Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican War
between the United States and Mexico. Signed on February 2,
1848, the treaty established the southern boundary of the
United States as the Rio Grande River. Mexico agreed to cede
to the United States all of its land known as California and
New Mexico—an area that comprises present-day California,
Nevada, Utah, parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and
Wyoming. In exchange the United States offered $15 million in
compensation to Mexico and assumed the debts of the
Mexican government to U.S. citizens. The following year gold
was discovered in California. The natural resources and
availability of this land have had a great impact on the U.S.
economy.

TREATY OF PEACE, FRIENDSHIP, LIMITS, AND SETTLEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE UNITED MEXICAN STATES CONCLUDED
AT GUADALUPE HIDALGO, FEBRUARY 2, 1848; RATIFICATION ADVISED BY SENATE, WITH AMENDMENTS,
MARCH 10, 1848; RATIFIED BY PRESIDENT, MARCH 16,
1848; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED AT QUERETARO,
MAY 30, 1848; PROCLAIMED, JULY 4, 1848.
IN THE NAME OF ALMIGHTY GOD
The United States of America and the United Mexican
States animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the
calamities of the war which unhappily exists between the two
Republics and to establish Upon a solid basis relations of
peace and friendship, which shall confer reciprocal benefits
upon the citizens of both, and assure the concord, harmony,
and mutual confidence wherein the two people should live, as
good neighbors have for that purpose appointed their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say: The President of the
United States has appointed Nicholas P. Trist, a citizen of the
United States, and the President of the Mexican Republic has
appointed Don Luis Gonzaga Cuevas, Don Bernardo Couto,
and Don Miguel Atristain, citizens of the said Republic; Who,
after a reciprocal communication of their respective full powers, have, under the protection of Almighty God, the author
of peace, arranged, agreed upon, and signed the following:
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement
between the United States of America and the Mexican
Republic.
ARTICLE I
There shall be firm and universal peace between the
United States of America and the Mexican Republic, and
between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns,
and people, without exception of places or persons.
ARTICLE II
Immediately upon the signature of this treaty, a convention shall be entered into between a commissioner or commissioners appointed by the General-in-chief of the forces of
the United States, and such as may be appointed by the
Mexican Government, to the end that a provisional suspension of hostilities shall take place, and that, in the places occupied by the said forces, constitutional order may be
reestablished, as regards the political, administrative, and
judicial branches, so far as this shall be permitted by the circumstances of military occupation.
ARTICLE III
Immediately upon the ratification of the present treaty by
the Government of the United States, orders shall be transmitted to the commanders of their land and naval forces,
requiring the latter (provided this treaty shall then have been
ratified by the Government of the Mexican Republic, and the
ratifications exchanged) immediately to desist from blockading any Mexican ports and requiring the former (under the
same condition) to commence, at the earliest moment practicable, withdrawing all troops of the United States then in
the interior of the Mexican Republic, to points that shall be
selected by common agreement, at a distance from the seaports not exceeding thirty leagues; and such evacuation of the
interior of the Republic shall be completed with the least possible delay; the Mexican Government hereby binding itself to
afford every facility in its power for rendering the same con-

venience to the troops, on their march and in their new positions, and for promoting a good understanding between
them and the inhabitants. In like manner orders shall be dispatched to the persons in charge of the custom houses at all
ports occupied by the forces of the United States, requiring
them (under the same condition) immediately to deliver possession of the same to the persons authorized by the Mexican
Government to receive it, together with all bonds and evidences of debt for duties on importations and on exportations, not yet fallen due. Moreover, a faithful and exact
account shall be made out, showing the entire amount of all
duties on imports and on exports, collected at such customhouses, or elsewhere in Mexico, by authority of the United
States, from and after the day of ratification of this treaty by
the Government of the Mexican Republic; and also an
account of the cost of collection; and such entire amount,
deducting only the cost of collection, shall be delivered to the
Mexican Government, at the city of Mexico, within three
months after the exchange of ratifications.
