1. Mexican Cession
I will be able to explain the causes and effects of the U.S.-Mexican War and their impact on the United States.

2. CAUSES

3. Why a war?
Manifest Destiny: the American belief that it was the right and duty of the United States to expand from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. • The annexation, or adding, of the Republic of Texas by the United States in This increased the ongoing
boundary dispute between Texas/United States and Mexico. • Texas/U.S. and Mexico disputed whether their border was the Rio Grande or the Nueces River.

5. EFFECTS

6. RIO GRANDE What happened?
The southern boundary of Texas [and the United States] was set at the Rio Grande River.
RIO GRANDE

7. California, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming
Mexican Cession
California, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming

8. $15 MILLION DOLLARS
Eventually, the United States paid Mexico $15 million dollars for the territory. Earlier, it had
offered $25 million for California alone.

9. Manifest Destiny

11. ??? History Mystery ???
Why did the United States pay $10 million for the “little” piece of land known as the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 when the huge Louisiana Purchase and the large Mexican Cession only cost $15 million each?

12. Answer
A southern railroad route was needed to access California gold discovered in 1849 [the year after the Mexican Cession was concluded]. Mexico had a sellers’ market for that piece of desert because it provided a natural pass through the Rocky Mountain Range and got almost as much for that as for the whole Mexican Cession.