In the early 1850's, the United States was disputing with Mexico over a territory known as the Mesilla Strip. One of the motivations for America's desire for territory in northern Mexico was so that America could build a transcontinental railroad. The Gadsden Purchase Treaty, ratified by Mexico's dictator Santa Anna and American minister to Mexico, James Gadsden, established new borders that gave the US new vital lands that make up part of modern day Arizona and New Mexico. (See Figure 1). In return, the United States would pay Mexico $10 million. $7 million of this would be paid upon ratification of the treaty and the other three would be paid as soon as the new borders were surveyed, marked, and established. (Gadsden Purchase Treaty, Article III.) This area of acquired land was particularly useful because it facilitated the movement for a comprehensive railroad system that would attempt to rectify the poor trationsportan infrastructure in the South. There were many benefits entailed by acquiring the needed lands, yet these lands mainly aided Southerners at the expense of the North.
The Gadsden Purchase Treaty only strengthened the Southern economy because the land it provided fueled railroad construction and expansion and it bolstered trade. The South was notorious for its deficient transportation infrastructure, and this attempt to reverse such deficiency would only serve to reinforce the Southern economy. In addition to its economic value to the South, this railroad route would have carried Southern settlers to the West. It would also open up the rest of the United States to trade with the Far East. (Monique Finley, Francisco Martinez, Martha Berber, Rebecca Lewis, and Rosa Martinez, http://www.epcc.edu/ftp/Homes/monicaw/borderlands/18_gadsden.htm.) Sectionalism would be amplified since the northern US would not benefit from this acquisition of territory. The effects of having a complete railroad network in the South would have profound effects on the country as a whole.
