Santa Anna's origins on Mexico's
eastern coast had important ramifications for his military career, as he had developed immunity from
yellow fever, endemic to the region. The port of Veracruz and environs were known to be unhealthy for those not native to the region, so he had a personal strategic advantage against military officers from elsewhere. Being an officer in a time of war was a way that a provincial, middle-class man could vault from obscurity to a position of leadership. Santa Anna distinguished himself in battle, a path that led him to a national political career. Santa Anna's provincial origins made him uncomfortable in the halls of power in Mexico City, which were dominated by cliques of elite men, and thus he frequently made retreats to his base in Veracruz. He cultivated contact with ordinary Mexican men and pursued entertainments such as
cockfighting. Over his career, Santa Anna was a populist
caudillo, a
strongman wielding both military and political power, similar to others who emerged in the wake of
Spanish American wars of independence.
War of Independence, 1810–1821 Santa Anna's early military career during the
Mexican War of Independence, which entailed fighting the insurgency before switching sides against the crown, presaged his many shifts in allegiance during his later political career. In June 1810, the 16-year-old Santa Anna joined the Fijo de Veracruz infantry regiment. In September of that year, secular cleric
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla sparked a spontaneous mass uprising in the
Bajío, Mexico's rich agricultural area. Although some creole elites had chafed as their upward mobility had been thwarted by the Bourbon Reforms, the Hidalgo Revolt saw most creoles favoring continued crown rule. In particular, Santa Anna's family "saw themselves as aligned to the peninsular elite, whom they served, and were in turn recognized as belonging". Initially, Santa Anna, like most creole military officers, fought for the crown against the mixed-raced insurgents for independence; his commanding officer was Colonel
José Joaquín de Arredondo. In 1811 he was wounded in the left hand by an arrow while fighting in the town of Amoladeras, in the intendancy (administrative district) of
San Luis Potosí. In 1813 he served in
Texas against the
Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition and at the
Battle of Medina, in which he was cited for bravery. Santa Anna was promoted quickly; he became a second lieutenant in February 1812 and first lieutenant before the end of that year. During the initial rebellion, the young officer witnessed Arredondo's fierce
counterinsurgency policy of mass executions. The early fighting against the rebels gave way to
guerrilla warfare and a military
stalemate. When royalist officer
Agustín de Iturbide switched sides in 1821 and allied with insurgent
Vicente Guerrero, fighting for independence under the
Plan of Iguala, Santa Anna also joined the fight for independence. Political developments in Spain, where liberals had ousted King
Ferdinand VII and began implementing the Spanish liberal
constitution of 1812, made many elites in Mexico reconsider their options.
Rebellion against the Mexican Empire of Iturbide, 1822–1823 Iturbide, now
Emperor Augustin I, rewarded Santa Anna with the command of the vital port of Veracruz, the gateway from the
Gulf of Mexico to the rest of the nation and site of a
customs house. However, Iturbide subsequently removed Santa Anna from the post, prompting Santa Anna to rise in rebellion in December 1822 against Iturbide. He already had significant power in his home region of Veracruz, and "he was well along the path to becoming the regional
caudillo." Santa Anna claimed in his
Plan of Veracruz that he rebelled because Iturbide had dissolved the Constituent Congress. He also promised to support free trade with Spain, an important principle for his home region of Veracruz. Although Santa Anna's initial rebellion was important, Iturbide had loyal military men who were able to hold their own against the rebels in Veracruz. However, former insurgent leaders Guerrero and
Nicolás Bravo, who had supported Iturbide's Plan de Iguala, returned to their base in southern Mexico and raised a rebellion against Iturbide. The commander of imperial forces in Veracruz, who had fought against the rebels, changed sides and joined the rebels. The new coalition proclaimed the
Plan of Casa Mata, which called for the end of the monarchy, restoration of the Constituent Congress, and creation of a
republic and a
federal system. No longer the main player in the movement against Iturbide or the creation of new political arrangements, Santa Anna sought to regain his position as a leader and marched forces to
Tampico, then to San Luis Potosí, proclaiming his role as the "protector of the federation". Representatives from San Luis Potosí and other north-central regions, such as
Michoacán,
Querétaro, and
Guanajuato, met to decide their own position towards the federation. Santa Anna pledged his military forces to the protection of these key areas. "He attempted, in other words, to co-opt the movement, the first of many examples in his long career where he placed himself as the head of a generalized movement so it would become an instrument of his advancement."
