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"It's ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves."
O ne of the most beloved and electrifying figures in labor history, Cesar Chavez rose from fruit and vegetable picker to leadership of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO. Intensely spiritual, he merged the teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. into a philosophy of non-violence, confounding his opponents and assuring eventual success in his efforts to bring recognition, dignity and a better life to countless migrant farm workers following years of impoverishment and discrimination. March 31 is the birthday of Cesar Chavez on which we honor this man who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and has been nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal .
To understand Mexican Americans it is first necessary to know their history and culture. First and foremost we need to know and understand the History of Mexico
Officially United Mexican States , republic (1992 est. pop. 92,380,000), 753,665 sq mi (1,952,500 sq km), S North America. It borders on the United States in the north, on the Gulf of Mexico (including its arm, the Bay of Campeche) and the Caribbean Sea in the east, on Belize and Guatemala in the southeast, and on the Pacific Ocean in the south and west. Mexico is divided into 31 states and the Federal District, which includes most of the country's capital and largest city, Mexico City. History to the early 19th century
A number of great civilizations flourished in Mexico long before the arrival of Spanish Conquistadores in the early 16th century. The Olmec civilization was the earliest of these, reaching its high point between 800 and 400 b.c. The Maya civilization flourished between about a.d. 300 and 900, followed by the Toltec (900-1200) and the Aztec (1200-1519). Other notable civilizations of pre-Columbian Mexico are the Mixtec and the Zapotec.
The first Europeans to visit Mexico were Francisco Fernndez de Crdoba in 1517 and Juan de Grijalva in 1518. The conquest was begun from Cuba in 1519 by Hernn Corts, who with lieutenants such as Pedro de Alvarado managed to conquer the Aztec capital, Tenochtitln; to capture Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, and to bring down his empire; and to ward off Spanish rivals like Pnfilo de Narvez. In 1528 the first audiencia (royal court) was set up under Nuo de Guzmn, who later carried the conquest north to Nueva Galicia. The territory was constituted the viceroyalty of New Spain under Antonio de Mendoza in 1535.
Despite efforts by such men as Juan de Zumrraga to induce the indigenous population to accept European religious and social practices, the Spanish had difficulty establishing control, as is evidenced by such events as the Mixtn War (1541). Nonetheless, the small minority of Spanish succeeded in holding power over the rest of the population, and the society slowly developed three different status groupingsSpanish, native peoples, and mestizos (mixed Spanish and indigenous).
Although certain viceroys, including Luis de Velasco (both father and son), attempted to improve the material conditions of the indigenous peoples, there remained an unbridgeable gap in status between the wealthy, almost exclusively Spanish landowning class and the depressed laboring class on the land, in the mines, and in the small factories (chiefly the textile mills, called obrajes). The growth of an underprivileged mestizo class and the antagonism between those Spanish born in Spain (gachupines) and those born in America (criollos, or creoles) added to the stress.
The mercantilist system, under which manufacturing was largely forbidden in New Spain, drained the wealth of the country to Spain. Lesser officials often were corrupt and ignored the country's problems. At the same time, the Spanish succeeded in conquering new territory. Most of present-day Mexico and the former Spanish holdings in the present-day United States were occupied early. In the 16th century California was explored, but it was not until the middle and late 18th century that NE Mexico and Texas were occupied by Europeans in any large degree. Many of the administrative evils were ended by the reforms (especially that of 1786) of Jos de Glvez, but discontentment with Spanish rule continued to grow among the creoles. Independence
The establishment of the United States and the ideas of the French Revolution had considerable influence on Mexicans. The occupation (1808) of Spain by Napoleon I, who placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, opened the way for a revolt in Mexico. The priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla began the rebellion by issuing (Sept. 16, 1810) the Grito de Dolores [cry of Dolores], a revolutionary tract calling for racial equality and the redistribution of land. Armies, made up mostly of mestizos and natives and shunned by the creoles, sprang up under the command of Ignacio Allende, Jos Mara Morelos y Pavn, Vicente Guerrero, and Mariano Matamoros.
Hidalgo was at first successful, but lost (1811) the decisive battle of Caldern Bridge. By 1815, Morelos and Matamoros had been defeated, and Guerrero had been driven into the wilds. When the liberals came to power in Spain in 1820, the more conservative elements in Mexico (primarily the higher clergy and the creoles) sought independence as a means of maintaining the status quo. The royalist general Augustn de Iturbide negotiated with Guerrero, and they arrived (Feb., 1821) at the Plan of Iguala, which called for an independent monarchy, equality for gachupines and creoles, and the maintenance of the privileged position of the church. Spain accepted Mexican independence in Sept., 1821, and a short-lived empire with Iturbide at its head was established (1822).
