The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a peace treaty signed on the 2nd of Feburary, 1848, at the Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo (presently known as Gustavo A. Madero, D.f).  The signing of this treaty ended the war between the United States and Mexico.  By the treaty’s terms, Mexico ceded 1.36 million square kilometers (525,000 square miles) of its territory to the United States in exchange for $15 million US dollars. America also agreed to take over $3.25 million US dollars in debts Mexican owed to American Citizens.

The cession included several states, presently known as the states of Colorado, Arizona, California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and New Mexico.

United States sent Nicolas P. Trist as the American representative to sign the treaty, and Mexico had Luis G. Cuevas, Bernardo Couto and Miguel Atristain as their representatives.  The treaty was later ratified by the United States Senate on 10th of March (1848), and ratified again by the Mexican government on 19th of May (1848).  The exchange of the two countries’ ratification took place on the 30th of May in 1848, at the city of Santiago de Queretaro.  However, the version of the treaty ratified by the United States Senate removed Article 10, which was the article that stated the American government would honor and guarantee all land grants awarded in lands ceded to America to citizens of Spain and Mexico.  In addition, Article 8, which guaranteed the Mexicans staying for more than one year in the ceded lands would automatically become American citizens, was significantly weakened by Article 9.  Article 9 was written by the United States Senate, which stated that Mexican citizens would only be admitted at the time when the Congress of the United
States determines is the right time.(34)