Gadsden Purchase

The Gadsden Purchase is a 29,640 mi² (77,700 km²) region of what is today southern Arizona and New Mexico that was purchased by the United States from Mexico in 1853. The purchase included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande.

Overview

Even after the conclusion of the Mexico-U.S. War, border disputes remained unsettled. Land that now comprises lower Arizona and New Mexico was part of a proposed southern route for a transcontinental railroad. President Franklin Pierce was convinced by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to send James Gadsden (who had personal interests in the rail route) to negotiate the Gadsden Purchase with Mexico. Under the agreement, the U.S. paid Mexico USD $10 million (equivalent of $343,826,098 today) to secure the land. The Treaty included a provision allowing the U.S. to build a transoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, but this option was never exercised. The acquisition of land in this purchase secured the final boundaries of the continental United States.

Related Topics:
Mexico-U.S. War - President - Franklin Pierce - Jefferson Davis - James Gadsden - USD - Isthmus of Tehuantepec

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