In 1823, the republican leaders Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria drove out Iturbide and a republic was set up with Guadalupe Victoria as its first president. Politics were dominated by groups formed around individuals (mostly army officers), each seeking his personal ends. There was a frequent turnover of governments, and the national budget usually ran a deficit. Guerrero, with the support of Santa Anna, became president in 1829, but was ousted in 1830 by Anastasio Bustamante. In 1832, the ambitious Santa Anna, who had a great influence over Mexican politics until 1855, toppled Bustamante and became president. Santa Anna fell from power after being captured during the Texas revolution (1836), but he served again as president from 1841 to 1844. Waste, corruption, and inefficiency were widespread at the time, as inequities in the social order went unchallenged.
The war with Texas led to an all-out war with the United States, the Mexican War (1846-48), which was ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which Mexico lost a large block of territory. After the war, Santa Anna returned to power as perpetual dictator but he was overthrown (1855) by a revolution started (1854) at Ayutla. A group of reform-minded men came to the foreJuan lvarez, Ignacio Comonfort, Miguel and Sebastin Lerdo de Tejada, and, especially, Benito Jurez and drafted the liberal constitution of 1857, which secularized church property and reduced the privileges of the army.
Conservative opposition was bitter, and civil war ensued; Jurez led the liberals to victory in the War of Reform (1858-61). The conservatives then sought foreign aid and received it from Napoleon III of France, who had colonial ambitions. French intervention followed and led to a brief and ill-starred interlude of empire (1864-67) under Maximilian , a Hapsburg prince. With the end of French aid the empire collapsed and Jurez again ruled Mexico, but political disturbances prevented the accomplishment of his reform program. Porfirio Daz led a successful armed revolt in 1876 and, except for the period from 1880 to 1884, firmly held the reins of power as president until 1911. It was a period of considerable economic growth, but social inequality was increased by the favoritism shown the great landowners and foreign investors; the indigenous population sank deeper into peonage. The democratic institutions remained only as a veneer for oligarchic rule. The Revolution
In Nov., 1910, an idealistic liberal leader, Francisco I. Madero , began an armed revolt against Daz, who had gone back on his word not to seek reelection in 1910. Madero was quickly successful, and in May, 1911, Daz resigned and went into exile. Madero was elected president in Nov., 1911. Well-meaning but ineffectual, he was attacked by conservatives and revolutionaries alike and was harassed by U.S. ambassador Henry Lane Wilson. In Feb., 1913, Madero was overthrown by his general, Victoriano Huerta , and was murdered. President Huerta's regime was dictatorial and repressive, and revolts soon broke out under the leadership of Venustiano Carranza , Francisco Pancho Villa , and Emiliano Zapata .
In 1914, Huerta resigned, partly because of U.S. military intervention ordered by President Woodrow Wilson, and Carranza became president. Civil war broke out again in late 1914, but by the end of 1915 Carranza had established control over the country, although Villa and Zapata maintained opposition bands for a number of years. In 1916, Villa led a raid into the United States, which resulted in an unsuccessful U.S. expedition into Mexico. Carranza sponsored the constitution of 1917, which was similar to the 1857 constitution, but which in addition provided for the nationalization of mineral resources, for the restoration of communal lands to native peoples, for the separation of church and state, and for educational, agrarian, and labor reforms. However, most provisions of the constitution were not implemented, and in 1920 Carranza was deposed by General lvaro Obregn , his former military chief, who was subsequently elected president.
Under the Obregn regime (1920-24) some land was redistributed and, under the leadership of Jos Vasconcelos, numerous schools were built. Obregn was succeeded by Plutarco Elas Calles, who continued the agrarian and educational programs, but who became embroiled in serious controversies with the United States over rights to petroleum and with the church over the separation of church and state. In some regions Catholic militants, called Cristeros because of their rallying cryViva Cristo Rey! [long live Christ the King]were in open revolt, and in the country as a whole from 1926 to 1929 church schools were closed and no church services were held. Both controversies subsided, partly because of the intervention of the U.S. ambassador, Dwight Morrow. Reelected in 1928, Obregn was assassinated before taking office.
Calles remained the most powerful person in Mexico during the administrations of Portes Gil (1928-30), Ortiz Rubio (1930-32), and Abelardo Rodrguez (1932-34). In 1929 he organized the National Revolutionary party (in 1938 renamed the Mexican Revolutionary party and in 1946 the Institutional Revolutionary party), the chief political party in Mexico. Calles's hegemony ended, however, with the inauguration (1934) of Lzaro Crdenas. Vigorous and idealistic, Crdenas instituted reforms to improve the lot of the underprivileged. He redistributed much land under the ejido system and supported the Mexican labor movement, which had suffered a setback under Calles.
