Mexico lost its northern provinces to the United States in a three-step process: the Texas Revolution, the Mexican War, and the Gadsden Purchase.
The story begins with the first U.S. citizens in Texas.
In 1822, Stephen E Austin (1793-1836) led a group of American families to settle in the fertile region between the Brazos and Colorado Rivers in Texas. The move was authorized by the Mexican government.
Present-day Mexico is divided into thirty-one states and the Federal District, which includes most of the capital, Mexico City.
