chican@ studies 1800-1900

WHAT WERE THE IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE 1800’S? HOW HAVE THESE EVENTS IMPACTED US TODAY? WHAT DID THEY

CONTRIBUTE TO THE CREATION OF CHICANO@ STUDIES?

DR. IRIS D. RUIZ FALL , 2014

The Colonial EraThe Process of Decolonization

Continues……..

Flash forward……

1810 Spanish and Mexican War

The 1800’s brought the beginning of the independence movement from Spain.

1810: War of Race and Class: Racial tension existed between the Spanish, Criollos, Mestizos and the Indians.

Mestizos wanted more of an economic share of the power that was exclusive to the Criollos (Spanish person born in Mexico)

1821: Independence was achieved after many wars and changes in leadership. Guerilla warfare was a factor.

1820 Mexican Indepdendence

The 1820 War of Independence did not resolve racial and class inequality nor special privileges for the military.

Mexico was broke; Spanish money was gone.In independent Mexico, the new state turned into an

unstable sociological and political structure.The continued power-politics that kept the power in the

Catholic and Spanish influenced church.The church had completely devalued all indigenous

religious practices and had huge amounts of power at this time.

The influence of Spanish colonial rule and power led continuing racism toward the Indios.

Mexican State Formation

As Mexico had gained independence, it was still mired in chaotic power plays between the different classes.

They needed more stability as their populations were growing and were acclimating to the demands and perceived benefits of capitalism.

The best way to unite the people would be to encourage a national consciousness and make Mexico into a nation-state.

However the political structure never stayed consistent and was characterized by military dictatorships.

Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

The 19th century and Manifest Destiny went hand-in-hand.U.S. believed that it was destined by God to expand their

religious and political beliefs all across the lands of North America.

The Angel of Progress was on their side. Their weaponry and military tactics were supreme and their thirst for gold and natural resources was insatiable.

Their eyes were set on Texas and when the Mexican Government was not in alignment with their personal desires, they decided to take over.

Lousiana purchase in 1803.Acquisition of Florida in 1818.

The Angel of Progress

The Angel of Progress is a

mythical, metaphysical

representation of colonial

beliefs and motives and U.S.

settlers of the 19th Century. The

Angel signifies something that

is positive, destined and

ordained by God. They believed

they were destined to spread

liberty, justice and the American

way” to all poor, unfortunate

souls they encounter on their

path.

US History Leading to Dispute with Mexico

13 colonies gained independence from England in 1783

1787 the U.S. constitution written.1803 purchase of Lousiana Territory1819 Florida was acquiredWhite North American people believed is what

their fate to settle all of these lands.They set their eyes on Mexico, because Mexico had

not yet settled the lands of Texas and California.Loss of Atzlan….

1829: Mexican Abolition of Slavery

Mexico abolished slavery before the U.S. (Acuña, 2014, pp. 44)When Mexico abolished slavery on Sept. 15, 1829, Europeans circumvented (side-stepped) the law by “freeing” their slaves and then signing them to a lifelong contract of indentured servitude.Anglo-European immigrants were not happy with having to follow Mexican laws that interfered with their capitalist desires.

The Loss of Atzlan

Mexico gained independence due to an unstable Spanish regime and growing unrest of the indigenous and Mestizo populations.

They implemented a democracy. All first presidents were military and gained control

through their control of army. National governments were extremely unstable.Went from president to president.In 22 years (1833-55) the government changed hands

36 times!All of this history in totalilty and happening

simultaneusly led to the loss of Atzlan.

Uprising in Texas

Because Texas was not a developed region because it was so far away from Mexico City where the government was centralized

Because there weren’t many Mexican settlers in Texas

Because the U.S. already had their eyes on Mexico and Texas

Because Mexico allowed English settlement in Texas

Loss of Texas

In 1826, U.S. President John Quincy Adams put pressure on Mexico to sell Texas for 1 million.

Mexican refused, so Adams began a campaign to force Mexico to sell Texas.

1830, Andrew Jackson attempted to buy Texas for 5 million.

Mexico halted European immigration.Houston said more profitable for the U.S. to

“Americanize” Texas.Texas was trading with other U.S. colonies.Mexico was losing its grasp on the land.

Loss of Aztlan or the Southwestern U.S. cont.

U.S. settlers thought of themselves as moral, intellectually and politically superior.

The centralized government in Mexico, started by Santa Anna, was also a force that the English did not agree with.

They were not fond of the Mexican centralized oligarchy government structure.

Stephen Austin declared war on Mexico on Sept 19, 1835.

The Battle of the Alamo/Battle of San Jacinto

These battles made the Mexican army weak and paved the way for a full-fledged Mexican-American war.

U.S. frontier up against the far Southwest.Set their eyes on the taking the who Southwestern territory.1836-1846: Texas was an independent republic.In December, 1845, Texas became a state.the republic claimed borders that included all of the present US

state of Texas as well as parts of present-day Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexico.

The eastern boundary with the United States was defined by the Adams-Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 but was up for dispute by Mexico.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Nonetheless, Mexico lost the war.The battle at Churubusco in 1847 brought

Europeans to the gates of Mexico City.On February 2, 1848, the Mexicans ratified the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, with Mexico accepting the Rio Grande as the Texas border and ceding almost half of its territory (which incorporated the present-day states of California, New Mexico, Nevada, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, Utah and even Oklahoma) to the United States in return for 15 million.

The Creation of a Mexican Underclass

The Lynchings and Reign of Terror

Dispossession

MARB

Civil Rights

Chicano Movement

Walkouts

Cultural Wars

Today

21st Century Chican@ Movement