Santa Anna and the early Mexican Republic In May 1823, following Iturbide's
abdication as emperor in March, Santa Anna was sent to command in
Yucatán. At the time, Yucatán's capital of
Mérida and the port city of
Campeche were in conflict. Yucatán's closest trade partner was Cuba, a Spanish colony. Santa Anna took it upon himself to plan a landing force from Yucatán in Cuba, which he envisioned would result in Cuban colonists welcoming their "liberators", most especially himself. One thousand Mexicans were already on ships to sail to Cuba when word came that the Spanish were reinforcing their colony, so the invasion was called off. Former insurgent general
Guadalupe Victoria, a liberal federalist, became the first president of the
Mexican republic in 1824, following the creation of the
constitution of 1824. Victoria came to the presidency with little factional conflict, and served out his entire four-year term. However, the
election of 1828 was quite different, with considerable political conflict in which Santa Anna became involved. Even before the election, there was unrest in Mexico, with some conservatives affiliated with the
Scottish Rite Freemasons plotting rebellion. The so-called Montaño rebellion in December 1827 called for the prohibition of
secret societies, implicitly meaning liberal
York Rite Freemasons, and the expulsion of U.S. diplomat
Joel Roberts Poinsett, a promoter of federal republicanism. Although Santa Anna was believed to be a supporter of the Scottish Rite conservatives, and Santa Anna was himself a member of the Scottish Rite, in the Montaño rebellion he eventually threw his support to the liberals. In his home state of Veracruz, the governor had thrown his support to the rebels, and in the aftermath of the rebellion's failure, Santa Anna as vice-governor stepped into the governorship. In the 1828 election, Santa Anna supported Guerrero, who was a candidate for the presidency. Another important liberal,
Lorenzo de Zavala, also supported Guerrero. However, conservative
Manuel Gómez Pedraza won the indirect elections for the presidency, with Guerrero coming in second. Even before all the votes had been counted, Santa Anna raised a rebellion and called for the nullification of the election results, as well for a new law expelling Spanish nationals who he believed to have been in league with the conservatives. The rebellion initially had few supporters, although southern Mexican leader
Juan Álvarez soon joined Santa Anna, while Zavala, under threat of arrest by the conservative
Senate, fled to the mountains and organized his own rebellion. Zavala brought the fighting into Mexico City, with his supporters seizing an armory, the
Acordada. President-elect Gómez Pedraza resigned and soon after went into
exile, clearing the way for Guerrero to assume office. Santa Anna gained prominence for his role in Gómez Pedraza's ouster, and was lauded as a defender of federalism and democracy. In 1829, Spain made a
final attempt to retake Mexico, invading Tampico with a force of 2,600 troops. Santa Anna marched against the
Barradas Expedition with a much smaller force and defeated the Spaniards, many of whom were suffering from yellow fever. The defeat of the Spanish Army not only firmly established Santa Anna as a national hero but also consolidated the independence of the new Mexican republic. From this point forward, Santa Anna styled himself the "Victor of Tampico" and the "Savior of the Patria". His main act of self-promotion was to call himself the "
Napoleon of the West". Three months later, in December 1829, Vice-president
Anastasio Bustamante, a conservative, mounted a successful ''
coup d'etat'' against President Guerrero, who left Mexico City to lead a counter-rebellion in the south. Guerrero was captured and executed after a summary trial in 1831, which shocked the nation. In 1832, Santa Anna seized the customs revenues from Veracruz and declared himself in rebellion against Bustamante. The bloody conflict ended with Santa Anna forcing the resignation of Bustamante's cabinet, and an agreement was brokered for new elections in 1833.
"Absentee President", 1833–1835 , Santa Anna's vice president 1833–34, who enacted liberal reforms Santa Anna was elected president on 1 April 1833, but while he desired the title, he was not interested in governing. According to Mexican historian
Enrique Krauze, "It annoyed him and bored him, and perhaps frightened him." A biographer of Santa Anna describes his role during this period as the "absentee president". Vice-president
Valentín Gómez Farías took over the responsibility of governing the nation while Santa Anna retired to
Manga de Clavo, his
hacienda in Veracruz. Gómez Farías was a moderate, but he had a radical liberal congress with which to contend, perhaps a reason that Santa Anna left executive power to him. Mexico was faced with an empty treasury and an 11 million peso debt incurred by the Bustamante government. Gómez Farías could not cut back on the bloated expenditures on the army and sought other revenues. Taking a chapter out of the late Bourbon Reforms, he targeted the
Roman Catholic Church. Anticlericalism was a tenet of
Mexican liberalism, and the church had supported Bustamante's government, so targeting that institution was a logical move.
