Today in History: The Gadsden Purchase


Today in History–December 30–the Library of Congress features the Gadsden Purchase (treaty), signed on this day in 1853. U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis influenced President Franklin Pierce to send U.S. Minister James Gadsden to negotiate the treaty in order to obtain land for construction of a southern transcontinental railroad. Under the treaty, the United States paid Mexico $10 million for land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona. Learn more by visiting the Today in History section and clicking the links below.

The Gadsden Purchase Was Signed in Mexico City from America’s Library

An Act declaring the Southern Boundary of New Mexico (p. 311)

Map of the Gadsden Purchase

Boundaries (Gadsden Treaty)

Gadsden Treaty historical newspaper coverage 1853-1854

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