The evacuation of the capital of the Mexican Republic by
the troops of the United States, in virtue of the above stipulation, shall be completed in one month after the orders there
stipulated for shall have been received by the commander of
said troops, or sooner if possible.
ARTICLE IV
Immediately after the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty all castles, forts, territories, places, and possessions,
which have been taken or occupied by the forces of the
United States during the present war, within the limits of the
Mexican Republic, as about to be established by the following
article, shall be definitely restored to the said Republic,
together with all the artillery, arms, apparatus of war, munitions, and other public property, which were in the said castles and forts when captured, and which shall remain there at
the time when this treaty shall be duly ratified by the
Government of the Mexican Republic. To this end, immediately upon the signature of this treaty, orders shall be dispatched to the American officers commanding such castles
and forts, securing against the removal or destruction of any
such artillery, arms, apparatus of war, munitions, or other
public property. The city of Mexico, within the inner line of
entrenchments surrounding the said city, is comprehended in
the above stipulation, as regards the restoration of artillery,
apparatus of war, & c.
The final evacuation of the territory of the Mexican
Republic, by the forces of the United States, shall be completed in three months from the said exchange of ratifications, or sooner if possible; the Mexican Government hereby
engaging, as in the foregoing article to use all means in its
power for facilitating such evacuation, and rendering it convenient to the troops, and for promoting a good understanding between them and the inhabitants.
If, however, the ratification of this treaty by both parties
should not take place in time to allow the embarcation of the
troops of the United States to be completed before the commencement of the sickly season, at the Mexican ports on the
Gulf of Mexico, in such case a friendly arrangement shall be
entered into between the General-in-Chief of the said troops
and the Mexican Government, whereby healthy and otherwise suitable places, at a distance from the ports not exceeding thirty leagues, shall be designated for the residence of
such troops as may not yet have embarked, until the return
of the healthy season. And the space of time here referred to
as, comprehending the sickly season shall be understood to
extend from the first day of May to the first day of
November.
All prisoners of war taken on either side, on land or on sea,
shall be restored as soon as practicable after the exchange of
ratifications of this treaty. It is also agreed that if any
Mexicans should now be held as captives by any savage tribe
within the limits of the United States, as about to be established by the following article, the Government of the said
United States will exact the release of such captives and cause
them to be restored to their country.
ARTICLE V
The boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo
del Norte, or Opposite the mouth of its deepest branch, if it
should have more than one branch emptying directly into the
sea; from thence up the middle of that river, following the
deepest channel, where it has more than one, to the point
where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico;
thence, westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of
New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to its
western termination; thence, northward, along the western
line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the
river Gila; (or if it should not intersect any branch of that
river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such
branch, and thence in a direct line to the same); thence down
the middle of the said branch and of the said river, until it
empties into the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio
Colorado, following the division line between Upper and
Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean.
The southern and western limits of New Mexico, mentioned in the article, are those laid down in the map entitled
“Map of the United Mexican States, as organized and defined
by various acts of the Congress of said republic, and constructed according to the best authorities. Revised edition.
Published at New York, in 1847, by J. Disturnell,” of which
map a copy is added to this treaty, bearing the signatures and
seals of the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, And, in order to
preclude all difficulty in tracing upon the ground the limit
separating Upper from Lower California, it is agreed that the
said limit shall consist of a straight line drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, to a
point on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, distant one marine
league due south of the southernmost point of the port of
San Diego, according to the plan of said port made in the year
1782 by Don Juan Pantoja, second sailing-master of the
Spanish fleet, and published at Madrid in the year 1802, in
the atlas to the voyage of the schooners Sutil and Mexicana;
of which plan a copy is hereunto added, signed and sealed by
the respective Plenipotentiaries.

In order to designate the boundary line with due precision,
upon authoritative maps, and to establish upon the ground
land-marks which shall show the limits of both republics, as
described in the present article, the two Governments shall
each appoint a commissioner and a surveyor, who, before the
expiration of one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, shall meet at the port of San Diego, and
proceed to run and mark the said boundary in its whole
course to the mouth of the Rio Bravo del Norte. They shall
keep journals and make out plans of their operations; and the
result agreed upon by them shall be deemed a part of this
treaty, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted
therein. The two Governments will amicably agree regarding
what may be necessary to these persons, and also as to their
respective escorts, should such be necessary.
