American Conquest: A Quest for Manifest Destiny
Spain was having difficulty with Native American hostility, resisting conquest, how diverse the natives were in language and culture, and how far apart they all were from each other made it more difficult to conquer them than the tribes in Mexico and Central America
Spain is worried about the European countries coming in, but America was established in 1776, meaning they had a new country to compete with as well. The US tries to push their territories west, which is threatening to the territories that Spain had established.
Similarities of Spanish conquest and American conquest. When an imperialist power takes over a territory, they need to figure out what to do with the inhabitants of the territories, move them? kill them? incorporate them? how do you justify that process of conquest?
Spain was a far away government that was only interested in extracting gold and silver to supplement their riches, Spain is a small country in terms of populations. Mexico and the Northern Frontier was very vast, and there were not enough Spaniards to populate those territories. They relied on people on the ground to establish Spanish government and have self-governance. Education is really important in this equation.
The people in these territories feel mistreated by the Spanish government. They feel isolated and like second-class citizens.
Around the world, there are wars of independence which influences the Mexican people to start their own war of independence. America declared independence from England in 1776, the French Revolution of 1789, and the Napoleon invasion of 1807. These revolutions across the globe inform folks in Mexico about their possibilities.
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.
The war of independence in Spain happens in Mexico. We have upper class individuals that are plotting an insurrection against Spain. They’re known as Criollos. They are full Spanish blood but born in Mexico. In the caste system, Criollos were second to Peninsulares, which are Spanish blood who are born in Spain and are now in Mexico. Peninsulares had more power than Criollos because they were born in Spain versus being born in Mexico.
The war of independence is credited to Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla who is a Catholic priest and a Criollo. He is known as the Father of Mexican Independence. He’s born in Guanajuato and raised in a large hacienda, and wealthy, well-educated, studied theology and philosophy. He earns a bachelor of arts in theology, is ordained a priest in 1778. He loved indigenous peoples, he educated them about agriculture, growing their own food, and taught them about music and business.
But he is not your ordinary priest. He had children, he loved to gamble, and he didn’t believe in hell. He starts to organize with other Criollos in Guanajuato. In his priesthood, he was lucky to stay in his homestate, they had sent him to Dolores Guanajuato. The other Criollos that he had met up with were very influenced by the US war of independence. The idea of democracy and equality resonated with them.
They plotted an insurrection against Spain. Somewhere along the line, someone snitches. He is then forced to move forward quickly in his Declaration of Independence from Spain. He gathers his indigenous troops and marches them to the town center in Dolores. They declare independence from Spain on September 16, 1810.
He declares 'Viva Mexico!’ and that is why it is called the grito, the Shout of Dolores, because that is where the word on independence is born.
When did the Spaniards defeat the Aztec empire? 1521.
When is the grito de Dolores? 1810.
300 years difference. 300 years under Spanish rule.
Father Hidalgo does not get to see the success of the war of independence. He dies in July 1811, where he faces a trial and is killed for his crime of treason. They mutilate his body and put his head on a post in the town center of Dolores as a reminder of what happens when you declare war against Spain. He is made an example.
Though Catholic priests are 100% a part of conquest, they do torture and enslave the indigenous, priests have also led many revolutions in the Americas. Looking at the Chicano movement, the priests had been working with the farmworkers. Just to talk about the nuance that priests have historically led many revolutions and movements, even though the Catholic church was very much a big part of conquest
The Mexican War of Independence lasted until 1821, 11 years. This starts the Republic of Mexico. Now, the territories in the north are Mexican territories, not Spanish. Mexico is so in awe of the US constitution that they called themselves the Republic of Mexico. They wanted to embrace democracy the way the US was.
One element of the US constitution that Mexico will not copy, and is adamant against. Slavery. They do not want to go through it again. It would be the opposite of what they wanted to accomplish in their war. This one thing causes a huge point of contention between the US and Mexico.
Colonization Laws
Mexico wants to fast-track settlement in the Northern Frontier. they institute an immigration law known as the Colonization Laws. It’s the first thing they do. They do this to encourage settlement in the Northern Frontier. under Spain they could not acquire the folks necessary to settle up there, which made it a danger zone. This way, they would be able to settle up there and not lose the land they had established to the US.
They are a set of laws to do with immigration to increase settlement populations. They allow for foreigners to come and settle these properties so that they can get their Mexican citizenship. They would have to become Catholic, though. They would need to uphold the laws of the Mexican government and the Mexican Constitution. And lastly, they would have to learn Spanish.
After those three things are done by the foreigners, the Mexican government will reward these people by giving them large tracks of land in the northern frontier.
Problems that these laws caused for the Mexican government:
How do you enforce them?
Trouble governing them
If foreigners have too much land, they may (much later) declare independence from Mexico
The foreigners will want to bring their slaves to work the land, which is against the law for Mexico
The also bring their culture and ideologies, specifically, Manifest Destiny.
The US has their own hierarchy of race which doesn’t allow for blending, which under Spanish rule was encouraged and still is in Mexico.
