Lecture #17 - Mexican Revolution, Racial Violence in the U.S., and the Constitution of 1917

Racial Violence and the “Mexican Problem” (U.S. Side, $1910{-}1928$)

• Immediate impact of the Mexican Revolution (begun $1910$) on the U.S.–Mexico borderlands.

  • Surge in anti-Mexican racial violence throughout Texas and the Southwest.

  • Comparable in scale and brutality to anti-Black lynchings in the Jim Crow South.

• Documented spike in lynchings of ethnic Mexicans in Texas

  • $124$ Mexicans lynched between $1910$ and $1920$.

  • Represents a sharp, statistically significant rise over previous decades.

• White-American perception: “The Mexican Problem.”

  • Term captured a contradictory attitude: employers desired cheap Mexican labor, yet Anglo communities feared political instability and “lawlessness” spilling northward.

  • Racialized suspicion that ethnic Mexicans might become a 5th-column allied with foreign enemies (especially after $1914$ when WWI begins in Europe).

• Last documented lynching of a Mexican in the U.S.: Rafael Benavides, Farmington, New Mexico, $1928$ ⇒ symbolic book-end of the most violent phase.

Demographic Shifts: Migration, Internment, Return Migration

• Push factor: Revolution-era violence, land seizures, and economic collapse inside Mexico.

• Resulting refugee flow

  • Mexican population in Texas doubled from $125{,}000$ → $250{,}000$ (roughly $1910{-}1920$).

  • Some migrants were placed in internment camps by U.S. authorities (parallels later WWII Japanese-American internments).

• Pull factor: U.S. agribusiness and railroad corporations needed labor, especially after Asian exclusion laws.

• Paradox: heightened racism + labor demand.

  • Lynchings and vigilante activity convinced many migrants the U.S. was more dangerous than revolutionary Mexico.

  • About $93{,}000$ Mexicans voluntarily returned southward in $1917$ alone, aggravating the U.S. labor shortage.

• Classroom relevance: many Mexican-American family lineages date to this era; highlights why oral histories often begin with Revolution flight stories.

Constitution of $1917$: Birth of the Modern Mexican State

• Constitutional Convention convened by Venustiano Carranza (early $1917$) in Querétaro.

  • Abandoned the liberal Constitution of $1857$.

  • Carranza’s goal: solidify presidential power and end the factional chaos of the Revolution.

• Ratification signals creation of today’s Mexican state; Mexico still operates under the $1917$ Constitution.

• Key progressive provisions (response to popular revolutionary demands):

  • Labor rights: legal 8-hour day, right to strike, workplace safety.

  • Public education: federal commitment to secular, free, primary schooling.

  • Communal land tenure (ejidos): state support for village-level collective ownership.

  • National sovereignty over subsoil resources (oil, minerals).

Article $27$ and Land Reform (Legacy of Emiliano Zapata)

• Zapata’s rallying cry: “¡Tierra y Libertad!” focused on restituting communal village lands seized under Díaz.

• Article $27$ enshrines:

  • State ownership of all lands and waters; grants government power to redistribute.

  • Legal framework for ejido creation and expansion.

• Carranza personally opposed sweeping land redistribution but conceded under revolutionary pressure.

• Despite constitutional victory, Zapata continued armed resistance in Morelos until his assassination ($1919$) ⇒ illustrates gap between written law and on-the-ground implementation.

Constraints on Foreign Economic Influence

• Constitution restricts ownership and concession rights of foreign companies (esp. U.S. and British oil, mining, rail firms).

• Historical context link: strikes at Cananea (Sonora copper, $1906$) and Río Blanco (Puebla textile, $1907$) exposed exploitative foreign capitalism; these events fertilized early revolutionary discontent.

• Long-term significance: provides legal basis for the later oil expropriation under Lázaro Cárdenas ($1938$).

The Zimmermann Telegram (March $1917$) & U.S. Entry into WWI

• German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann secretly proposes alliance with Mexico:

  • If U.S. enters WWI against Germany, Mexico should declare war on the U.S.

  • Germany promises diplomatic & military aid to help Mexico “regain” territories lost in $1848$ (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas).

• British intelligence intercepts & decrypts the message → forwards to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

  • Wilson leaks text to American press to sway public opinion toward war.

• Domestic impact in the U.S.

  • Feeds Anglo fears that ethnic Mexicans are potential conspirators with Germany.

  • Wilson abandons neutrality; severs diplomatic ties with Germany.

  • Within two weeks Congress passes war resolution ⇒ formal U.S. entry into WWI.

Ethical, Philosophical & Practical Implications

• Illustrates how racialized paranoia can override economic self-interest (labor demand) and humanitarian principles (refugee safety).

• Highlights the intersection of domestic xenophobia and international geopolitics: internal lynchings + external war drive.

• Demonstrates the power of constitutional law as revolutionary compromise: ideals of social justice (labor, land, education) are codified even when political elites resist.

• The continuing validity of the $1917$ Constitution shows endurance of revolutionary ideals but also persistent tension over land rights and foreign investment in Mexico.

• Lynching history contributes to contemporary discussions on hate crimes, border militarization, and immigration reform in the U.S.

Quick Reference Numbers & Dates

• $1910{-}1920$ – Peak decade of anti-Mexican lynchings in Texas.

• $124$ – Mexicans lynched in Texas during that decade.

• $125{,}000$ → $250{,}000$ – Growth of Texas’ Mexican population (approx.).

• $93{,}000$ – Returnees to Mexico in $1917$.

• $1928$ – Last recorded U.S. lynching of a Mexican (R. Benavides).

• $1917$ – Mexican constitutional convention; Zimmermann Telegram; major return migration.

• Article $27$ – Land reform provision to memorize.