The boundary line established by this article shall be religiously respected by each of the two republics, and no change
shall ever be made therein, except by the express and free consent of both nations, lawfully given by the General Government of each, in conformity with its own constitution.
ARTICLE VI
The vessels and citizens of the United States shall, in all
time, have a free and uninterrupted passage by the Gulf of
California, and by the river Colorado below its confluence
with the Gila, to and from their possessions situated north of
the boundary line defined in the preceding article; it being
understood that this passage is to be by navigating the Gulf of
California and the river Colorado, and not by land, without
the express consent of the Mexican Government.
If, by the examinations which may be made, it should be
ascertained to be practicable and advantageous to construct a
road, canal, or railway, which should in whole or in part run
upon the river Gila, or upon its right or its left bank, within
the space of one marine league from either margin of the
river, the Governments of both republics will form an agreement regarding its construction, in order that it may serve
equally for the use and advantage of both countries.
ARTICLE VII
The river Gila, and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte
lying below the southern boundary of New Mexico, being,
agreeably to the fifth article, divided in the middle between
the two republics, the navigation of the Gila and of the Bravo
below said boundary shall be free and common to the vessels
and citizens of both countries; and neither shall, without the
consent of the other, construct any work that may impede or
interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise of this right; not
even for the purpose of favoring new methods of navigation.
Nor shall any tax or contribution, under any denomination
or title, be levied upon vessels or persons navigating the same
or upon merchandise or effects transported thereon, except
in the case of landing upon one of their shores. If, for the purpose of making the said rivers navigable, or for maintaining
them in such state, it should be necessary or advantageous to
establish any tax or contribution, this shall not be done without the consent of both Governments.
The stipulations contained in the present article shall not
impair the territorial rights of either republic within its established limits.
ARTICLE VIII
Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the
limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty,
shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove
at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property
which they possess in the said territories, or disposing
thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please,
without their being subjected, on this account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever.
Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories
may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or
acquire those of citizens of the United States. But they shall
be under the obligation to make their election within one
year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this
treaty; and those who shall remain in the said territories after
the expiration of that year, without having declared their
intention to retain the character of Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
In the said territories, property of every kind, now belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably
respected. The present owners, the heirs of these, and all
Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with respect to it guarantees equally ample
as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE IX
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not
preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic,
conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article,
shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States and
be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the
Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the
rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall be
maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their
religion without restriction.
ARTICLE X
[Stricken out by the United States Amendments]
ARTICLE XI
Considering that a great part of the territories, which, by
the present treaty, are to be comprehended for the future
within the limits of the United States, is now occupied by savage tribes, who will hereafter be under the exclusive control
of the Government of the United States, and whose incursions within the territory of Mexico would be prejudicial in
the extreme, it is solemnly agreed that all such incursions
shall be forcibly restrained by the Government of the United
States whensoever this may be necessary; and that when they
cannot be prevented, they shall be punished by the said
Government, and satisfaction for the same shall be exacted all

in the same way, and with equal diligence and energy, as if the
same incursions were meditated or committed within its own
territory, against its own citizens.
It shall not be lawful, under any pretext whatever, for any
inhabitant of the United States to purchase or acquire any
Mexican, or any foreigner residing in Mexico, who may have
been captured by Indians inhabiting the territory of either of
the two republics; nor to purchase or acquire horses, mules,
cattle, or property of any kind, stolen within Mexican territory by such Indians.
