When congress declared war on mexico in may of 1846, who was the united states president?

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by the United States and Mexico on February 2, 1848, ending the Mexican War and extending the boundaries of the United States by over 525,000 square miles. In addition to establishing the Rio Grande as the border between the two countries, the territory acquired by the U.S. included what will become the states of Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. In exchange Mexico received fifteen million dollars in compensation for the territory and the U.S. agreed to assume claims from private citizens of these areas against the Mexican government.

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

Digital Collections

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875

This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals.

• May 11, 1846 - President James Polk submitted a message to Congress outlining his reasons for declaring war with Mexico.
• May 11, 1846 - Messages of the President of the United States, with the correspondence, therewith communicated, between the Secretary of War and other officers of the government, on the subject of the Mexican War (H.exdoc.60)
• May 11, 1846 - The House of Representatives approved a resolution declaring war with Mexico by a vote of 174 to 14.
• May 12, 1846 - The Senate approved a resolution declaring war with Mexico by a vote of 40 to 2.
• May 13, 1846 - President Polk signed "An act providing for the prosecution of the existing war between the United States and the Republic of Mexico".
• February 2, 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by the United States and Mexico.
• March 10, 1848 - The Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo by a vote of 38 to 14.

Additional information on the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty and the Mexican War can be found by searching in the 29th and 30th Congresses.

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress

The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 20,000 documents.

• Abraham Lincoln to Congress, January 12, 1848 (Speech regarding Mexican War)
• Abraham Lincoln, Wednesday, December 22, 1847 (Printed Resolution and Preamble on Mexican War: Spot Resolutions)

Search Lincoln's Papers using the phrase "Mexican War" to find additional documents on this subject.

Map Collections

Includes a map of the Mexican War campaign in Mexico by Alvino Herrera. To view additional maps of the Mexican War, search this collection using the phrase "Mexican War."

Music for the Nation, American Sheet Music, ca. 1820-1860

Search this collection using the phrase "Mexican War" to view the sheet music for over fifty songs written about the war.

Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera

The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history.

• President James Polk's proclamation on the Mexican War dated May 13, 1846.
• Union---Extra. Saturday May 23, 1846. From the Mobile Daily advertiser extra. Monday May 18 10 o'clock a. m. [Regarding Mexican War].
• Bulletin by telegraph to "Union," Washington To the editor of the Union: New Orleans, Sept. 26, 1847 (a telegraph announcing that Mexico City was captured and an armistice was signed)

America's Library

Jump Back in Time: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Was Signed In Mexico City.

Hispanic Reading Room

The Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the treaty signing, the Library of Congress created an online presentation on the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty. It includes page images of the original treaty housed in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division and the area map used during the negotiations from the Geography and Map Division.

Today in History

May 8, 1846

General Zachary Taylor defeated a detachment of the Mexican army in a two-day battle at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma on May 8, 1846.

February 2, 1848

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City on February 2, 1848.

February 23, 1847

The Battle of Buena Vista was won by the United States on February 23, 1847. General Zachary Taylor, future president of the United States, was the commander of American troops in this victory over Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

Mexican-American Diplomacy: 1848-1861, The Avalon Project at Yale Law School

Online Bookshelves: Mexican War, Center of Military History, U.S. Army

Our Documents, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, National Archives and Records Administration

Teaching with Documents: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, National Archives and Records Administration

The U.S. Mexican War (1846-1848), PBS

Selected Bibliography

Mahin, Dean B. Olive Branch and Sword: The United States and Mexico, 1845-1848. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1997. [Catalog Record]

Ohrt, Wallace. Defiant Peacemaker: Nicholas Trist in the Mexican War. College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 1997. [Catalog Record]

Drexler, Robert W. Guilty of Making Peace: A Biography of Nicholas P. Trist. Lanham: University Press of America, 1991. [Catalog Record]

Griswold del Castillo, Richard. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. [Catalog Record]

Frazier, Donald S., ed. The United States and Mexico at War: Nineteenth-Century Expansionism and Conflict. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998. [Catalog Record]

Johannsen, Robert Walter. To the Halls of the Montezumas: The Mexican War in the American Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. [Catalog Record]

Younger Readers

Carey, Charles W., Jr. The Mexican War: "Mr. Polk's War". Berkeley Heights, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, 2002. [Catalog Record]

Mills, Bronwyn. U.S.-Mexican War. New York: Facts On File, 2003. [Catalog Record]

Nardo, Don. The Mexican-American War. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books, 1999. [Catalog Record]

Porterfield, Jason. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1848: A Primary Source Examination of the Treaty That Ended the Mexican-American War. New York: Rosen Central Primary Source, 2006. [Catalog Record]

When did Congress declare war on Mexico in 1846?

Who was the president when the Mexican cession was added?

Who was the president of Mexican cession in 1848?