Carolina: Civil War Troops, Regiments, Units
North Carolina: American Civil War Photos
Cherokee Chief William Holland Thomas
HISTORY OF THE CHEROKEE INDIANS
Cherokee Indian Heritage, History, Culture, Customs, Ceremonies, and Religion
Cherokee Indians: American Civil War
History of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Nation
Cherokee War Rituals, Culture, Festivals, Government, and Beliefs
Researching your Cherokee Heritage
Civil War Diary, Memoirs, Letters, and Newspapers

Mexican-American War Campaign

Analysis of Mexican-American War and Timeline of Events
 
The Mexican-American War, which resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, was caused by the annexation and statehood of Texas by the United States. The Mexican War was "one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory." Words of General of the Union Army and Eighteenth President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant

Mexican-American War Timeline Map
Mexican-American War Timeline Map.jpg
Mexican-American Timeline and Battlefield Map

By simultaneously annexing and granting statehood to Texas on December 29, 1845, the United States had intentionally provoked Mexico, a nation that had never recognized the existence of the Republic of Texas, to war. After Texas entered into the Union as the 28th state, a state of war would exist between Mexico and the United States in merely 117 days, resulting in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the largest land acquisition (including Texas) in the history of the United States. 
 
Once the Mexican Cession was signed, 55% of the vast territory of Mexico was signed over to the United States, thus extending the borders of the U.S. from sea to shining sea. It also removed from its doorsteps the footprints of the global powers of England, France, and Spain henceforth. Until the Mexican Cession in 1848, the lands that now formed the United States had long been a struggle between many nations that had once staked their claims of ownership.

As a result of the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas War of Independence, Mexico would soon succumb to political discord, civil strife, and finally civil war. Following the Mexican War, Mexico was burdened with staggering debt, the loss of 55% of its territory, and a collapsed economy. France would even make a grand effort to conquer what it referred to as a weakened Mexico in 1862, only to be repulsed at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, by a much smaller, yet determined Mexican force. To commemorate the Mexican victory, it is celebrated annually as Cinco de Mayo.

Mexican-American War Timeline of Battles

Palo Alto 8 May 1846
Resaca de la Palma 9 May 1846
Monterey 21 September 1846
Buena Vista 22-23 February 1847
Vera Cruz 9-29 March 1847
Cerro Gordo 17 April 1847
Contreras 18-20 August 1847
Churubusco 20 August 1847
Molino del Rey 8 September 1847
Chapultepec 13 September 1847

Battle Timeline Mexican-American War Map
Mexican-American War Map.jpg
Mexican-American War Timeline of Battles Map

The United States too would pay a hefty price because of its acquisition of Mexican territory. With the Mexican Cession in 1848, formally the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the nation purchased territory that forms the present-day U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, about half of New Mexico, about a quarter of Colorado, and a small section of Wyoming. The Treaty also forced Mexico to officially recognize Texas and its boundaries. Until 1850 the nation had hosted 15 free and 15 slave states, creating a balance between proslavery and free states. When California was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850, the United States soon added three additional free states with Minnesota in 1858, Oregon in 1859, and Kansas in 1861. The nation was now confronted with an imbalance of power and influence between slave and free states, known as sectionalism, which served only to fuel existing tensions between the North and South. The Mexican Cession of 1848 resulted in the Compromise of 1850 and a rapid shift in political power and influence that favored the North. While the Compromise of 1850 fanned the flames of sectionalism, in just eleven years, 1861, the nation would be engaged in bloody Civil War.

Site search Web search

Subjects discussed: Mexican-American War Timeline, Mexican American War Campaign, Mexican War Battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, Mexico and the US Aftermath.

Return to American Civil War Homepage

Best viewed with Internet Explorer or Google Chrome

google.com, pub-2111954512596717, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0