And in the event of any person or persons, captured
within Mexican territory by Indians, being carried into the
territory of the United States, the Government of the latter
engages and binds itself, in the most solemn manner, so soon
as it shall know of such captives being within its territory, and
shall be able so to do, through the faithful exercise of its influence and power, to rescue them and return them to their
country or deliver them to the agent or representative of the
Mexican Government. The Mexican authorities will, as far as
practicable, give to the Government of the United States
notice of such captures; and its agents shall pay the expenses
incurred in the maintenance and transmission of the rescued
captives; who, in the mean time, shall be treated with the
utmost hospitality by the American authorities at the place
where they may be. But if the Government of the United
States, before receiving such notice from Mexico, should
obtain intelligence, through any other channel, of the existence of Mexican captives within its territory, it will proceed
forthwith to effect their release and delivery to the Mexican
agent, as above stipulated.
For the purpose of giving to these stipulations the fullest
possible efficacy, thereby affording the security and redress
demanded by their true spirit and intent, the Government of
the United States will now and hereafter pass, without unnecessary delay, and always vigilantly enforce, such laws as the
nature of the subject may require. And, finally, the sacredness
of this obligation shall never be lost sight of by the said
Government, when providing for the removal of the Indians
from any portion of the said territories, or for its being settled
by citizens of the United States; but, on the contrary, special
care shall then be taken not to place its Indian occupants
under the necessity of seeking new homes, by committing
those invasions which the United States have solemnly
obliged themselves to restrain.
ARTICLE XII
In consideration of the extension acquired by the boundaries of the United States, as defined in the fifth article of the
present treaty, the Government of the United States engages
to pay to that of the Mexican Republic the sum of fifteen millions of dollars.
Immediately after the treaty shall have been duly ratified
by the Government of the Mexican Republic, the sum of
three millions of dollars shall be paid to the said Government
by that of the United States, at the city of Mexico, in the gold
or silver coin of Mexico. The remaining twelve millions of
dollars shall be paid at the same place, and in the same coin,
in annual installments of three millions of dollars each,
together with interest on the same at the rate of six per centum per annum. This interest shall begin to run upon the
whole sum of twelve millions from the day of the ratification
of the present treaty by the Mexican Government, and the
first of the installments shall be paid at the expiration of one
year from the same day. Together with each annual installment, as it falls due, the whole interest accruing on such
installment from the beginning shall also be paid.
ARTICLE XIII
The United States engage, moreover, to assume and pay to
the claimants all the amounts now due them, and those hereafter to become due, by reason of the claims already liquidated and decided against the Mexican Republic, under the
conventions between the two republics severally concluded
on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and thirtynine, and on the thirtieth day of January, eighteen hundred
and forty-three; so that the Mexican Republic shall be
absolutely exempt, for the future, from all expense whatever
on account of the said claims.
ARTICLE XIV
The United States do furthermore discharge the Mexican
Republic from all claims of citizens of the United States, not
heretofore decided against the Mexican Government, which
may have arisen previously to the date of the signature of this
treaty; which discharge shall be final and perpetual, whether
the said claims be rejected or be allowed by the board of commissioners provided for in the following article, and whatever
shall be the total amount of those allowed.
ARTICLE XV
The United States, exonerating Mexico from all demands
on account of the claims of their citizens mentioned in the
preceding article, and considering them entirely and forever
canceled, whatever their amount may be, undertake to make
satisfaction for the same, to an amount not exceeding three
and one-quarter millions of dollars. To ascertain the validity
and amount of those claims, a board of commissioners shall
be established by the Government of the United States, whose
awards shall be final and conclusive; provided that, in deciding upon the validity of each claim, the board shall be guided
and governed by the principles and rules of decision prescribed by the first and fifth articles of the unratified convention, concluded at the city of Mexico on the twentieth day of
November, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three; and
in no case shall an award be made in favour of any claim not
embraced by these principles and rules.
If, in the opinion of the said board of commissioners or of
the claimants, any books, records, or documents, in the possession or power of the Government of the Mexican
Republic, shall be deemed necessary to the just decision of
any claim, the commissioners, or the claimants through
them, shall, within such period as Congress may designate,
make an application in writing for the same, addressed to the
Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, to be transmitted by the
Secretary of State of the United States; and the Mexican

Government engages, at the earliest possible moment after
the receipt of such demand, to cause any of the books,
records, or documents so specified, which shall be in their
possession or power (or authenticated copies or extracts of
the same), to be transmitted to the said Secretary of State,
who shall immediately deliver them over to the said board of
commissioners; provided that no such application shall be
made by or at the instance of any claimant, until the facts
which it is expected to prove by such books, records, or documents, shall have been stated under oath or affirmation.
