CHICANO STUDIES 101
Instructors Notes
Developed by Charlene Garcia Simms

UNIT 2B

The Mexican American War lasted from May 1846-February 1848 (the actual fighting ended in September 1847) and resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which transferred California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, southern Colorado and Texas to the United States.

What happened to the Citizens by Default after the Mexican American War?

    * Citizens by default were treated as foreigners in their own land.
    * There were men who became social bandits after they experienced several atrocities.  Some of these men were Joaquin Murrieta; Tiburcio Vasquez, Juan Cortina; Gregorio Cortez. Crimes of Violence were committed against Mexicans especially in Texas. The Texas Rangers would kill Mexicans without any repercussions.
    * The citizens by default did not know American law, most did not know English and could not read well enough to understand legal documents.. There was much political corruption by Anglo lawyers, politicians, bankers and merchants. This included several upper class Mexicans.  An alliance called the Santa Fe Ring, led by Thomas Catron swindled many Mexican people out of their land. Sometimes the people paid the lawyers by giving them their land. "The Americans not only took possession of their country and its government, but in many cases despoiled them of their ancestral acres and their personal property. Injustice rankled, and they were often treated by the rougher American elements as aliens and intruders, who had no right in the the land of their birth."

The dispossession of land for the Chicanos varied from state to state. What is important to note is that this dispossession of land depleted the economic base of Chicanos and they had also lost their political clout. Without a land base, Chicanos had to turn to wage labor in agricultural, industrial and service professions.

What did the Citizens by Default have to endure after the Mexican American War?
Settling In?

By 1900 the Citizens by Default were starting to settle into a country that still treated them like foreigners but life was calming down. A second group of people were about to arrive. Between 1900 and the early 1940's, 10% of Mexico's population moved north; most were escaping the Mexican Revolution; some came under organized programs between Mexico and the United States for labor purposes.  The citizens by default had turned to wage labor. The citizens by default were more or less settled where they would stay for the time being. Both groups of Chicanos would continue to work in the railroads, cotton, sugar beets, truck or produce farming, etc, many of them became migrants, following the crops. Americans liked the cheap labor which included stoop labor. As if these people didn't have enough to contend with, the smuggler or coyote crossed the border, not only to round up crews, but to get workers across the line in violation of the immigration regulation. For a fee of ten or fifteen dollars, the coyote would arrange to get Mexicans across the line by having them jump the fence at la Colorado; or come across concealed in automobiles, carts, or trucks by fording the Rio Grande at night. Another type of agent, the man snatcher, made a business of stealing Mexican labor and selling the same crew to several different employees. Delivering a crew to an employer, they would steal the crew at night and resell it to still another employer. Once working their living conditions were deplorable. Many settled in colonias or barrios, Mexican neighborhoods.

The Balance Sheet: Mexicans had been a vital factor in the development of agricultural and industrial enterprises valued at $5,000,000,000.

Look at the Chronology of the Chicano Movement in the back of your textbook;
Start looking at I Am Joaquin and highlight what you can now understand if you didn't the first time you read the poem.

Discussion on what was happening in the United States after the Mexican American War. Labor; social bandits; Open season on Mexicans; downward mobility for Chicanos economically; they were subjected to the worst jobs.

The Ludlow Massacre of 1914 - The miners of Colorado were treated like personal slaves by the owners, especially at CF&I owned by John D. Rockefeller. These groups of people were of different nationalities but they united against the corporation. One of the things that happened was that they were evicted from their company-owned homes and forced to live in tents set up by the union. Armed company guards attacked them. Then on April 20, 1914, at 10 a.m. state militiamen and company guards began shooting directly at the tents and setting them on fire. Of the 18 people killed, half were chicanos and many were children who had been burned to death. Enraged miners from other places came and killed many company guards. Finally the U. S. Army was sent in to bring "peace." The mine owners still refused the workers demands.

What was happening in Mexico after the Mexican American War? Read handouts on Benito Juarez, and  the chronology of the Mexican Revolution. Become familiar with the following people.
The major players: (1862-1940)

    * Porfirio Diaz - dictator of Mexico for 34 years. Planted the seeds of revolt. To the outside world it looked like he was doing great things for Mexico. This was false prosperity because while the rich were getting richer the poor were getting poorer.
    * Jose Ives Limentour (led the Cientificos who believed the only good thing Indians were for was labor)
    * The Magnon Brothers (Enrique and Ricardo); Published an underground newspaper telling people in Mexico the truth. They were exiled to the U. S.  They continued to publish.
    * Francisco Madero - finally ousted Diaz. Assassinated under orders of Huerta;
    * Victoriano Huerta - took over presidency of Mexico. Terrible man; forced out by Carranza.
    * Emiliano Zapata - hero of Mexico; kept to ideals of giving the land back to the peasants. His famous quote is "I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees." Assassinated under the orders of Carranza.
    * Doroteo Arrango (Pancho Villa) - fighting for the land but very different from Zapata. Not a kind man; a rebel rouser; invaded Columbus, New Mexico. General Pershing was sent to chase him down. Lots of money spent but Pancho Villa hid in the mountains. He was also assassinated.
    * Venustiano Carranza - also assassinated.
    * General Alvaro Obregon - took over from Carranza. Made it possible to give back land to the Indians and peasants; promoted education.
    * Lazaro Cardenas - president of Mexico in the 30s; promoted giving land back to the Indians and peasants; improved many conditions for all people of Mexico. Followed Obregon's example of kicking out foreign investors, even capitalists and corporations from the United States.

What caused the Mexican Revolution?
What was the effect of the Mexican Revolution on the United States?

We have a lot to cover in the next class. Unit III notes will not be posted until after class next week. It will be more in line with the text. The notes that I have been giving you have been as support for what is not in the text. We will go over the test and then do a review over what we have covered, especially the importance of this information to the social worker or related fields.

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