Tithing (a 10% tax on agricultural production) was abolished as a legal obligation, and church property and finances were seized. The church's role in education was reduced and the
Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico closed. All this caused concern among Mexican conservatives. Gómez Farías sought to extend these reforms to the frontier province of
Alta California, promoting legislation to
secularize the
Franciscan missions there. In 1833 he organized the Híjar-Padrés colony to bolster non-mission civilian settlement, as well as defend the province against perceived
Russian colonial ambitions from the trading post at
Fort Ross. However, for liberal intellectual and Catholic priest
José María Luis Mora, selling church property was the key to "transforming Mexico into a liberal, progressive nation of small landowners." Sale of nonessential church property would bring in much-needed revenue to the treasury. The army was also targeted for reform, since it was the largest single expenditure in the national budget. On Santa Anna's suggestion, the number of
battalions was to be reduced as well as the number of generals and brigadiers. The government soon issued a law, the
Ley del Caso, which called for the arrest of 51 politicians, including Bustamante, for holding "unpatriotic" beliefs and their expulsion from the country. Gómez Farías claimed that Santa Anna was the driving force for the law, which evidence seems to support. With increasing resistance from the church as well as the army, the Plan of Cuernavaca was issued, likely orchestrated by former general and governor of the Federal District,
José María Tornel. The plan called for repeal of the
Ley del Caso; discouraged tolerance of the influence of
Masonic lodges, where politics was pursued in secrecy; declared void the laws passed by
Congress and the local legislatures in favor of the reforms; requested the protection of Santa Anna to fulfill the plan and recognize him as the only authority; removed from office deputies and officials who carried out enforcement of the reform laws and decrees; and provided military force to support Gómez Farías in implementing the plan. As opinion turned against the reforms, Santa Anna was persuaded to return to the presidency and Gómez Farías resigned. This set the stage for conservatives to reshape Mexico's government from a federalist republic to a unitary central republic.
Central Republic, 1835 For conservatives, the liberal reform of Gómez Farías was radical and threatened the power of the elites. Santa Anna's actions in allowing this first reform (followed by a more sweeping one in 1855) might have been a test case for liberalism. At this point, Santa Anna was a liberal; by giving the moderate Gómez Farías responsibility for the reforms, he could have
plausible deniability and closely monitor the reaction to a comprehensive attack on the special privileges of the army and the church, as well as confiscation of church wealth, enacted by Congress. In May 1834, Santa Anna ordered the disarmament of the civic militia and urged Congress to abolish the controversial
Ley del Caso. On 12 June he dissolved Congress and announced his decision to adopt the Plan of Cuernavaca, forming a new Catholic, centralist and conservative government. Santa Anna brokered a deal where, in exchange for preserving the privileges of the church and the army, the church promised a monthly donation to the government of 30,000–40,000 pesos. "The santanistas [supporters of Santa Anna] succeeded in achieving what the radicals had failed to do: forcing the Church to assist the republic's daily fiscal needs with its funds and properties." On 4 January 1835, Santa Anna returned to his
hacienda, placing
Miguel Barragán as acting president. He soon replaced the 1824 constitution with the new document known as the "
Siete Leyes" ("The Seven Laws"). Santa Anna did not involve himself with the conservative effort to replace the federalist constitution with a unitary central government, seemingly uneasy with their political path. "Although he has been blamed for the change to centralism, he was not actually present during any of the deliberations that led to the abolition of the federalist charter or the elaboration of the 1836 Constitution." Several states openly rebelled against the changes, including Alta California,
Nuevo México,
Tabasco,
Sonora,
Coahuila y Tejas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro,
Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Yucatán,
Jalisco,
Nuevo León,
Tamaulipas, and
Zacatecas. Several of these states formed their own governments: the
Republic of the Rio Grande, the
Republic of Yucatán, and the
Republic of Texas. Their fierce resistance was possibly fueled by Santa Anna's
reprisals committed against his defeated enemies. The
New York Post editorialized that "had Santa Anna treated the vanquished with moderation and generosity, it would have been difficult if not impossible to awaken that general sympathy for the people of Texas which now impels so many adventurous and ardent spirits to throng to the aid of their brethren." The Zacatecas militia, the largest and best supplied of the Mexican states, led by
Francisco García Salinas, was well armed with .753 caliber British '
Brown Bess'
muskets and Baker .61
rifles. But, after two hours of combat on 12 May 1835, Santa Anna's "Army of Operations"
defeated the Zacatecan militia and took almost 3,000 prisoners. He allowed his army to loot
Zacatecas City for forty-eight hours. After conquering Zacatecas, he planned to move on to Coahuila y Tejas to quell the rebellion there, which was being supported by
settlers from the United States.