ARTICLE XVI
Each of the contracting parties reserves to itself the entire
right to fortify whatever point within its territory it may
judge proper so to fortify for its security.
ARTICLE XVII
The treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, concluded
at the city of Mexico, on the fifth day of April,
A.D. 1831,
between the United States of America and the United
Mexican States, except the additional article, and except so far
as the stipulations of the said treaty may be incompatible
with any stipulation contained in the present treaty, is hereby
revived for the period of eight years from the day of the
exchange of ratifications of this treaty, with the same force
and virtue as if incorporated therein; it being understood that
each of the contracting parties reserves to itself the right, at
any time after the said period of eight years shall have
expired, to terminate the same by giving one year’s notice of
such intention to the other party.
ARTICLE XVIII
All supplies whatever for troops of the United States in
Mexico, arriving at ports in the occupation of such troops
previous to the final evacuation thereof, although subsequently to the restoration of the custom-houses at such ports,
shall be entirely exempt from duties and charges of any kind;
the Government of the United States hereby engaging and
pledging its faith to establish and vigilantly to enforce, all possible guards for securing the revenue of Mexico, by preventing the importation, under cover of this stipulation, of any
articles other than such, both in kind and in quantity, as shall
really be wanted for the use and consumption of the forces of
the United States during the time they may remain in Mexico.
To this end it shall be the duty of all officers and agents of the
United States to denounce to the Mexican authorities at the
respective ports any attempts at a fraudulent abuse of this
stipulation, which they may know of, or may have reason to
suspect, and to give to such authorities all the aid in their
power with regard thereto; and every such attempt, when
duly proved and established by sentence of a competent tribunal, They shall be punished by the confiscation of the
property so attempted to be fraudulently introduced.
ARTICLE XIX
With respect to all merchandise, effects, and property
whatsoever, imported into ports of Mexico, whilst in the
occupation of the forces of the United States, whether by citizens of either republic, or by citizens or subjects of any neutral nation, the following rules shall be observed:
(1) All such merchandise, effects, and property, if imported previously to the restoration of the custom-houses to
the Mexican authorities, as stipulated for in the third article
of this treaty, shall be exempt from confiscation, although the
importation of the same be prohibited by the Mexican tariff.
(2) The same perfect exemption shall be enjoyed by all
such merchandise, effects, and property, imported subsequently to the restoration of the custom-houses, and previously to the sixty days fixed in the following article for the
coming into force of the Mexican tariff at such ports respectively; the said merchandise, effects, and property being,
however, at the time of their importation, subject to the payment of duties, as provided for in the said following article.
(3) All merchandise, effects, and property described in the
two rules foregoing shall, during their continuance at the
place of importation, and upon their leaving such place for
the interior, be exempt from all duty, tax, or imposts of every
kind, under whatsoever title or denomination. Nor shall they
be there subject to any charge whatsoever upon the sale
thereof.
(4) All merchandise, effects, and property, described in the
first and second rules, which shall have been removed to any
place in the interior, whilst such place was in the occupation
of the forces of the United States, shall, during their continuance therein, be exempt from all tax upon the sale or consumption thereof, and from every kind of impost or
contribution, under whatsoever title or denomination.
(5) But if any merchandise, effects, or property, described
in the first and second rules, shall be removed to any place
not occupied at the time by the forces of the United States,
they shall, upon their introduction into such place, or upon
their sale or consumption there, be subject to the same duties
which, under the Mexican laws, they would be required to
pay in such cases if they had been imported in time of peace,
through the maritime custom-houses, and had there paid the
duties conformably with the Mexican tariff.
(6) The owners of all merchandise, effects, or property,
described in the first and second rules, and existing in any
port of Mexico, shall have the right to reship the same,
exempt from all tax, impost, or contribution whatever.