Railroads were nationalized, and foreign holdings, particularly in petroleum fields, were expropriated with compensation. Educational opportunities were increased and illiteracy reduced, medical facilities were extended, transport and communications were improved, and plans were drawn up for land reclamation and for hydroelectric and industrial projects. A settlement with the church was reached. The pace of reform slowed under Manuel vila Camacho, who became president in 1940. Relations with the United States improved. In World War II, Mexico declared war (1942) on the Axis powers; it made substantial contributions to the Allied cause and also received considerable U.S. economic aid. Post-1945 Developments
Since World War II, Mexico has enjoyed considerable economic development, but most of the benefits have accrued to the middle and upper classes and the relative welfare of poorer persons (small farmers and laborers) has remained the same or deteriorated. Under President Miguel Alemn (1946-52) vast irrigation projects and hydroelectric plants were constructed, and industrialization advanced rapidly. The improvements made in Mexico's rail network during World War II and the opening of the Inter-American Highway after the war encouraged more U.S. tourists to visit Mexico and thus increased the commercial value of one of the country's greatest assets, the beauty of its land.
Under the moderate presidents Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (1952-58), Adolfo Lpez Mateos (1958-64), and Gustavo Daz Ordaz (1964-70), the government continued to play a dominant role in national affairs, and attempts were made to improve the conditions of the lower classes. The tax structure was reformed somewhat, some large estates were confiscated and the land redistributed, and educational opportunities in rural areas were increased. In foreign affairs, Mexico maintained friendly relations with the United States, ratifying treaties settling long-standing border disputes in the El Paso, Texas, region (1964, 1967) and calling (1965) for the United States to maintain the freshwater content of the Colorado River, whose waters are used for irrigation in Mexico. Unlike most other American nations, Mexico maintained diplomatic relations with revolutionary Cuba, but it supported the United States during the Cuban missile crisis (1962).
In the 1970s Mexico continued to expand its economy, borrowing significantly on the strength of its petroleum reserves. When oil prices fell sharply in the early 1980s the country's ability to meet its international debt obligations was severely strained. Unemployment and inflation soared, private and foreign investment dropped sharply, and the population began migrating from rural areas into the cities and into the United States. The government of Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (elected in 1982) responded with economic austerity policies, a renegotiation of Mexico's international debt, and a loosening of direct foreign investment regulations.
The economic crisis, the austerity measures imposed in response, and the added economic blow of a major earthquake in Mexico City in 1985 all contributed to a significant degree to a popular discontent with the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI). Although the party's candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari won the presidency in 1988, his margin of victory was extremely narrow and was marred by charges of fraud. Salinas continued the economic reform begun in the early 1980s, encouraging foreign investment, privatizing many national industries, investigating corruption in public offices, and working toward increased trade with the United States. A continued problem in Mexico's relations with the United States, however, has been the illegal flow of immigrants and drugs across the border. In 1992 Mexico, the United States, and Canada negotiated a North American Free Trade Agreement, which erased many trade barriers and created a trading bloc of 370 million people.
Land and People
Most of Mexico is highland or mountainous and only about 20% of the land is arable; about 20% of the country is forested. Most of the Yucatn peninsula and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southeast is lowland, and there are low-lying strips of land along the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California (which separates the Baja, or Lower, California peninsula from the rest of the country).
The heart of Mexico is made up of the Mexican Plateau (c.700 mi/1,130 km long and c.4,000-8,000 ft/1,220-2,440 m high), which is broken by mountain ranges and segmented by deep rifts. The plateau is fringed by two mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Oriental (in the east) and the Sierra Madre Occidental (in the west), which converge just south of the plateau. Within the plateau are drainage basins, which have no outlet to the sea and which contain some of the country's major cities. The Laguna District, one of the drainage basins, was (1936) the scene of a major experiment in land reapportionment. In the north the plateau is arid except for irrigated areas and is used principally for raising livestock.
In the south the deserts yield to the broad, shallow lakes of a region, comprising the Valley of Mexico, known as the Anhuac and famous for its rich cultural heritage. South of the Anhuac, which includes Mexico City, is a chain of extinct volcanoes, including Citlalteptl, or Orizaba (18,700 ft/5,700 m, the highest point in Mexico), Popocatpetl, and Ixtacihuatl. To the south are jumbled masses of mountains and the Sierra Madre del Sur.
Among Mexico's few large rivers are the Rio Bravo del Norte, which forms the boundary with Texas, and its tributaries the Ro Conchos and the Ro Sabinas; the Ro Yaqui, Ro Fuerte, Ro Mezquital, Ro Grande de Santiago, and Ro Balsas, which flow into the Pacific; and the Ro Grijalva and Ro Usumacinta, which flow into the Bay of Campeche. The climate of the country varies with the altitude, so that there are hot, temperate, and cool regionstierra caliente (up to c.3,000 ft/1,220 m), tierra templada (c.3,000-c.6,000 ft/1,220-1,830 m), and tierra fri (above c.6,000 ft/1,830 m).
Mexico's 31 states are Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacn, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Len, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quertaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potos, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatn, and Zacatecas.