Texas Revolution 1835–1836 In 1835, Santa Anna repealed the Mexican constitution, which ultimately led to the beginning of the Texas Revolution. His reasoning for the repeal was that American settlers in Texas were not paying taxes or
tariffs, claiming they were not recipients of any services provided by the Mexican government; as a result, new settlers were not allowed there. The new policy was a response to the U.S. attempts to purchase Texas from Mexico. Like other states discontented with the central government, the Texas Department of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas rebelled in late 1835 and declared itself independent on 2 March 1836. The northeastern part of the state had been settled by numerous American immigrants.
Moses Austin, the father of
Stephen F. Austin, had his party accepted by Spanish authorities in exchange for defense against foreign threats. However, Mexico had declared independence from Spain before the elder Austin died. Santa Anna marched north to bring Texas back under Mexican control by a brutal
show of force. His expedition posed challenges of manpower, logistics, supply and strategy far beyond what he was prepared for, and it ended in disaster. To fund, organize and equip his army, Santa Anna relied, as he often did, on forcing wealthy men to "loan" him funds. He recruited hastily, sweeping up many derelicts and ex-convicts, as well as
Indians who could not understand Spanish commands. Having expected tropical weather, Santa Anna's army suffered from cold, a lack of proper clothing and food shortages. Stretching a supply line far longer than ever before, there were not enough horses, mules, cattle and wagons available, resulting in units never having enough food, fuel, or feed. The medical facilities were minimal and poorly supplied. Morale sank as soldiers realized there were not enough
chaplains to properly bury their bodies. Hostile Indians picked off stragglers and foragers. Waterborne sicknesses spread quickly when the men were forced to drink any water they could find on the trail. The officers proved to be mostly incompetent, yet the highly insulated and rigid hierarchy of the army meant that Santa Anna was kept ignorant of these problems. Santa Anna's forces killed 189 Texan defenders at the
Battle of the Alamo on 6 March 1836, and executed more than 342 Texan prisoners at the
Goliad Massacre on 27 March 1836. However, his forces suffered unexpectedly heavy casualties. In an 1874 letter, Santa Anna asserted that killing the defenders of Alamo was his only option, stressing that Texan commander
William B. Travis was to blame for the degree of violence during the battle. Santa Anna believed that Travis was disrespectful towards him, and that if he had spared the Texans, it would have allowed
Sam Houston to establish a dominant position that could threaten him later. shows the Mexican president and general surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston,
battle of San Jacinto The Mexican victory at the Alamo bought time for Houston and his Texas forces. During the siege, the
Texian Navy had more time to plunder ports along the Gulf of Mexico, and the
Texian Army gained more experience and weaponry. Despite Houston's lack of ability to maintain strict control of the Army, they completely routed Santa Anna's much larger army at the
Battle of San Jacinto on 21 April 1836. The day after the battle, a small Texan force led by
James Austin Sylvester captured Santa Anna near a marsh; the general had hastily dressed himself in a dead Mexican dragoon's uniform but was quickly recognized. After three weeks in captivity,
Texas President David G. Burnet and Santa Anna signed the
Treaties of Velasco stating that "in his official character as chief of the Mexican nation, he acknowledged the full, entire, and perfect Independence of the Republic of Texas." In exchange, Burnet and the Texas government guaranteed Santa Anna's safety and transport to Veracruz. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, a new government declared that Santa Anna was no longer president and that the Treaties were null and void. While Santa Anna was held captive in Texas, Poinsett offered a harsh assessment of his situation: "Say to General Santa Anna that when I remember how ardent an advocate he was of liberty ten years ago, I have no sympathy for him now, that he has gotten what he deserves." Santa Anna replied: "Say to Mr. Poinsett that it is very true that I threw up my cap for liberty with great ardor, and perfect sincerity, but very soon found the folly of it. A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty. They do not know what it is, unenlightened as they are, and under the influence of Catholic clergy, a despotism is a proper government for them, but there is no reason why it should not be a wise and virtuous one."