With respect to the metals, or other property, exported
from any Mexican port whilst in the occupation of the forces
of the United States, and previously to the restoration of the
custom-house at such port, no person shall be required by
the Mexican authorities, whether general or state, to pay any
tax, duty, or contribution upon any such exportation, or in
any manner to account for the same to the said authorities.
ARTICLE XX
Through consideration for the interests of commerce generally, it is agreed, that if less than sixty days should elapse
between the date of the signature of this treaty and the
restoration of the custom houses, conformably with the stipulation in the third article, in such case all merchandise,
effects and property whatsoever, arriving at the Mexican
ports after the restoration of the said custom-houses, and
previously to the expiration of sixty days after the day of signature of this treaty, shall be admitted to entry; and no other
558 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
duties shall be levied thereon than the duties established by
the tariff found in force at such custom-houses at the time of
the restoration of the same. And to all such merchandise,
effects, and property, the rules established by the preceding
article shall apply.
ARTICLE XXI
If unhappily any disagreement should hereafter arise
between the Governments of the two republics, whether with
respect to the interpretation of any stipulation in this treaty,
or with respect to any other particular concerning the political or commercial relations of the two nations, the said
Governments, in the name of those nations, do promise to
each other that they will endeavour, in the most sincere and
earnest manner, to settle the differences so arising, and to
preserve the state of peace and friendship in which the two
countries are now placing themselves, using, for this end,
mutual representations and pacific negotiations. And if, by
these means, they should not be enabled to come to an
agreement, a resort shall not, on this account, be had to
reprisals, aggression, or hostility of any kind, by the one
republic against the other, until the Government of that
which deems itself aggrieved shall have maturely considered,
in the spirit of peace and good neighbourship, whether it
would not be better that such difference should be settled by
the arbitration of commissioners appointed on each side, or
by that of a friendly nation. And should such course be proposed by either party, it shall be acceded to by the other,
unless deemed by it altogether incompatible with the nature
of the difference, or the circumstances of the case.
ARTICLE XXII
If (which is not to be expected, and which God forbid) war
should unhappily break out between the two republics, they
do now, with a view to such calamity, solemnly pledge themselves to each other and to the world to observe the following
rules; absolutely where the nature of the subject permits, and
as closely as possible in all cases where such absolute observance shall be impossible:
(1) The merchants of either republic then residing in the
other shall be allowed to remain twelve months (for those
dwelling in the interior), and six months (for those dwelling
at the seaports) to collect their debts and settle their affairs;
during which periods they shall enjoy the same protection,
and be on the same footing, in all respects, as the citizens or
subjects of the most friendly nations; and, at the expiration
thereof, or at any time before, they shall have full liberty to
depart, carrying off all their effects without molestation or
hindrance, conforming therein to the same laws which the
citizens or subjects of the most friendly nations are required
to conform to. Upon the entrance of the armies of either
nation into the territories of the other, women and children,
ecclesiastics, scholars of every faculty, cultivators of the earth,
merchants, artisans, manufacturers, and fishermen, unarmed
and inhabiting unfortified towns, villages, or places, and in
general all persons whose occupations are for the common
subsistence and benefit of mankind, shall be allowed to continue their respective employments, unmolested in their persons. Nor shall their houses or goods be burnt or otherwise
destroyed, nor their cattle taken, nor their fields wasted, by
the armed force into whose power, by the events of war, they
may happen to fall; but if the necessity arise to take anything
from them for the use of such armed force, the same shall be
paid for at an equitable price. All churches, hospitals, schools,
colleges, libraries, and other establishments for charitable and
beneficent purposes, shall be respected, and all persons connected with the same protected in the discharge of their
duties, and the pursuit of their vocations.
