Actual picture of the treaty signed by James Gadsden and President Franklin Pierce. From the National Archives. Public Domain. (English Version)

This purchase cut off the top of Mexican states Chihuahua and Sonora which enraged its residents. These Mexican citizens were given no say in this transaction and were forced to be part of country they had just finished fighting a war against.

Gadsden

Purchase

1853

The Gadsden Purchase was the purchase land by the United States government from the Republic of Mexico. President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, to negotiate with Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the general and president of Mexico. “For the price of $15 million, later reduced to $10 million, the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona” and also promised to aid the nagging issue of suppressing the Native Americans. [2]

Gadsden Purchase Map. By Naeb Hailu, from imgur Commons Archive, 2015. Public Domain.

Actual picture of the treaty signed by James Gadsden and President Franklin Pierce. From the National Archives. Public Domain. (Spanish Version)

As a result of this transaction, Antonia Lopez de Santa Anna was excused from his position as president and general and later exiled from Mexico. The residents who decided to continue living on their land were continuously harassed by local government due to the anti-immigrant hysteria.

“We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.”

The residents who decided to continue living on their land were continuously harassed by local government due to the anti-immigrant hysteria. The residents would reply “we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us” and were forced to show identification to prove their “nationality.” [3] These Mexicans were also exploited for their labor. They were paid far below the standard wage and were asked to perform the the dirtiest of tasks.

This purchase was the last major acquisition of land by the United States which established a lasting border with Mexico. The new border was not heavily enforced which resulted in the residents of the newly purchased land being harassed by law enforcement.

Finding Freedom

This treaty displaced thousands of Mexican citizens, forcing them to become American citizens. They were treated poorly by law enforcement, employers and their own neighbors. These people had no say in this transaction and were forced to live completely different lives in a new country. Although the people did not do any geographical movement, they were relocated country over night. As this population lost their rights as Mexican citizens and gained little to nothing as new U.S. citizens.

Image of U.S. commemorative stamp. From the Wikipedia Commons Archive, Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Public Domain.

Bibliography

Council of Foreign Affairs. (2011). Timeline: U.S.-Mexico Relations. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-mexico-relations
History. (2010, February 09). Southern U.S. border established. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/southern-u-s-border-established.
Little, B. (2018, October 17). Why Mexican Americans Say 'The Border Crossed Us'. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/news/texas-mexico-border-history-laws
Yale Law. (2008). Gadsden Purchase Treaty : December 30, 1853. Retrieved from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/mx1853.asp
Gadsden Purchase Celebration in Mesilla, New Mexico. From the Wikimedia Commons Archive, 2011. Public Domain.