Redemption, dictatorship, and exile After some time in exile, and after meeting
U.S. President Andrew Jackson in 1837, Santa Anna was allowed to return to Mexico. He was transported aboard the
USS Pioneer to retire to his
hacienda in Veracruz. There he wrote a manifesto in which he reflected on his experiences and decision-making in Texas. In 1838, Santa Anna found a chance for redemption from the loss of Texas. After Mexico rejected demands for financial compensation for losses suffered by its citizens,
France sent forces that landed in Veracruz in the
Pastry War. The Mexican government gave Santa Anna control of the army and ordered him to defend the nation by any means necessary. Santa Anna engaged the French at Veracruz but was forced to retreat after a failed assault, sustaining injuries in his left leg and hand by cannon fire. His shattered ankle required
amputation of much of his leg, which he ordered buried with full military honors. Despite Mexico's final capitulation to French demands, Santa Anna used his war service and visible sacrifice to the nation to re-enter Mexican politics. Soon after, with Bustamante's presidency descending into chaos, supporters asked Santa Anna to take control of the provisional government. Santa Anna was made president for the fifth time, taking over a nation with an empty treasury. The war with France had weakened the country, and the people were discontented. Also, a rebel army led by Generals
José de Urrea and
José Antonio Mexía, was marching towards Mexico City in opposition to Santa Anna. Commanding the army, Santa Anna crushed the rebellion in
Puebla. Santa Anna ruled in a more
dictatorial fashion than during his first administration. His government banned anti-Santanista newspapers and jailed
dissidents to suppress opposition. In 1842, he directed a
military expedition into Texas. The action inflicted numerous casualties with no political gain, but Texans began to be persuaded of the potential benefits of
annexation by the more powerful U.S. Following the 1842 elections, at which a new Congress was elected which opposed his rule, Santa Anna attempted to restore the treasury by raising taxes. Several Mexican states stopped dealing with the central government in response, and Yucatán and Laredo declared themselves independent republics. With resentment growing, Santa Anna stepped down and fled Mexico City in December 1844. The buried leg he left behind in the capital was dug up by a mob and dragged through the streets until nothing was left of it. Fearing for his life, Santa Anna tried to elude capture, but in January 1845 he was apprehended by a group of Native Americans near
Xico. They turned him over to authorities, and he was imprisoned. Santa Anna's life was ultimately spared, but he was exiled to Cuba.
Mexican–American War, 1846–1848 In 1846, following American victories at
Palo Alto and
Resaca de la Palma in the Mexican-American War, President
Mariano Paredes was removed from office, with the new government seeking to reinstate the constitution of 1824, with Santa Anna again assuming the presidency. Santa Anna, who had been in exile for only a year, returned to Mexico on 6 August 1846, two days after Paredes' ouster. He wrote to the new government stating he had no aspirations to the presidency but would eagerly use his military experience in the new conflict with the U.S. U.S. President
James K. Polk had hoped to acquire territory in the north by purchase or force, but the Mexican government was not willing to yield. In a gambit to change the dynamic, Polk sent agents to secretly meet with the exiled Santa Anna. They thought they had extracted a promise from him that they would lift a
blockade of the Mexican coast to allow him to return and that he would broker a deal. Once back in Mexico at the head of an army, however, Santa Anna reneged on the deal and took up arms against the U.S. invasion. With no path now for a quick resolution to the conflict in the north, Polk authorized an invasion to take Mexico City, redirecting the bulk of General
Zachary Taylor's troops to General
Winfield Scott's army. Santa Anna mobilized troops and artillery and rapidly marched north. His forces outnumbered Taylor's, but his troops were exhausted, ill-clothed, hungry and equipped with inferior weapons when the two armies clashed at the
Battle of Buena Vista on 22–23 February 1847. Hard fighting over two days brought an inconclusive result, with Santa Anna withdrawing from the field of battle overnight just as complete victory was at hand, taking war trophies such as cannons and
battle flags as evidence of his victory. With Scott's army
