Mexican-American War

The Mexican-American War was fought between the United States and Mexico and arose from the American annexation of Texas in 1845 and a dispute over the southern boundary of the territory. After a clash between patrols north of the Rio Grande in April 1846, President James K. Polk asked Congress for a declaration of war. American forces under Zachary Taylor won victories in northern Mexico, while Winfield Scott landed at Veracruz and fought his way to Mexico City, which fell in September 1847. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico gave up California and a vast area in the Southwest, roughly half of its territory, and received fifteen million dollars. The acquisition provoked bitter debate in the United States over whether slavery should spread into the new lands.

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