Polk’s Adventures in Mexico. CH 9 Section 4 Polk’s Adventures in Mexico.

James Polk believed that a war would bring the United States even more Mexican lands, such as California and New Mexico. He ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead the U.S. army to blockade the Rio Grande River. Mexico viewed this action as a violation of its territorial rights.

Southerners wanted war because they thought that new territories would be slave states. The North did not want War for the same reason.

The United States army was led by Colonel Stephen Kearny The United States army was led by Colonel Stephen Kearny. He marched his troops into Santa Fe, New Mexico. U.S. forces took the area without firing a shot. Kearny’s troops then moved into California, and took control there as well.

General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey and won against Santa Anna at Buena Vista. General Winfield Scott captured the port of Veracruz and then took Mexico City, the capital.

In 1848, Mexico and the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Under the treaty, a defeated Mexico handed much of its northern land to the United States. This land included present-day California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

Gadsden Purchase: Purchase of land from Mexico in 1853 that established the present U.S.-Mexico boundary.

In 1848, American settlers discovered gold in California In 1848, American settlers discovered gold in California. Thousands of people streamed into CA during the “Gold Rush”. These settlers were known as forty-niners. San Francisco became a boom town. By 1849, California’s population exceeded 100,000. California applied for statehood as a state that outlawed slavery.