The foreigners will bring racism as they understand it, they’ll try to justify bringing slaves, they’ll try to justify killing or displacing the indigenous peoples because they don’t believe in blending the races the way that Mexico does.
there’s a point in time in which the US becomes a first world country, and Mexico becomes a third world country. Then we wonder why people continue to migrate to the US.
Mexico was not prepared for the onslaught of foreigners on their land. This meant they did not have an established government in those areas, they didn’t have a way to control what was going on. This was most prominent in Texas. Anglos outnumbered Mexican 4:1 in Texas. Texas is perfect for the production of cotton. Around the area they called the Sun-Belt, around the eastern periphery of Texas.
Moses Austin is successful in recruiting settlers to Texas. He’s able to bring 200 Catholic families to Texas from the state of Louisiana. These families quickly settled, fit the description for Colonization Laws, and this is where Anglos are outnumbering Mexicans 4:1.
California also sees a large number of Anglos in its territories. Many of those settlers will marry Mexican women (what they call Spanish women) and a lot of these marriages are of convenience to inherit the land from Mexican women. It’s not surprising, then, that the first major conflict happens in the state of Texas between the new-comers and the Mexican Government. They know that they’re new, but also that they' is no one to enforce laws, and they bring their slaves even though it is outlaws. And they begin, early on, to advocate for independence from Mexico. They seek the support of the US to gain that independence.
The US pauses and says they do not want to help with independence. While they did support the Texans, they didn’t feel ready yet to take control over Texas. The US needed an equilibrium of slave-states and non-slave-states, and Texas would have thrown off that balance. The US is expanding westward and had just finished their war with France, so they don’t have the manpower.
The US is in a difficult position because they just fought their won war of independence. They don’t want to seem too land hungry at that moment, they want to slow down the process.
The Battle of the Alamo, 1836
A group of Americans take over a military fort in San Antonio, Texas. They barricade themselves in this fort, they take down the Mexican Flag, and they put up the flag shown above to represent the lone republic.
Mexico hears that the Americans have taken over a Mexican fort and they respond, just as any government would, by sending their troops to the Alamo to squash any dealings of Americans taking over Mexican territories.
There’s a general by the name of Santa Ana with 1,400 troops which arrive at the Alamo and kill those that have barricaded themselves within. Killing all 175. There were also 2 Tejanos that had sided with the Americans who were also killed.
February 23rd, 1836.
The Americans funds the artillery of those who were going to be taking over the Alamo and knew of the takeover. It is burned in American history that Texans are the heroes and Mexicans are the villains, despite the fact that it was the Americans who were taking over Mexican territory.
Santa Ana and his group celebrate the battle of the Alamo and they get drunk and party till the early morning hours, where they realize they are surrounded by American troops. Santa Ana loses his foot in the battle (which is apparently in a museum somewhere) and is captured by the Americans. He was then forced the sign a Treaty.
A treaty is usually an agreement to peace, ending of conflict. One is a loser and one is a winner. He signs the Treaty of Velasco on May 14th, 1836. This ends hostilities towards Anglo-Texans and Mexicans. This also granted Texas independence from Mexico. They declared themselves their own country, not America or Mexico. The Lone Republic.
They establish their own constitution and proclaim all people living in Texas as automatic citizens. It also legalizes slavery. A major point of contention between Mexico and Anglo-settlers.
In order for a Treaty to stand, it needs to be ratified by Mexican legislature. Santa Ana wasn’t a politician of any kind, he was a general. And Mexico refused to ratify the treaty, refused the acknowledge the independence of Texas, and refused to acknowledge that the Mexican citizens are now Texans. And America is refusing to get involved again. So Mexico ignores the treaty and decides to wait until they have the manpower to reclaim their land. This does not work favorably for Mexico.
The US still refuses to take Texas until 1845. They do so because they are on the brink of their own war. They are trying to prolong The Civil War, they know it’s coming. Slave states argue this is an economic venture and should be treated as such, free states will argue that it is contrary to the fabric and soul of America that preaches equality and freedom for all, that it is ideological, not economic, and that slaves are humans, not sub-human. So you have this moment of tension where they aer trying to avoid Civil War.
But bringing Texas into America will not only throw off the equilibrium, but commence the Civil war to start. The Civil War is from 1861-65.
There are 30,000 Anglos in Texas and 5,000 Mexicans.
There are these images and ideas that are forming in the 1830-40s which are beginning to view Mexicans and Spanish as brutals and imperialists.
The Black Legend
portrays the Spanish as evil. “See what they did to the native population, they enslaved them, they tortured them, the Spanish are so cruel.”
This legend has to do with the Spaniards. The Anglos start to criticize Catholicism, they view it as superstitious, it’s not a good form of Christianity. They paint the Spaniards as lazy, they do not work, they force others to work for them, mostly the indigenous populations.
In contrast, (in this legend) American colonists and settlers toiled the soil themselves, they expanded westward in an effort to build homes and farm the land with their own hands.