landing at Veracruz, Santa Anna's home ground, he rapidly moved southward to engage with the invaders and protect the capital. For the Mexicans it would have been better if Scott could have been prevented from leaving the Gulf Coast, but they could not prevent Scott's march on
Xalapa. Santa Anna
set defenses at Cerro Gordo. U.S. forces outflanked him and against strong odds defeated his army. With that battle, the way was clear for Scott's forces to advance further onto Mexico City. Santa Anna's aim was to protect the capital at all costs and waged defensive warfare, placing strong defenses on the most direct road into the city at El Peñon, which Scott then avoided. Battles at
Contreras,
Churubusco, and
Molino del Rey were lost. At Contreras, Mexican General
Gabriel Valencia, an old political and military rival of Santa Anna's, did not recognize his authority as supreme commander and disobeyed his orders as to where his troops should be placed. Valencia's Army of the North was routed. The
Battle for Mexico City and the
Battle of Chapultepec, like the others, were hard fought losses, and American forces took the capital. "Despite his many faults as a tactician and his overbearing political ambition, Santa Anna was committed to fighting to the bitter end. His actions would prolong the war for at least a year, and more than any other single person it was Santa Anna who denied Polk's dream of a short war." Perhaps Santa Anna's most personal and ignominious incident in the war was the capture during the
Battle of Cerro Gordo of his prosthetic cork leg, which remains as a war trophy in the U.S. held by the Illinois State Military Museum but no longer on display. A second leg, a
peg, was also captured by the
4th Illinois and was reportedly used by the soldiers as a baseball bat; it is displayed at the home of Illinois Governor
Richard J. Oglesby (who served in the regiment) in
Decatur. Santa Anna had a replacement leg made which is displayed at the Museo Nacional de Historia in Mexico City. The prosthetic leg later played a role in international politics. As relations between the U.S. and Mexico warmed during the run-up to
World War II, Illinois was rumored to be ready to return the prosthetic to Mexico and, in 1942, a bill was introduced in the state legislature. The Association of Limb Manufacturers wanted to be part of the
repatriation ceremonies. The state passed a non-binding resolution to return the prosthetic, but the
National Guard denied the transfer. As of 2025 the leg still resided in the Illinois State Military Museum in
Springfield.
President for the last time, 1853–1855 Following Mexico's defeat in 1848, Santa Anna went into exile in
Kingston,
Jamaica. Two years later, he moved to
Turbaco in
New Granada (now Colombia). In April 1853, he was invited to return to Mexico by conservatives who had overthrown a weak liberal government, initiated under the Plan de Hospicio, drawn up by the clerics in the cathedral chapter of
Guadalajara. Usually, revolts were fomented by military officers; this one was fomented by churchmen. Santa Anna was elected president on 17 March 1853. He honored his promises to the church, revoking a decree denying protection for the fulfillment of monastic vows, a reform promulgated twenty years earlier by Gómez Farías. The
Jesuits, who had been expelled from Spanish realms by the crown in 1767, were allowed to return to Mexico ostensibly to educate poorer classes, and much of their property, which the crown had confiscated and sold, was restored to them. The reality was that this administration was no more successful than his earlier ones, dependent on loans from moneylenders and support from conservative elites, the church, and the army. A major miscalculation was Santa Anna's sale of territory to the U.S. in what became known as the
Gadsden Purchase.
La Mesilla, the land in northwest Mexico that the U.S. wanted, was much easier terrain for the building of a
transcontinental railway in the U.S. The purchase money for the land was supposedly to go to Mexico's empty treasury. Santa Anna was unwilling to wait until the final transaction went through and the boundary line established, wanting access to the money immediately. He bargained with American bankers to get immediate cash, while they gained the right to the revenue when the sale closed. Santa Anna's short-sighted deal netted the Mexican government only $250,000 against credit of $650,000 going to the bankers.
James Gadsden thought the amount was likely much higher. A group of liberals including Alvarez,
Benito Juárez, and
Ignacio Comonfort overthrew Santa Anna under the Plan of Ayutla, which called for his removal from office. He went into exile yet again in 1855. By the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the United States paid Mexico only $15 million for the land, which became known as the Mexican Cession. ==Personal life==