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Gadsden Purchase

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The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 is one of the most monumental land purchases in United States history. In basic terms, the Gadsden Purchase was an area of land that was acquired by the United States from Mexico in order to build a railway for the transportation of goods in the South from East to West in order to fulfill Manifest Destiny. Throughout this paper, I hope to accurately navigate through the events prior to the Gadsden Purchase as well as the early life of James Gadsden. Although many topics relate to the purchase itself, I will offer a historical view into Gadsden’s life before, after, and during the purchase as well as a more in depth look into the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. I shall also touch base on why the land was so …show more content…

They called it the Gadsden Purchase, which the United States agreed to pay Mexico ten million dollars for thirty eight thousand square miles of land. Ten million dollars back in 1853 is equivalent to two hundred and eighty million dollars today. The Southern transcontinental railroad that James Gadsden had dreamed up was never built.
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican American war in 1848 was a very important decision in our history. We allowed the Mexican government to keep Mesilla Valley in place of them giving us the Santa Rita Mountains. We believed that we would profit off of this compromise due to the fact that we thought there was rich copper deposits, and some silver and gold which had not yet been mined. Little did we know that the Mesilla Valley was essential for the construction of a Southern Transcontinental Railroad. The reason it was important for the railroad was because it consisted of flat desert land about fifty miles north to south and 200 miles wide, east to west. There were two parcels of the land that President Pierce instructed Gadsden to try and buy. The Baja California Peninsula was the first for fifty million dollars or the thirty eight thousand square miles of dry arid desert. Santa Ana needed money badly to help build up his army to defend against the very people wanting to pay him, the United States. He thought the best solution was to sell as little land as possible for the most

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