MEXICO CITY.- Mexico became an independent country in 1821, with a territorial extension of 4 million 400,000 kilometersHowever, this would only last for a few years.
The states of California, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico, as well as a part of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma , were once part of Mexican territory, until February 2, 1848, at the end of the American Intervention War, The United States and Mexico signed the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty.
In that agreement, originally titled, “Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Definitive Agreement between the United Mexican States and the United States of America”, Mexico gave up its claims on Texas independence; plus, the border of both nations was delimited between the Gulf of Mexico, to the Pacific Ocean; passing through the Gila River, the Bravo River, the Colorado River, and the boundaries of New Mexico and Alta Calofornia.
As compensation, the United States paid $ 15 million for damages to Mexican territory during the war.
Additionally, the Americans agreed to patrol their side of the border, and the two countries agreed to settle future disputes under binding arbitration.
One of the reasons why Mexico had to cede this territory was because of its inability to defend it; because it did not have a large population, nor sufficient monetary resources.
The population that had spread in the north was thanks to the sale of land at low prices to foreigners, who were willing to nationalize Mexicans.
On the other hand, the United States had resources and a great expansionist interest, which gave it incentives to fully exploit its new territories.
What did Mexico lose?
The cession of this territory would be a future economic benefit for the United States, since most of the entities in that region stand out today due to the large size of their economies.
For example, the Gross State Product of California in 2017 it was $ 2,845.4 million, With a population of 39 million inhabitants, it occupies the ninth place in the ranking of the richest states in the United States.
“The million dollar question” would be: In what economic conditions would that territory be if it had been left in Mexican hands?
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