The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which came into effect on 2 February 1848, ended the Mexican-American war and formally resolved territorial disputes resulting from that conflict. The treaty required the U.S. government to pay the Mexican government $15 million dollars, this in return for an expanse of territory that later became the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. I intend to argue that the treaty benefitted the people who inhabited, and …showed first 75 words of 2137 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2137 total…a popular referendum held today, I dare say that ninety-nine percent of the voters would reject either union with Mexico or an independent Chicano state. The verdict of history on the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo must be that it was, on balance, a good thing. However impure, self-interested, or even corrupt the motives of those Americans who wished to extend the United States to the Pacific, tens of millions of people have benefitted as a result.