After the Mexican American War, many thought that the American troubles within the Yucatan Peninsula were over. Mexico was forced to recognize the annexations of Texas and Yucatan, but that was a childish and naive belief. The Republic of the Yucatan after annexation was split into two, the state of Yucatan and the Campeche Territory, though this territory was under the control of the Maya Free State.
Tensions rose when the United Kingdom declared recognition of the Maya Free State and in 1874, stationed troops in the peninsula under the mission of peacekeeping. The United States was weary with reconstruction in the south and questioned whether or not to outright declare war. In 1878, the United Kingdom and the Maya Free State of Chan Santa Cruz signed the Treaty of Chetumal, effectively declaring the State as a British Protectorate. [Though the name remained the Maya Free State of Chan Santa Cruz, it was often called simply Maya (or May) Protectorate].
This sparked a declaration of war from the United States, who brought in their ally of Guatemala, promising them British Honduras. Fighting occured primarily in the Peninsula, though minor conflict was seen on the Vesperia-United States border. The Third Anglo-American War ended in 1880, with the United States ceding the remainder of the Campeche Territory to the May Protectorate, guatemala was forced to cede its northern panhandle to British Honduras.