(2) In order that the fate of prisoners of war may be alleviated all such practices as those of sending them into distant,
inclement or unwholesome districts, or crowding them into
close and noxious places, shall be studiously avoided. They
shall not be confined in dungeons, prison ships, or prisons;
nor be put in irons, or bound or otherwise restrained in the
use of their limbs. The officers shall enjoy liberty on their
paroles, within convenient districts, and have comfortable
quarters; and the common soldiers shall be disposed in cantonments, open and extensive enough for air and exercise and
lodged in barracks as roomy and good as are provided by the
party in whose power they are for its own troops. But if any
officer shall break his parole by leaving the district so
assigned him, or any other prisoner shall escape from the
limits of his cantonment after they shall have been designated
to him, such individual, officer, or other prisoner, shall forfeit
so much of the benefit of this article as provides for his liberty on parole or in cantonment. And if any officer so breaking
his parole or any common soldier so escaping from the limits assigned him, shall afterwards be found in arms previously to his being regularly exchanged, the person so offending
shall be dealt with according to the established laws of war.
The officers shall be daily furnished, by the party in whose
power they are, with as many rations, and of the same articles, as are allowed either in kind or by commutation, to officers of equal rank in its own army; and all others shall be
daily furnished with such ration as is allowed to a common
soldier in its own service; the value of all which supplies shall,
at the close of the war, or at periods to be agreed upon
between the respective commanders, be paid by the other
party, on a mutual adjustment of accounts for the subsistence
of prisoners; and such accounts shall not be mingled with or
set off against any others, nor the balance due on them withheld, as a compensation or reprisal for any cause whatever,
real or pretended. Each party shall be allowed to keep a commissary of prisoners, appointed by itself, with every cantonment of prisoners, in possession of the other; which
commissary shall see the prisoners as often as he pleases; shall
be allowed to receive, exempt from all duties and taxes, and to
distribute, whatever comforts may be sent to them by their
friends; and shall be free to transmit his reports in open letters to the party by whom he is employed.
And it is declared that neither the pretense that war dissolves all treaties, nor any other whatever, shall be considered
as annulling or suspending the solemn covenant contained in
this article. On the contrary, the state of war is precisely that
for which it is provided; and, during which, its stipulations
are to be as sacredly observed as the most acknowledged obligations under the law of nature or nations.

ARTICLE XXIII
This treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United
States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate thereof; and by the President of the Mexican Republic,
with the previous approbation of its general Congress; and
the ratifications shall be exchanged in the City of
Washington, or at the seat of Government of Mexico, in four
months from the date of the signature hereof, or sooner if
practicable.
In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have
signed this treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement,
and have hereunto affixed our seals respectively. Done in
quintuplicate, at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo, on the second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and forty-eight.
N. P. TRIST
LUIS P. CUEVAS
BERNARDO COUTO
MIGL. ATRISTAIN
***
Article IX was modified and Article X was stricken by the U.S.
Congress. The following are the original articles. An
explanation or agreement of why the articles were stricken,
known as the protocol of Querétaro, is also included below.
***
ARTICLE IX
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not
preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic,
conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding Article,
shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States, and
admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of
the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights of
citizens of the United States. In the mean time, they shall be
maintained and protected in the enjoyment of their liberty,
their property, and the civil rights now vested in them
according to the Mexican laws. With respect to political
rights, their condition shall be on an equality with that of the
inhabitants of the other territories of the United States; and
at least equally good as that of the inhabitants of Louisiana
and the Floridas, when these provinces, by transfer from the
French Republic and the Crown of Spain, became territories
of the United States.
The same most ample guaranty shall be enjoyed by all
ecclesiastics and religious corporations or communities, as
well in the discharge of the offices of their ministry, as in the
enjoyment of their property of every kind, whether individual or corporate. This guaranty shall embrace all temples,
houses and edifices dedicated to the Roman Catholic worship; as well as all property destined to its support, or to that
of schools, hospitals and other foundations for charitable or
beneficent purposes. No property of this nature shall be considered as having become the property of the American
Government, or as subject to be, by it, disposed of or diverted to other uses.
Finally, the relations and communication between the
Catholics living in the territories aforesaid, and their respective ecclesiastical authorities, shall be open, free and exempt
from all hindrance whatever, even although such authorities
should reside within the limits of the Mexican Republic, as
defined by this treaty; and this freedom shall continue, so
long as a new demarcation of ecclesiastical districts shall not
have been made, conformably with the laws of the Roman
Catholic Church.
