The Mexican-American War (1846-1848): Part II

The battle of Chapultepec (September 13, 1847) was the last battle fought. The castle of Chapultepec was heroically defended by very young cadets of the Military College who, rather than surrender, preferred to commit suicide by leaping from the castle battlements. Known by the name of Los Niños Héroes ("heroic children"), they have become legendary.

On September 14, 1847, the Americans finally seized the capital. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by both countries, marking the official ending of the Mexican American War. The treaty stipulated that the United States, in exchange for 10 million pesos as indemnification, would acquire over 1.5 million square kilometers of the Mexican territory. California, New Mexico, and also Arizona and parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Utah and Colorado would today be Mexican, if not for that war.

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