The Articles
(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 meantime, 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 VIII: Retaining Lands & Citizenship Article VIII referred to property rights of the newly-defined Californios, respecting their right to retain their lands and inhabit them, as well as those those who chose to become U.S. citizens. It read: 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. However, the U.S. Senate altered Article IX, which did not grant Mexican citizens within the ceded territories automatic citizenship status, thusly: 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
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( Photo courtesy Library of Congress )
Article X: Land Ownership Article X protected Californios land grants, and read in part:
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 if the said territories had remained within the limits of Mexico.
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 1 – The Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo
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