The great majority of the population are of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent and speak Spanish, the official language, as their first language. Various Mayan dialects are also spoken. Since 1920 the population of Mexico has had a very high rate of growth, almost entirely the result of natural increase; from 1940 to 1990 the population grew from 19.6 million to 81.1 million. Nearly 90% of the people are Roman Catholic and 6% are Protestant. The country has numerous universities, notably in Mexico City, Saltillo, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Puebla. Since precolonial times Mexican architects, painters, writers, and musicians have produced a rich cultural heritage. See articles on Spanish colonial art and architecture, Mexican art and architecture, and Spanish American literature.
Economy
Since 1945, Mexico has generally enjoyed considerable economic growth, especially of its industrial plants. An exception is the 1980s, during which the country suffered a severe economic crisis. Heavily dependent on sales of petroleum, the Mexican economy incurred large international debts as petroleum prices fell. Population increases and inflation contributed to food shortages and unemployment. By the early 1990s, debt relief, diversification and privatization of the economy, and foreign investment had begun to show positive effects, and Mexico's economic growth rate returned to historic levels. The Mexican government plays a major role in planning the economy and owns and operates some basic industries (including the petroleum industry) and means of transport.
Over 25% of the country's workers (including those largely outside the money economy) are engaged in farming, which is slowly becoming modernized. Because rainfall is not adequate outside the coastal regions, agriculture depends largely on irrigation, the development of which is extensive. Mexico produces a wide variety of agricultural products, including basic grains, sugarcane, citrus fruits, cotton, coffee, and tomatoes. Maguey is widely grown and is processed into the alcoholic beverages pulque and mescal. Livestock raising and fishing are significant sources of economic activity.
Mexico is among the world's leading producers of many minerals, including silver, fluorite, zinc, and mercury. Mexico's petroleum reserves are one of its most valuable assets. In the late 1970s and early 80s petroleum constituted about three quarters of Mexico's exports. That figure fell drastically in the mid-1980s. While diversification of industry has helped to keep Mexico's trade economy from becoming dependent once more on a single export, the petroleum industry has recovered substantially.
Next to oil, the largest earners of foreign exchange are now the industrial assembly plants (maquiladoras) that dot Mexico's border towns. Since the early 1980s there has been considerable foreign investment in the maquiladoras, which take advantage of a large, low-cost labor force to produce finished goods for export to the United States. These plants have increased Mexico's export production considerably, as well as contributing to the diversification of the industrial sector. By the early 1990s, tourism was Mexico's third most important income producer. Favorite tourist centers include Acapulco, Cancn, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatln, Cabo San Lucas, and Tijuana, as well as Mexico City itself and some of the highland centers like Guadalajara and Puebla.
The principal industrial centers in Mexico are Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Veracruz, Durango, Tampico, Mrida, and Puebla.
Leading manufactures include food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles and clothing, motor vehicles, cement, refined petroleum and petrochemicals, electronic products, and textiles. The country is also known for its handicrafts, especially pottery, woven goods, and silverwork. Mexico's chief ports are Veracruz, Tampico, Coatzacoalcos, Mazatln, and Ensenada. The annual value of Mexico's imports has traditionally been considerably higher than the value of its exports.
The leading imports are metal working and agricultural machinery, steel mill products, electrical equipment, chemicals, motor vehicles and their parts, aircraft and their parts, manufactured consumer goods, and grain; the main exports are petroleum and petroleum products, coffee, shrimp, engines, motor vehicles, cotton, consumer electronics, sugar, tomatoes, sulfur, and zinc. The principal trade partners are the United States, the European Community, and Japan. Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Latin American Integration Association, and the Latin American Economic System.
Bibliography
A number of historical sources have been translated into English, notably the letters of Corts and the account of the conquest by Bernal Daz del Castillo. See also W. H. Prescott, The Conquest of Mexico (3 vol., 1843; many subsequent editions); Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude (tr. 1962) and The Other Mexico (tr. 1972); J. W. Wilkie, The Mexican Revolution (2d ed. 1970); A. J. Hanna and K. A. Hanna, Napoleon III and Mexico (1971); Nicolas Cheetham, A History of Mexico (1972); Peter Calvert, Mexico (1973); Nora Hamilton and Timothy Harding, Modern Mexico (1986); George Philip, ed., The Mexican Economy (1988); R. E. Ruiz, Triumphs and Tragedy (1992). Bernal Diaz del Castillo
c.1492-1581, Spanish conquistador and chronicler. He had served in the New World under various commandersPedro Arias de vila, Diego de Velzquez, Francisco Fernndez de Crdoba, and Grijalvabefore joining Hernn Corts in 1519 to serve in the conquest of Mexico. His monumental work, The True History of the Conquest of New Spain (1632; tr. by A. P. Maudslay 1928, rev. ed. 1956, and by Albert Idell, 1956; both with variant title), written in his old age in Guatemala, is a fresh, unstudied account of events, scenes, and men he had himself known, with an accent on everyday concerns and on the common soldier. See biographies by R. B. Cunninghame Graham (1915) and Herbert Cerwin (1963). Acapulco
City (1990 pop. 592,187), Guerrero state, S Mexico. A fashionable resort, it has lavish hotels and facilities for deep-sea fishing and skin diving. Its natural harbor, surrounded by cliffs and promontories, served as a base for Spaniards exploring the Pacific and later played a key role in trade with the Philippines. The city was founded in 1550, and its importance led the Spanish to construct (18th cent.) the Fort of San Diego to protect the harbor from piracy. Today commercial activity in Acapulco is dominated by tourism and related industries. Acapulco has suffered frequent earthquake and hurricane damage.
