North America

United States

The Battle of San Jacinto expanded U.S. sovereignty—and spread U.S. culture—over an entire third of today's contiguous states. The 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty with Spain established a United States border that stopped at the Sabine and Red Rivers. After San Jacinto, Texas' annexation in 1845, and the Mexican War, the United States would gain almost a million square miles of territory.

Not only did it gain Texas, but also New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, California, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma. As a direct result of the victory of San Jacinto, the United States would fulfill its "manifest destiny" of streching prosperity and development from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Texas

For a decade after San Jacinto, Texas was a sovereign nation. Although Mexico could not accept the magnitude of its loss at first, Texas was formally recognized by many other nations including the United States, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium. It even maintained its own navy. Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845.

Mexico

After failed attempts to reclaim its prize with campaigns against both the Republic of Texas and the United States, Mexico conceded its loss. Still a young country, Mexico would now be free of the region's burdens including expensive law enforcement, economic development and Indian control and help them elevate their nation—still slightly less than three times the size of Texas—to greatness.

Though the sting of losing a third of what is now the United States is obvious, the Mexican culture is permanently intertwined with those of its former colonies. Today, a unique culture revolves around the San Jacinto monument, one of the world's most culturally rich. Mexico will always be a part of Texas—and Texas a part of Mexico.

Latin America

After President Polk's annexation of Texas and the subsequent war, U.S. and European interest in Latin America grew both commercially and politically. Competition in the region between the United States and the United Kingdom led to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in 1850, which kept the United States—temporarily—from exerting too much control over the region.