The Mexican–American War was a conflict that lasted from 1846 to 1848. The United States, as a growing country, had pretensions for the territory of Texas, which was then part of the Mexican state. The area was populated mostly by immigrants from the United States, and the Mexican population was a minority. Texas's independence war started in 1835 and Texas succeed in becoming an independent state. Incorporating Texas into the United States will be one of the main reasons for the war. Armed conflict breaks out on the disputed territory, on the border between Mexico and the United States, between the Rio Grande and Nueces River. The US military was dominant during the war. In the north, General Zachary Taylor pulled out a big victory, outnumbered, against the Mexican army under General Santa Ana near Buena Vista, ending the war in the north. The president of the US, James Polk, decided to end the war as soon as possible and sends General Winfield Scott an a campaign to the Mexican capital. Since landing on the Mexican coast near Veracruz, Scott had won battle after battle and ultimately took over Ciudad De Mexico. The peace of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the US 1 400 000 square kilometers of Mexican land, namely the area of California and New Mexico, and the area between the Nueces and Rio Grande, all that for 15 million dollars. The war gave the United States priceless territory that would help to further develop and strengthen the country, although the internal conflicts that were present during this war, later culminated in the civil war. Mexico, which even before the war was politically unstable, will be marked by further internal unrest and instability lasting to the end of the century.