Borders Built on Blood

How the U.S. Swallowed Half of Mexico

We forget that the American Southwest - California's Golden Coast, Arizona's deserts, and Texas' sprawling ranches - was once Mexican land just a few generations ago. The truth is uncomfortable: these states weren't won through noble expansion, but taken through calculated aggression against a weaker neighbor.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/land-lost-mexico/#undefined

It started with broken promises. Mexico welcomed American settlers into Texas in the 1820s, only to see them revolt and declare independence in 1836. When the U.S. annexed Texas nine years later, it wasn't diplomacy - it was theft by paperwork. President Polk then manufactured a war by sending troops into disputed territory, giving him an excuse to seize what he really wanted: Mexico's northern territories.

The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo wasn't a fair deal - it was a ransom note. After occupying Mexico City, the U.S. forced a devastated nation to surrender nearly half its territory for $15 million, about 40 cents per acre. Five years later, the Gadsden Purchase took even more land under similarly dubious circumstances.

Today we debate border security while ignoring how that border was drawn. We argue about immigration without acknowledging that many Mexican-American families have deeper roots here than those complaining about them. The uncomfortable truth? The U.S. Southwest has more legitimate claim to being Mexican territory than American.

This history matters. It explains why Spanish remains widely spoken in the region. Why place names like San Francisco, El Paso, and Colorado dot the map. Why the cultural ties across the border run so deep. Recognizing this past forces us to confront difficult questions about justice, reparations, and what it truly means to be "American" in lands that were never ours to begin with.

The Southwest wasn't destined to be part of the United States - it was made so through military might and political maneuvering. That's not the proud history we learn in school, but it's the one we need to remember if we want to understand our present.

Sources: U.S. National Archives records on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; Library of Congress historical documents on the Mexican-American War