The Treaty That Made America , and the Promises It Broke - February 2, 1848

On February 2, 1848, a fired diplomat defied his president to sign a treaty that made America a continental nation. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, transferred 525,000 square miles to the United States, and promised to protect the rights of 80,000 Mexican citizens who suddenly found themselves in a foreign country. This episode explores how those promises were systematically broken and why descendants are still fighting for recognition 175 years later.