ARTICLE X
All grants of land made by the Mexican government or by
the competent authorities, in territories previously appertaining to Mexico, and remaining for the future within the
limits of the United States, shall be respected as valid, to the
same extent that the same grants would be valid, to the said
territories had remained within the limits of Mexico. But the
grantees of lands in Texas, put in possession thereof, who, by
reason of the circumstances of the country since the beginning of the troubles between Texas and the Mexican
Government, may have been prevented from fulfilling all the
conditions of their grants, shall be under the obligation to
fulfill the said conditions within the periods limited in the
same respectively; such periods to be now counted from the
date of the exchange of ratifications of this Treaty: in default
of which the said grants shall not be obligatory upon the
State of Texas, in virtue of the stipulations contained in this
Article.
The foregoing stipulation in regard to grantees of land in
Texas, is extended to all grantees of land in the territories
aforesaid, elsewhere than in Texas, put in possession under
such grants; and, in default of the fulfillment of the conditions of any such grant, within the new period, which, as is
above stipulated, begins with the day of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, the same shall be null and void.
THE PROTOCOL OF QUERÉTARO
In the city of Queretaro on the twenty sixth of the month
of May eighteen hundred and forty-eight at a conference
between Their Excellencies Nathan Clifford and Ambrose H.
Sevier Commissioners of the United States of America, with
full powers from their Government to make to the Mexican
Republic suitable explanations in regard to the amendments
which the Senate and Government of the said United States
have made in the treaty of peace, friendship, limits and definitive settlement between the two Republics, signed in
Guadalupe Hidalgo, on the second day of February of the
present year, and His Excellency Don Luis de la Rosa,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Mexico, it was
agreed, after adequate conversation respecting the changes
alluded to, to record in the present protocol the following
explanations which Their aforesaid Excellencies the
Commissioners gave in the name of their Government and in
fulfillment of the Commission conferred upon them near the
Mexican Republic.
First.
The American Government by suppressing the IXth article of the Treaty of Guadalupe and substituting the III article

of the Treaty of Louisiana did not intend to diminish in any
way what was agreed upon by the aforesaid article IXth in
favor of the inhabitants of the territories ceded by Mexico. Its
understanding that all of that agreement is contained in the
IIId article of the Treaty of Louisiana. In consequence, all the
privileges and guarantees, civil, political and religious, which
would have been possessed by the inhabitants of the ceded
territories, if the IXth article of the Treaty had been retained,
will be enjoyed by them without any difference under the
article which has been substituted.
Second.
The American Government, by suppressing the Xth article
of the Treaty of Guadalupe did not in any way intend to
annul the grants of lands made by Mexico in the ceded territories. These grants, notwithstanding the suppression of the
article of the Treaty, preserve the legal value which they may
possess; and the grantees may cause their legitimate titles to
be acknowledged before the American tribunals.
Conformably to the law of the United States, legitimate
titles to every description of property personal and real, existing in the ceded territories, are those which were legitimate
titles under the Mexican law in California and New Mexico
up to the I3th of May 1846, and in Texas up to the 2d March
1836.
Third.
The Government of the United States by suppressing the
concluding paragraph of article XIIth of the Treaty, did not
intend to deprive the Mexican Republic of the free and unrestrained faculty of ceding, conveying or transferring at any
time (as it may judge best, the sum of the twelve millions of
dollars which the same Government of the United States is to
deliver in the places designated by the amended article.
And these explanations having been accepted by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Republic, he
declared in name of his Government that with the understanding conveyed by them, the same Government would
proceed to ratify the Treaty of Guadalupe as modified by the
Senate and Government of the United States. In testimony of
which their Excellencies the aforesaid Commissioners and
the Minister have signed and sealed in quintuplicate the present protocol.
[Seal] A. H. Sevier
[Seal] Nathan Clifford
[Seal] Luis de la Rosa

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