MexicoSpan. Ciudad de Mxico (Mjico), city (1990 pop. 8,236,960; 1991 met. area est. 20,899,000), central Mexico, capital and largest city of Mexico.
History
The city has been the metropolis of Mexico since even before New Spain was created. It is built on the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitln, which was begun by the Aztecs c.1345 and razed by Hernn Cortes in 1521. During the colonial period Mexico City served as the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain and was for a time the cultural and social center of North and South America. It was taken in 1847 by Winfield Scott's American army, after an inland march from Veracruz in the Mexican War . The French army captured Mexico City in 1863, and Emperor Maximilian, crowned in 1864, did much to beautify it before it was recaptured by Mexicans under Benito Jurez . In the years of revolution after 1910 it was a magnet for divergent insurrectionary forces. Perhaps the most spectacular incidents were the occupations (1914-15) by Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata . The summer Olympic games were held in Mexico City in 1968.
Geography and Environment
Mexico City is located near the southern end of the plateau of Anhuac, at an altitude of c.7,800 ft (2,380 m). The horizons of the city are almost obscured by mountain barriers, and the peaks of Popocatpetl and Ixtacihuatl are not far off. The climate is cool and dry. Much of Mexico City's surrounding valley is a lake basin with no outlet, and in the past during the rainy seasons, mountain runoff swelled the lakes.
From the time when the Aztec capital of Tenochtitln stood on an island in Lake Texcoconow the heart of the metropolismeasures have been taken to protect the city and provide for expansion by draining Texcoco and the other lakes, Chalco and Xochimilco. In the 17th cent. the Spanish viceroys, notably Louis de Velasco, the younger, initiated important works. In 1900 a central canal was completed that reached to the headwaters of the Pnuco River. The Caracol [Span.,=snail], a 12-mi (19-km) spiral canal fed in turn by longitudinal canals begun in 1936, acts as an evaporating basin, from which valuable minerals are taken.
Drainage and artesian wells have lowered the water table so that the surface crust, formerly supported by subsoil water, can no longer sustain the heavier buildings of the city, which are sinking some 4 to 12 in. (10.2-30 cm) a year. Some of Mexico's finest buildings have been damaged, among them the old cathedral (begun in 1553 on the site of an Aztec temple) and the Palace of Fine Arts. Modern office buildings have been shored up with pilings.
In addition to being built on soft subsoil, the city is located in a region of high seismic activity. Earthquakes in 1957 and 1985 caused substantial damage. Overcrowding has also become a major problem in Mexico City, and traffic concentrations, combined with the atmospheric conditions of the city's surrounding valley, have resulted in heavy air pollution.
The Modern City
Mexico City forms the core of the Federal Dist. and is the commercial, industrial, financial, political, and cultural center of the nation. Among its diverse and important manufactures are chemicals, petroleum, food products, textiles, automobiles, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and consumer items. Population has increased rapidly in a city that had already spread out in many residential sections called colonias. Ixtapalapa and Gustavo A. Madero are the largest suburbs of the Federal Dist.; Coyoacn is the oldest, with a palace built by Corts.
Points of Interest
The city, with its rich local color and extraordinary cultural attractions, is a focal point for tourists. Many monuments of Spanish colonial architecture remain in spite of the soft subsoil and seismic activity. The cathedral and the National Palace are on the great central square, the Plaza de la Constitucin, where the streets of the old town crisscross in a rough grid. From the Plaza the great avenues span out to the far sections of the capital. Many colonial churches are to be found, notably on the Paseo de la Reforma, which cuts across the city to Chapultepec.
Public buildings of the 19th cent. have a ponderous grandeur that shows French influence, but the newly built edifices are starkly modern. Some old buildings as well as the newer (e.g., the Palace of Fine Arts, the National Palace, and the National Preparatory School) feature murals by the modern artists Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The National Univ. of Mexico, founded in the 16th cent., is housed in University City (opened 1952), built on a lava outcrop in the outskirts. Among noted religious and recreational centers are Guadalupe Hidalgo and Xochimilco. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1848, peace treaty between the United States and Mexico that ended the Mexican War. Negotiations were carried on for the United States by Nicholas P. Trist. The treaty was signed on Feb. 2, 1848, in the village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, just outside Mexico City. It confirmed U.S. claims to Texas and set its boundary at the Rio Grande. Mexico also agreed to cede to the United States California and New Mexico (which included present-day California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming) in exchange for $15 million and assumption by the United States of claims against Mexico by U.S. citizens. The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate on March 10, 1848, and by the Mexican Congress on May 25. Mexican War
1846-48, Armed conflict between the United States and Mexico.