It boils down to, the Spanish are bad imperialists, the Americans are good imperialists. But they leave out American slavery, that they sell children at young ages, families are separated, etc. But ignoring this, and creating the Black Legend justifies the taking of land. Americans can justify it by juxtaposing themselves to the Spanish and the evil that the Spanish did.
Ideas about the Spanish were transferred to the Mexicans. American settlers didn’t differentiate between what was Spanish and what was Mexican, they saw them all as one. These American settlers refer to Mexicans in negative and racist terms.
Racist Ideas about Mexicans
Rufus B. Sage, 1842
“There are no people on this continent of America, whether civilized, or uncivilized, with one or two exceptions, more miserable in condition or despicable in morals than the mongrel race inhabiting New Mexico.”
The civilized were the Mexicans, the uncivilized were the Natives. The mongrel race were the mix-raced Mexicans/Natives. These words circulate in the newspapers, this propaganda about Mexicans and Natives.
Richard Henry Dana Jr.
“The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves.”
“their feelings towards us (U.S.) may be summed up in two words, jealousy and admiration.”
He is justifying taking the land in California. Back then all they had were newspapers. He is a bestsellers. He ports in San Francisco after his book is published and everyone welcomes him and they are so excited to see him.
Then, the California Gold Rush happens. His book becomes even more popular because of the Gold Rush. the book is filled with stereotypes about the Mexicans. the book is an account from 1834-1836, and published in 1840.
The US is busy growing it’s territories and moving westwards.
Louis-Clark expedition also happens after acquiring the Louisiana Purchase, they document their encounters with the natives and whether they’re hostile or not, and whether the land is ready for crops.
In 1819, Florida is acquired in which Spain sells Florida, approx 18,000 square miles are added to the US territory.
It is only a matter of time before the US acquires enough territory to gain “sea to shining sea”
Manifest Destiny
The portrayal of an angel, perhaps liberty herself, moving westward. Sanctioning the takeover of the remaining territories. In it’s way is Mexico. She brings light with her, the railroad, industrialization, farming.
Manifest Destiny is coined in 1845 by John O’Sullivan. It means the god-given right for Americans to expand westward. Once God is brought in, how do you disagree?
But in order for it to happen, you must also believe that the peoples of this land, the Mexicans as well, are inferior by race. Manifest Destiny relies on the belief that whites are superior in race to natives and Mexicans.
They will argue that the expansion westward is not due to their own ambitions for wealth and greed, but the inferiority of Mexicans themselves who cannot keep Anglos away. They reason that if Mexicans were conquered people, it wasn’t because of American anger, but due to Mexicans being weak
They argued that Mexicans being mixed race make them inferior, they were not far removed from Natives. The Americans had already killed the Natives and moved them westward.
Manifest Destiny is a belief system that is embedded in American culture. American culture is Manifest Destiny. It relies heavily of ideas of racism. It’s not surprising after America’s attitudes of race.
American Expansionism
In the above image, Uncle Sam is getting fatter after gaining land. He is being resized for his clothes by a tailor.
American Expansionists are political figures that believe that America should expand westward.
Sam Houston, 1847
“It is impossible for us to prevent our growing population from passing into an uninhabited country, where the power of the owners is not sufficient to keep them out. . . [the US must] purchase their lands, and remove them to a greater distance. . .[only then could'] an industrious and civilized race [redeem that] uninhabited and barren waste.”
He is openly advocating for the acquiring of westward land, he is not hiding it anymore.
Dispute over the U.S. - Mexico border.
They go and survey the land to establish a border between the US and Mexico. They send troops to survey the border. They need to make sure the US doesn’t get more than they’re allowed. Mexico has given up and acknowledges that Texas is with US.
The US argues that their border is the Rio Grande. And Mexico argues that the border is at the Nueces River., which is a 150 mile difference.
But the US wants the Rio Grande because it is good for shipping things through the river.
Tensions rise between them as they fight over this land, someone shoots, and this starts the Mexican-American War in 1846.
U.S.-Mexico War, 1846-1848
Mexico did not see this war coming, which is surprising because the US is a very unfriendly neighbor. They had their eye on California, for the climate, the ocean access, etc. They find gold in California.
It ends with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The treaty is ratified. It ends the war on February 2nd, 1848. This treaty ends the war. At the signing, we have approx. 100,000 Mexicans in these territories. Very small number of Mexicans.
Mexico cedes the States of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and finally, Texas, for $15 million. Lots of land for basically no money.
It is not just the land that is taken from Mexico, the US almost doubled in size overnight, completed Manifest Destiny.
But, the Treaty makes the Mexicans citizens of the US.
“The Mexicans. . . shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States and be admitted . . . to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time shall be maintained and protected in the free employment and their liberty and property. . . “
This treaty makes Mexicans legally white. “all the rights of citizens of the United States”. Their property will be protected. This means that for the remainder of this class, we are dealing with this portion of the treaty. How are Mexicans legally white but not treated as white? How do Mexicans fight for their right as legal citizens? How do they address this contradiction?