U.S. War with Mexico: A Brief History with Documents
The U.S. war with Mexico was a pivotal event in American history, it set crucial wartime precedents and served as a precursor for the impending Civil War. With a powerful introduction and rich collection of documents, Ernesto Chávez makes a convincing case that as an expansionist war, the U.S.-Mexico conflict set a new standard for the acquisition of foreign territory through war. Equally important, the war racialized the enemy, and in so doing accentuated the nature of whiteness and white...
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The U.S. war with Mexico was a pivotal event in American history, it set crucial wartime precedents and served as a precursor for the impending Civil War. With a powerful introduction and rich collection of documents, Ernesto Ch‡vez makes a convincing case that as an expansionist war, the U.S.-Mexico conflict set a new standard for the acquisition of foreign territory through war. Equally important, the war racialized the enemy, and in so doing accentuated the nature of whiteness and white male citizenship in the U.S., especially as it related to conquered Mexicans, Indians, slaves, and even women. The war, along with ongoing westward expansion, heightened public debates in the North and South about slavery and its place in newly-acquired territories. In addition, Ch‡vez shows how the political, economic and social development of each nation played a critical role in the path to war and its ultimate outcome. Both official and popular documents offer the events leading up to the war, the politics surrounding it, popular sentiment in both countries about it, and the war's long-term impact on the future development and direction of these two nations. Headnotes, a chronology, maps and a selected bibliography enrich student understanding of this important historical moment.
Foreword vPreface viiMap: Contested Terrain in the U.S. War with Mexico xviIntroduction: Race, Manifest Destiny, and the U.S. War with Mexico 1Manifest Destiny 2Neighboring Republics 3Indians and Westward Expansion 4Colonizing Texas 5Texas's War for Independence 7The Republic of Texas and U.S.-Mexico Diplomatic Relations 10Toward War 13Popular Opinion and the War in the United States 16Waging the War 19The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 24Foreigners in Their Native Land 27Manifest Destiny Exported 32Conclusion 32The Documents 35John L. O'Sullivan, Annexation, July-August 1845 35U.S. Congress, Naturalization Act, March 26, 1790 37Agustin de Iturbide, Plan de Iguala, February 24, 1821 38Mexican Constitutional Congress, Mexican Constitution, 1824 40U.S. Congress, Indian Removal Act, May 28, 1830 42United States and Kingdom of Spain, Treaty of San Lorenzo, October 27, 1795 44United States and France, LouisianaPurchase Treaty, April 30, 1803 45Mexican Government, National Colonization Law, August 18, 1824 47Legislature of Coahuila-Texas, Coahuila-Texas State Colonization Law, March 24, 1825 49Manuel Mier y Teran, Letter to War Department, November 29, 1829 52Benjamin Lundy, Conditions for African Americans in Mexican Texas, 1833 55Texan Consultation of Representatives, Texas Declaration of Independence, March 2, 1836 57Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Message to the Inhabitants of Texas, March 7, 1836 59Eulalia Yorba, Another Story of the Alamo: The Battle Described by an Alleged Eyewitness, April 1896 61El Mosquito Mexicano, Article Criticizing U.S. Interests in Texas, June 14, 1836 62Daniel Webster, The Admission of Texas, December 22, 1845 64John Slidell, Diplomatic Dispatches to James Buchanan, January 1846 66General Pedro de Ampudia and General Zachary Taylor, Dispatches, April 12, 1846 69General Zachary Taylor, Dispatch to Adjutant General of the Army, April 26, 1846 71President James K. Polk, War Message to Congress, May 11, 1846 73Hugh White, Statement against the Two-Million-Dollar Bill, August 8, 1846 76David Wilmot, Wilmot Proviso, August 8, 1846 77Frederick Douglass, The War with Mexico, January 21, 1848 78New York Herald, Editorial in Support of the War with Mexico, February 20, 1847 80Walt Whitman, War with Mexico, May 11, 1846 82Theodore Parker, A Sermon of the Mexican War, June 1846 84Henry David Thoreau, On Civil Disobedience, 1848 86Women of Exeter, England, and Philadelphia, Women's Peace Petition, June 1846 88Susan Shelby Magoffin, Comments on Mexican Women, 1846 91American Officer, The Virtues of Mexican Women, September 1846 93Henry William Herbert, Pierre the Partisan: A Tale of the Mexican Marches, 1848 95Our Jonathan, Song of the Volunteers, 1846 98John Greenleaf Whittier, The Angels of Buena Vista, 1847 100James Russell Lowell, The Biglow Papers, 1846 101George Wilkins Kendall, The Mexican Joan of Arc, January 12, 1847 104Samuel E. Chamberlain, My Confession, 1855 105Ramon Alcaraz, Description of the Battle of Buena Vista, 1850 107Citizens of New Mexico, Report to the President of Mexico, September 26, 1846 109Ralph W. Kirkham, Description of the City of Puebla, June 28, 1847 111Gideon Johnson Pillow, Letter to Mary Hamilton Pillow, September 28, 1847 112American Star, Comment on Interactions between Mexicans and Americans, November 6, 1847 114Ramon Alcaraz, Observations on the American Occupation of Mexico City, 1850 116John C. Calhoun, Speech on the War with Mexico, January 4, 1848 118United States and Mexico, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 1848 120President Manuel de la Pena y Pena, An Address in Support of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, May 7, 1848 123Manuel Crescencio Rejon, Observations on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, April 17, 1848 126Nathan Clifford, The Protocol of Queretaro, 1848 128U.S. Congress, California Land Act, March 3, 1851 130California Landowners, Petition to the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, February 11, 1859 133Juan N. Seguin, A Foreigner in My Native Land, 1858 137Francisco Ramirez, California Hospitality, September 18, 1855 139Los Angeles Star, An Interview with Noted Bandit Tiburcio Vasquez, May 16, 1874 140Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, This Is Our Manifest Destiny, November 24, 1897 143AppendixesA Chronology of Events Related to the U.S.-Mexico War (1789-1897) 147Questions for Consideration 153Selected Bibliography 155Index 161
