Posted by
Big Possum on Sunday, July 09, 2006 10:33:40 AM
They march in the streets; they fly the Mexican flag over an inverted Star Spangled Banner; they demand rights they are not entitled to; many are lawbreakers in that they are here illegally and for all other manner of infractions; they wave posters insulting the white population while calling them racists, and they claim that they did not cross the border, the border crossed them. Some, if not most, adhere to the belief that the Southwest United States belongs to them; that it was unjustly taken from their people by the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. They cloak this with the term Aztlan, which is itself an Aztec myth which attempts to identify the place of origin of the Aztec people. There is no proof that Aztlan was anywhere in the present United States. Best guesses are that it was in Old Mexico.
The war started because of a belligerent and typically unstable Mexican government which attacked first across the Rio Grande. But here we need to step back in history.
Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821. At that time Spanish holdings in NA included, for our argument, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Spain's claims to these lands was based upon the wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca, the expeditions of Coronado and a few others. Spain had for generations attempted to settle these lands, with some success in establishing missions, but no success in controlling or coexisting with the indigenous hostile tribes. Mexico could not settle these lands with Mexicans and had to look to colonists from the United States and Europe.
In 1836, the population of Texas was about 5,000 blacks, 30,000 Anglo-Americans, 3,470 Hispanics and 14,200 indians. In a revolt against the harsh policies of the dictator Santa Anna,
the Texans declared their independence of Mexico and Santa Anna marched his armies north. The rest is well known history. Nine of the doomed defenders of the Alamo were hispanic tejanos as were many in Sam Houston's army which brought total defeat to the Mexican army at San Jacinto. Rather than execute Santa Anna, Houston chose to parole him back to Mexico on his word to honor the independence of Texas, a promise which was not kept. Thus, after only fifteen years of ownership, Mexico lost control of Texas. Ten years later, it would proceed to lose the rest of its claims to North America.
California was lost to Mexico not as a result of war, but also of revolution. Unaware that there was a war between the nations, the settlers, Anglos and Mexicans (Californios) desired permanent separation from Mexico and union or protection from the U.S. or Great Britain. What they achieved was union with the U.S. and the war of 1846-1848 had nothing to do with that outcome. In twenty-five years of ownership, Mexico had lost California also. Both Texas and California left Mexico because of the will of the inhabitants.
The war did result in the loss of New Mexico and Arizona. By 1827 most of the settlements and missions in Arizona had been abandoned as a result of Native American uprisings and continued hostilities. The same situation existed in much of southern New Mexico, while in the north the vast majority of the population was Native American with an ever increasing number of Anglos, the result of the Santa Fe trail and the westward movement of the American population.
Thus when the border moved south, there were very, very few Mexicans who unwillingly had the border move over them. For them now to lay ancient problematical claims to territory that either willing left the Mexican nation or was lost through war, treaty or purchase is ludicrous and without basis in fact.