Causes
While the immediate cause of the war was the U.S. annexation of Texas (Dec., 1845), other factors had disturbed peaceful relations between the two republics. In the United States there was agitation for the settlement of long-standing claims arising from injuries and property losses sustained by U.S. citizens in the various Mexican revolutions.
Another major factor was the American ambition, publicly stated by President Polk, of acquiring California, upon which it was believed France and Great Britain were casting covetous eyes. Despite the rupture of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States that followed congressional consent to the admission of Texas into the Union, President Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico to negotiate a settlement. Slidell was authorized to purchase California and New Mexico, part of which was claimed by Texas, and to offer the U.S. government's assumption of liability for the claims of U.S. citizens in return for boundary adjustments.
When Mexico declined to negotiate, the United States prepared to take by force what it could not achieve by diplomacy. The war was heartily supported by the outright imperialists and by those who wished slave-holding territory extended. The settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute (June, 1846), which took place shortly after the official outbreak of hostilities, seemed to indicate British acquiescence, for it granted the United States a free hand.
The Course of Hostilities
Early in May, 1845, American troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor had been stationed at the Sabine River preliminary to an advance to the Rio Grande, the southern boundary claimed by Texas. They advanced to Corpus Christi in July. In March, 1846, after the failure of Slidell's mission, Taylor occupied Point Isabel, a town at the mouth of the Rio Grande. To the Mexicans, who claimed the Nueces River as the boundary, this was an act of aggression, and after some negotiations Gen. Mariano Arista ordered his troops to cross the Rio Grande. On April 25 a clash between the two armies occurred, and Taylor reported to Washington that hostilities had begun.
On May 3 the guns of Matamoros began to shell Fort Brown (then Fort Taylor), an advanced American position near the present Brownsville, Texas. President Polk called these Mexican actions an invasion of American soil, and on May 13, 1846, the United States declared war. Meanwhile, Taylor had defeated the Mexicans at Palo Alto (May 8) and Resaca de la Palma (May 9). The Mexicans retreated across the Rio Grande. Taylor followed them and on May 18 took Matamoros. After a delay he then advanced on Monterrey, which he occupied after a five-day battle (Sept. 20-24, 1846).
In June, 1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny left Fort Leavenworth for New Mexico with some 1,600 men, including a force of Missouri volunteers under Alexander Doniphan. Santa Fe was taken (August), a provisional government was set up, and Doniphan was placed in command of the area. Kearny pushed on to California to find that this province, through the agency of Commodore John D. Sloat (later relieved by Robert F. Stockton) and John C. Frmont, was already under American rule. After reinforcements reached Santa Fe, Doniphan invaded (Dec., 1846) N Mexico, taking El Paso and Chihuahua before he joined forces with Gen. John E. Wool (who had advanced southwest from San Antonio) and with Taylor at Saltillo.
Gen. Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna, who had been in exile in Cuba and had been allowed passage through the U.S. blockade at Veracruz, had now assumed the presidency of Mexico; he gathered a large force to stop Taylor's advance. Taylor, whose army had been greatly reduced in size, was in an extremely vulnerable position when hit by Santa Anna in the battle of Buena Vista (Feb., 1847). The fighting was hard and appeared indecisive for a time, but in the end the Mexicans withdrew in confusion.
The final campaign of the war began with the landing of U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott at Veracruz in March, 1847. Scott was supported by a naval task force under David Conner (who was relieved by Matthew C. Perry); they landed some 12,000 men and after a three-day bombardment took the city. Scott then began his drive on Mexico City. In April, Santa Anna was defeated at the mountain stronghold of Cerro Gordo. After hard fighting Mexican forces were also routed at Contreras and Churubusco (August).
On Aug. 24 the Mexicans accepted an armistice, but after two weeks of futile peace negotiations, fighting was resumed. The Mexican capital was heavily defended by garrisons at Casa Mata and Molino del Rey and by the great fortress of Chapultepec. William J. Worth carried Casa Mata and Molino del Rey, and the supposedly impregnable Chapultepec was stormed in a savage American assault led by Gen. John A. Quitman. On Sept. 14, 1847, American troops entered Mexico City, where they remained until peace was restored.
