Read about The Treaty of Hidalgo in 1848.
We did not ‘’steal’’ the Southwest from Mexico. That’s utter bulls**t.
I did write some other things, though that could have tipped you off.
The fact is that Mexico showed little interest in her northern possessions with perhaps the exception of Texas. Central Mexico, the heartland can be a pleasant and prosperous place to live. As you travel north, the lands become deserts. Few Mexicans wanted to trade life in civilized and prosperous Mexico for a hardscrabble life on the northern frontier.
It’s easy to forget that Mexico despite being younger as a nation has a longer history. They had a university up and running 85 years before Harvard. And because of mineral wealth, Mexico was far wealthier than the 13 colonies. Our dollar was based on the coins issued by the Mexico City mint and Mexican ‘dollars’ were legal tender until the 1850s.
All of these advantages were negated by the crappy politics and politicians that Mexico has endured pretty much from its founding as a nation.
The irony is that gold was discovered in California, right as Mexico was in the midst of losing it militarily to a very small detachment of the U.S. Army. Utah being settled by Mormons ironically hoping to get out of the reach of the U.S. government. Nevada became a state early pretty much because of silver discoveries and Arizona/New Mexico weren’t admitted as states until 1912.