Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/673

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THE GADSDEN TREATY.
653

Mexico, Manuel Diez de Bonilla, José Salazar Ilarregui, and Mariano Monterde; and on the part of the United States, James Gadsden, the American minister, accredited near the Mexican government.[1] The Mexican government ratified the treaty on the 31st of May, 1854; the American on the 29th of June of the same year. It was published by the former power on the 20th of July, 1854.

The funds proceeding from the sale of territory were

  1. Art. 1. Mexico conceded as the U. S. boundary the same dividing line between the two Californias as was already established by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the other boundaries to be as follows: Beginning in the gulf of Mexico, 3 leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the 5th art. of that treaty; thence, as defined in that article, up the middle of that river to the point where the parallel of 31° 47' north crosses the same; thence due west 100 miles; thence south to the parallel of 31° 20'; thence along the said parallel to the 111th meridian; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River, 20 Eng. miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence up the middle of the Colorado until it intersects the existing line between the U. S. and Mexico. Commissioners were appointed to run the new boundary line. Clauses in the 5th art. of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo conflicting with the above were to be no longer in force. Art. 2 released the U. S. from all liability on account of the obligation contained in the 11th of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. That art. and the 33d of the treaty of Apr. 5, 1831, were abrogated. Art. 3. In consideration of the above, the U. S. agreed to pay Mexico, in New York, ten million dollars, namely, seven on the exchange of ratifications, and the remainder when the boundary line had been established. Art. 4 abrogated the 6th and 7th of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Vessels and Am. citizens were to have free and uninterrupted passage through the gulf of Cal., to and from their possessions north of the boundary line; the passage to be by navigating the gulf and the Colorado River, and not by land without Mexico's express consent. Art. 5. All provisions of the 8th, 9th, 16th, and 17th articles of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were to have application to the territory now ceded. Art. 6. Grants of land by the Mexican government within the territory now ceded, after Sept. 25, 1853, were to have no value unless located and duly recorded in the city of Mexico. Art. 7 reaffirmed the 21st and 22d articles of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Art. 8. The Mexican government having authorized, on Feb. 5, 1853, the construction of a plank road and railroad across the isthmus of Tehuantepec, the U. S. and their citizens were to enjoy all the privileges of transit for themselves and their merchandise, as the most favored nation; also the privilege of passing the mails in closed bags. Prompt arrangements to be made to enable the U. S. to pass through the isthmus troops and munitions which the latter might have occasion to send from one part of their territory to another; the Am. government agreeing to protect the work of the railroad as far as it might feel it to be sanctioned and warranted by the public or international law. Art. 9 stipulated that the ratification of this treaty be exchanged at the earliest possible day, within six months of the date of its being signed. Derecho Intern. Mex., 1st pt, 258-67. U. S. Govt Doc., H. Ex. Doc. 109, vol. xiii., 33d Cong., 1st Ses.; Cong. Globe, 1853-4, 2234, 2258; U. S. House Jour., 1082, 33d Cong., 1st Ses.; U. S. Senate Jour., 920-1, 33d Cong., 1st Sess.; Zamacois, Hist. Méj., xv. 951-61; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, iv. 402-3, 438-9; Id., Gob. de Méx., ii. 435, 441, 460-1.