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Essay On The Gadsden Purchase

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Essay On The Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was a treaty that was signed by President Antonio de Santa Anna and James Gadsden on December 30, 1853. The treaty said that America agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for 29,670 square miles of land. This all started because America and Mexico couldn't agree where the border would be. America said the Mesilla Valley was part of their country. However, Mexico also said that the Mesilla Valley was part of their country. America wanted the Mesilla Valley to build a transcontinental railroad with slave labor, even though there were debates over slave labor. They also wanted to accomplish a belief they had that was called Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was America's God-given right and duty to buy …show more content…
The Senates were against slavery and they were worried that the land would become slave states. So they reduced price to $10 million, and they reduced the land to only 29,670 square miles instead of 45,000 square miles of land. The Senate also removed anything about financing Native American attacks. President Pierce signed the treaty, then Gadsden brought the treaty to President Antonio de Santa Anna in Mexico, which he signed on June 8, 1854. The treaty failed to fix the financial issues with Native American border attacks against Mexico. Mexico had already lost a lot of land to America and This made the Mexicans worry. This made the Mexicans worry because they were afraid of losing more land to America. So, Mexican opponents got together and drove President Antonio de Santa Anna from power in 1855. James Gadsden died on December 26, 1858. Antislavery forces in America were afraid that the new territory would become slavery states. So, they opposed of the Gadsden Purchase. People who supported the transcontinental railroad got disappointed because the land was too mountainous for it. The transcontinental railroad got finished in 1882. The Gadsden makes up part of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It also helped establish the border of America and
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