The Settlement
The United States had won an easy victory, partly because Mexico, torn by civil strife, could not present a united front to face the invader. The Mexican presidency had changed hands a number of times during the war, and some Mexican states had refused to cooperate with the central government. Peace negotiations were conducted on behalf of the United States by Nicholas P. Trist, a secret envoy, whose relations with General Scott were at first strained. Although recalled by President Polk, Trist decided to ignore the order and continue his negotiations, which resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Feb. 2, 1848). By the terms of the treaty, Mexico ceded to the United States two fifths of its territory and received an indemnity of $15 million and the assumption of American claims against Mexico by the U.S. government. The boundary between the two countries, as outlined, was to follow the Rio Grande from its mouth to the New Mexico line, then run west to the Gila River, follow the Gila to the Colorado River and then follow the boundary between Upper California and Lower California to the Pacific.
Guadalupe Hidalgo
Shrine, central Mexico, in the Federal District. The basilica of Guadalupe containing the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (feast: Dec. 12) is the focal point of the most famous pilgrimage in the Western Hemisphere. In 1531 a Native American , Juan Diego, reported to Archbishop Zumrraga a series of miraculous visions of the Virgin Mary on the hill of Tepeyacac. The Spanish prelate attempted to discredit the visions, but the spot was nevertheless renamed Guadalupe in honor of the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Spain. To this was added later the name of the revolutionary priest Hidalgo y Costilla, who adopted her banner as his standard. She is the patroness of Mexico, especially beloved by Native Americans. See Donald Demarest and C. B. Taylor, ed., Dark Virgin: the Book of Our Lady of Guadalupe (1956).
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
1753-1811, Mexican priest and revolutionary, a national hero. A creole intellectual, he was influenced by the French Revolution. As parish priest of the village of Dolores, Hidalgo attempted to improve the lot of the natives. Under his direction the Native Americans set out olive groves and vineyards, built a porcelain factory, engaged in the silk industry, and began other forbidden projects. As a result he antagonized the government and was also brought before the Inquisition to be tried for heresy, but the case was suspended. When Napoleon invaded Spain and captured Ferdinand VII, the aftermath in Mexico, as in other South American countries, was the birth of separatist movements. Hidalgo was one of a group of creoles who met at Quertaro and planned a revolution. The plot was soon discovered, but he took a bold step and openly adopted the cause of independence. On Sept. 16, 1810, he issued the Grito de Dolores [cry of Dolores], launching the revolt against Spain. Hidalgo gathered an immense army of Native Americans. With the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe as his standard, he injected religious zeal into the insurrection, but the Native Americans' cry for freedom and land was just as fervent. Ignacio Allende and other creole officers who had taken part in the conspiracy now brought colonial militia into Hidalgo's ranks, and certain radical creoles also joined. The church and the landowning creoles remained hostile. Success attended Hidalgo's ill-organized army: Guanajuato, Guadalajara, and Valladolid fell to the revolutionaries, and they set out for Mexico City. They defeated a royalist force at Monte de los Cruces (Oct. 30, 1810) but did not pursue their victory. Rather, on Hidalgo's orders, the insurgents turned away from the capital and, retiring northwestward, were routed at Aculco. At Guadalajara, Hidalgo reorganized the army that was sent forth only to be crushed by Calleja del Rey, the royalist general, at Caldern Bridge (Jan. 17, 1811). Hidalgo, Allende, and the other leaders made their way north, hoping to reach the United States, but were betrayed and captured. Hidalgo, after being degraded (defrocked) by the Inquisition, was shot. His schemes for social reform, exemplified in the emancipation of slaves, the cessation of the tribute tax, and the return of the land to the Native Americans, had come to nothing, but the war for Mexican independence continued; leadership of the movement was passed on to Morelos y Pavn. See studies by Hugh Hamill (1966), J. A. Canuso (1967), and A. H. Noll (1973).
The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe began with the of apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego, an Indian neophyte, at the hill of Tepeyac in December 1531, is one of the most important formative religious and national symbols in the history of Mexico. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
1794-1876, Mexican general and politician. He fought in the royalist army, but later joined Iturbide in the struggle that won independence for Mexico (1821). Santa Anna then entered upon a long and tortuous political career. His actions were governed by opportunism rather than by any fixed principle, and he shifted his allegiance from party to party, his fortunes rising and falling with bewildering rapidity. He led the revolution against Iturbide (1823); aided, then revolted against, Vicente Guerrero; and turned against Anastasio Bustamante after helping him to power. His victory over the Spanish when Guerrero was in power gained for him a popularity which he turned into political capital; he was ever afterward the hero of Tampico. Elected president for a term beginning in 1833, he struggled with the vice president for power and established himself as a reactionary dictator in 1834. He went to Texas to crush the revolution there and became a sort of ogre in American eyes because of the slaughter at the Alamo and the brutality of the massacre at Goliad, which was carried out under his orders. His defeat and capture by Samuel Houston at San Jacinto (1836) put a temporary halt to his political career in Mexico, but his shrewd political sense, aided by the accident of losing a leg in an attempt to repulse the French at Veracruz (1838), restored his prestige. Driven from power after a wasteful, corrupt presidential administration (1841-44), he returned from exilewith U.S. aid apparentlyand again became president (1846-47). He commanded in the Mexican War, but his defeats at Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, and Puebla and the loss of Mexico City sent him again into exile. He returned and ruled (after Dec., 1853) as perpetual dictator until the revolution of Ayutla again drove him into exile (1855) and brought Benito Jurez to the fore. After several attempts, he was allowed to return to Mexico (1874). See his memoirs, Mi historia militar y poltica (1905); his autobiography (ed. by A. F. Crawford, 1988); biographies by W. H. Callcott (1936, repr. 1968) and O. L. Jones (1968); R. G. Santos, Santa Anna's Campaign Against Texas 1835-1836 (1968).
