"The yanqui imperialist stole more than half of our territory. Many of the current states of the union once belonged to México; these include all of California, Texas, New México, parts of Utah, and Colorado."
I remember listening to these statements made by my elementary school professor more than forty years ago. I was a young child enrolled in the local elementary school of my hometown in the state of Jalisco, México, at the young age of 8 years old, when I heard these words.
Just like that, I enrolled in the very long list of individuals that resented the norteamericanos for our territory losses and their imperialistic ideologies. I grew up mistrusting the "gringos," but at the same time, developing sentiments of inferiority.
Cesar N. MadrigalTo make things a bit more complicated for me, a large sector of the population of the town were migrants that lived and worked in the United States. They will bring money, status, and notoriety upon returning from "El Norte." This didn't make sense to me. We were the victims of an aggressor but benefited from working in the neighboring country - a symbiotic relationship that reflected two very different sides. And then I started to hear stories, told by some of the residents, about their past stay in the United States working on the hot, sunny fields of California and at the sweaty kitchens of Chicago. I learned about the harsh and discriminatory manner in which their employers treated them and about their struggles to adapt to a new society.
Then, at the young age of 14, I visited my relatives in the San Francisco Bay Area and stayed with them for a few months, ultimately deciding to stay longer. This stay lasted more than 30 years. During this tenure, I lived my own experiences with the "americanos," but never to a concerning degree of a harsh or discriminatory nature behavior towards me. Although, I witnessed some biased, prejudiced behaviors directed against some of my coworkers. Both the Mexican and the American did not trust each other but could work together, maintaining a clear and definite social and economic divide. I became intrigued and interested in understanding the reasons for this symbiotic relationship. I wanted to know the whys and wherefores. The logical choice was to start from the beginning: the war between the two countries.
I bought historical and fiction books related to the historical relationship between the two countries. These included fictional texts such as James A. Michener's "México," "The Eagle and the Raven," and "Texas;" historical books such as John S.D. Eisenhower’s “So Far from God,” and “Intervention;” Josefina Zoraida Vasquez’ “México Frente a Estados Unidos. Un Ensayo Histórico 1776-2000,” Justin Smith’s “War with México,” and many more works and publications related to the Alamo story and Texas’ War of Independence.
I learned about all of the battles of the actual War and the military encounters between the American settlers in Texas against the army of Antonio López de Santa Anna. While in college, I also learned more about the history of the United States, from the independence years until the Reconstruction, Depression, World War I, and World War II periods, but notoriously missing in the content of these classes was the Mexican War event. Josefina Zoraida Vasquez notes this “convenient” mishap by calling the U.S. "The United States of Amnesia."
I learned about the gradual approach manifested towards immigrants, people of color, and Native Americans by the English settlers of the early colonies and about the vastly popular sentiment of "Manifest Destiny," that embodied the thoughts and feelings of many sectors of the population and political factions of the United States during the 19th century that included the desire of many to expand the frontiers to the West, which eventually led to the declaration of War against México, issued by President James K. Polk on May 11, 1846.
The loss of territory, as a result of the war against the United States, as well as other attempts made by the U.S. government to intervene in the political sphere of México in the subsequent decades after the War, prompted Porfirio Díaz to coin the phrase, "Poor México, so far From God, and so close to the United States," and since the end of the War, many Mexican government officials have continued to blame the U.S. government for most of their shortcomings and inefficacies in governing. This approach is inherently wrong. Erroneously as well, is the inability of the United States government to accept responsibility for acts committed against its southern neighbor.
The challenge for historians and history buffs is to inquire about the truth. In most cases worldwide, victorious armies describe the events, while the losing side's story is rarely known. In the case of the Texas War of Independence and the subsequent War against México, there were numerous factors involved that ultimately led not only to the start of the conflict but also shaped the negotiations, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that symbolized the end of the War and the acquisition by the United States of Mexican northern territories. The causes of the Mexican War were not simply the desire for the western expansion of the United States, nor the inability of the Mexican government to govern the vast territories acquired after the War of independence against Spain; neither the many internal conflicts experienced by México during the American invasion.
The origins and the reasons are much more profound. The upcoming event organized by the Rio Grande Guardian, titled "To Conquer. To Defend," allows learning more about this historical and important event that shaped the course of both the United States and México. The various speakers scheduled to appear in this event will give us an excellent perspective of the conflict and its effects, which still influence both societies today. We must continue inquiring about them and remain actively involved in the conversation.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Cesar N. Madrigal, a keen student of the U.S.-Mexico War. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Madrigal can be reached by email via: cesarnml@gmail.com.
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