Texas and War with Mexico Reading with Questions | Student Handouts - Free Printable

It looks like you've uploaded a map titled "Mexican Cession (1848)", which illustrates the territorial changes following the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). The map shows the areas of Mexico before and after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ended the war.

Let’s analyze and explain the key elements of this map and the historical context:

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🔍 What is the Mexican Cession?

The Mexican Cession refers to the large portion of territory that Mexico ceded (gave up) to the United States after the Mexican-American War. This transfer was formalized by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848.

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🗺️ Key Features on the Map:

1. Pre-1848 Mexico (before the war):
- The shaded area labeled "MEXICO" represents the territory controlled by Mexico before the war.
- It includes modern-day Mexico, as well as parts of the southwestern United States.

2. Mexican Cession (the transferred land):
- The light gray area marked with diagonal lines shows the territory ceded by Mexico to the U.S.
- This includes:
- Present-day California
- Nevada
- Utah
- Most of Arizona
- Parts of New Mexico
- Small portions of Colorado and Wyoming

3. Boundary Claimed by Texas:
- A dotted line marks the boundary claimed by Texas when it declared independence from Mexico.
- Texas claimed its southern border along the Rio Grande, but Mexico disputed this, claiming the Nueces River as the border.
- This dispute was one of the causes of the Mexican-American War.

4. Unorganized Territory (U.S.):
- The area labeled "UNORGANIZED TERRITORY (U.S.)" indicates land that had been acquired by the U.S. but not yet organized into states or territories.

5. Other Territories:
- The Oregon Territory is shown in the northwest.
- The Mexican Territory (1845) label may refer to lands under Mexican control just before the war.

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✔ Historical Significance:

- The Mexican Cession nearly doubled the size of the United States.
- It fulfilled the American concept of Manifest Destiny — the belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continent.
- The acquisition of these lands led to debates over slavery in new territories, contributing to tensions that eventually led to the Civil War.

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🧩 Why This Matters Today:

- The borders of the Southwestern U.S. were largely defined by this treaty.
- The Rio Grande became the official border between the U.S. and Mexico, settling the Texas boundary dispute.
- The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed property rights for Mexican citizens living in the ceded territories, although many faced discrimination or lost land over time.

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📌 Summary:

✔ The Mexican Cession of 1848 resulted in Mexico giving up about 525,000 square miles of land to the United States.
✔ This included present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
✔ The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-American War and established the current U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande.

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If your task was to identify the territory gained by the U.S. in 1848, the answer is the Mexican Cession, which is clearly shown on the map as the diagonally shaded region west of Texas and north of Mexico.

Let me know if you'd like help labeling specific states or answering a question based on this map!