Bibliography
See G. L. Rives, The United States and Mexico, 1821-1848 (1913, repr. 1969); J. H. Smith, The War with Mexico (1919, repr. 1963); Bernard De Voto, The Year of Decision (1943, repr. 1961); A. H. Bill, Rehearsal for Conflict (1947, repr. 1969); R. S. Henry, The Story of the Mexican War (1950, repr. 1961); O. A. Singletary, The Mexican War (1960); R. E. Ruiz, The Mexican War: Was It Manifest Destiny? (1963); David M. Fletcher, The Diplomacy of Annexation (1973); K. Jack Bauer, The Mexican War (1974); J. H. Schroeder, Mr. Polk's War (1974), and Gene N. Brack, Mexico Views Manifest Destiny (1975).
Tracing Your Mexican Ancestry
Cinco de Mayo
Mexican Immigration into the United States
The Mexican Americans
Antonio de Padua Mara Severino
LPEZ de SANTA ANNA y PREZ de LEBRN b. February 21, 1794, Jalapa
d. June 20, 1876, Mexico City
Title:
Constitutional President of the Mexican United States
(Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos)
Term:
April 1, 1833 - January 1, 1837
Elected:
March 30, 1833, by the National Congress (1)
Executive oath:
May 16, 1833, session of the National Congress, Mexico City (2)
Absences:
April 1 - May 15, 1833 (illness)
June 2 - 17, 1833 (military campaign)
July 6 - October 27, 1833 (military campaign)
December 15, 1833 - April 23, 1834 (illness)
January 27, 1835 - January 1, 1837 (illness and military campaign)
End of term:
January 1, 1837, dismissed by the decree of the National Congress issued on Feb. 22, 1837, declaring the office vacant from January 1, 1837 (3)
Army officer and statesman who was the storm center of Mexico's, Santa Anna served in the Spanish army and rose to the rank of captain. In 1821 he supported Agustn de Iturbide and the war for Mexican independence, but in 1823 he helped overthrow Iturbide. In 1828 he backed Vicente Guerrero for president, only to help depose him later.
Santa Anna gained much prestige in 1829 when he fought against Spain's attempt to reconquer Mexico, and he became known as the Hero of Tampico. He won the presidency in 1833 as a Liberal with Valentn Gmez Faras as his vice presidential candidate, but pleaded illness and went home to Jalapa, leaving Gomez Faras as acting president. As Faras' policies proved unpopular, Santa Anna arrived to the capital on May 15, 1833, to assume the presidency and took oath at the session of Congress on May 16, 1833. (1)
In June 1833, Santa Anna led the Mexican troops against insurgents, but resumed the presidency on June 18 (appropriate Manifest issued June 18). He again headed the army to pursue rebellious General Arista and returned to Mexico City after successful military actions and issued the Manifest on returning to power on October 27, 1833. Santa Anna applied to the Congress on December 14(?), 1833, requesting six-month leave of absence due to poor health.
The general reassumed the presidency on April 24, 1834 (appropriate Manifest signed April 29, 1834). Then he dissolved congress on May 31 and assumed dictatorial powers. On December 28, 1834, Santa Anna issued a decree to restore the Congress, which assembled on January 4, 1835.
On Jan. 22, 1835, the President tendered his resignation to Congress, but it was declined by the Chamber of Deputies on Jan. 27. Instead, the Congress granted Santa Anna a leave of absence "for a time necessary for health recovery." Santa Anna returned to Jalapa, only to have to lead an army into Zacatecas to suppress another revolt in May for which he was named Benemrito en grado herico. When Texas confronted with the central government, Santa Anna took to the field again with 6,000 troops and in Feb. 1836 they entered Texas After the battle of San Jacinto Santa Anna was captured (April 23, 1836) and as a prisoner signed two treaties with Texas considered by most Mexicans as treason.
On Feb. 22, 1837 the Congress passed a decree that declared "the presidency of Santa Anna to have expired as soon as the Siete Leyes were published" (Jan. 1, 1837), as well as requiring Santa Anna to explain his negotiations in Washington. Interim President Corro delayed publication of the decree, but Santa Anna's term ended.
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