USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Polk was elected on a platform of expanding U.S. territory to Oregon, California (also a Mexican territory), and Texas by any means, with the 1845 annexation of Texas furthering that goal.

Detailed explanation-2: -The treaty was signed in 1846. Acquisition of California proved far more difficult. Polk sent an envoy to offer Mexico up to $20, 000, 000, plus settlement of damage claims owed to Americans, in return for California and the New Mexico country.

Detailed explanation-3: -Polk wanted to lay claim to California, New Mexico, and land near the disputed southern border of Texas.

Detailed explanation-4: -On May 12, 1846, the United States Senate voted 40 to 2 to go to war with Mexico. President James K. Polk had accused Mexican troops of having attacked Americans on U.S. soil, north of the Rio Grande.

Detailed explanation-5: -This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including the present-day states California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.