Slide 1: Introduction
The presentation will comprise two main parts.
Part I:
Introductory details about the topic of American-Mexican War
Brief history of the American-Mexican War.
The era of the war
The location
The key people involved in the American-Mexican war
Part II:
The section will include the impacts of the American-Mexican war on the people of California including:
The general impacts on the people of California
The impacts on the politics of California
The impacts on the Society and Culture of California
The impacts on the economy of California
The impacts on the environment/Geography of California
Figure 1: Effects of the Mexican-American War (Gómez, p.43, 2018).
Speaker notes
The Mexican-American War was a result of U.S. efforts of spreading their destiny mandate and outright greed of the political leaders that led to the death, eviction, and immense suffering of the people of California, resurgence of slavery and slavery debates, the rise of the hybrid culture of civilization, economic exclusion and unbalanced growth, reduced lands due to population increase and environmental degradation of California.
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The Mexican government encouraged border raids and warnings on the attempt of annexation that led to the war.
The Mexican-American War led to the loss of lives and property and affected California in many ways, which were positive for some and devastating for others.
Slide 2: A brief history of the Mexican-American War
Start and End Dates: April 1846 to February 1848
Location of the War: Texas, New Mexico, California; Northern, Central, and Eastern Mexico; Mexico City
Leading causes for War:
The conflicting Mexican and American claims
Increased border disputes and attacks between the USA and Mexico
Domestic politics in the USA
The annexation
The start and end dates of the Mexican - American War :
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, started from April 1846 to February 1848.
The War took place in the era of "manifest destiny" in the 1940s of the United States, where the country sought to dominate over its neighbors.
Location of the Mexican-American War: Texas, New Mexico, California; Northern, Central, and Eastern Mexico; Mexico City
Speaker Notes
The causes and leading causes of the Mexican - American War
The Mexican Claim and the U.S. Claim
The difference in claims between Mexico and U.S. in which Mexico claimed that Nueces River was its Northeastern border while the U.S. disagreed, claiming that the rightful border was the Rio Grande River.
The annexation of Texas and its role in causing the Mexican - American War
The Thornton Affair events, Siege of Fort Brown, Battle of Monterrey, Battle of Buena Vista (Angostura), Battle of Contreras (Padierna), and Battle of Churubusco preceded the ultimate Mexican-American War.
Domestic politics played a role in the U.S. in starting the War by sanctioning the ideals of the then president of the U.S, James K. Polk.
Failure by Mexico to ratify the 1836 Treaties of Velasco would have recognized Texas's independence from Mexico.
The era of the Mexican-American War
Failed negotiations between the U.S. and Mexico City over the boundary disputes.
U.S. President James K. Polk's role as a critical driver of the War with his plan to lead the U.S. to manifest its destiny by spreading across the continent to the pacific border.
The American annexation of Texas, which the Mexican government considered a declaration of War and reacted by removing the Mexican minister from Washington, was the immediate cause of the War.
The border disputes that preceded Texas's annexing by the United States in 1845 led to the Mexican-American War of 1846.
Annexation refers to the permanent acquisition and incorporation of a territorial entity into another adjacent of a noncontiguous geo-political entity.
Figure 2: Death of Civilians and Soldiers due to the war (Rebman, p.67, 2019).
Slide 3 : Key Mexican - American War figures and personalities
Key Mexican - American War figures and personalities that were actively involved in the War and or contributed to the start of the Mexican - American War:
President James K. Polk
Stephen W. Kearny
Mexican President Herrera
General Zachary Taylor
U.S. Minister John Slidell
Figure 3: The Portrait of President James K. Polk (Guardino, p.27, 2017).
Speaker Notes:
President James K. Polk was the chief architect of the manifest destiny and a U.S territorial expansion campaigner. As a result, he advocated for Texas's annexation, which ignited the war, and further prosecuted the war that added much of California and Southwest to the U.S.
Stephen W. Kearny was a U.S. army officer and was the one who conquered New Mexico and winning of California. Additionally, the Kearny Code, for which he was the initiator, established the law that led to California's conquest.
Mexican President Herrera weakened the Mexican forces by usurping the authority of the then-president Lopez de Santa Anna. In the process, the U.S took advantage of the Mexico problems and started the war.
General Zachary Taylor served as a brigadier general and commanded the U.S first department army in a winning war against Mexico due to the annexation.
U.S. Minister John Slidell served in the role of a plenipotentiary to Mexico between 1845 to 1846 and was a key negotiator in the agreement that made the Rio Grande the Southern border of Texas.
Slide 4: The Aftermath of the Mexican-American War
Who gained, who lost?
Mexico lost, and the USA gained.
The USA expanded its territory by a third.
The USA had to pay Mexico $15 million and the equivalent of $420 million today.
Why did the U.S. pay Mexico 15 million dollars?
The amount was part of the negotiations that help to end the Mexican-American War. The payment was to pay off claims of the American citizens against Mexico.
How much land did Mexico lose to the U.S.?
500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km) of land
How and who ended the Mexican-American War?
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): “Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic” according to (Guardino 2017) and its importance in ending the Mexican-American War.”
Speaker notes
Mexico was the greatest loser in the war by far, losing close to 82000 lives and 55% of its territory.
Conversely, the USA gained by winning the war and acquired the land previously under Mexico territory, present-day Nevada, Utah, California, Colorado, and Arizona.
Mexico suffered economic ruin, massive damage to property, and loss of lives.
Compared to Mexico’s 82,000 casualties, the USA only lost 1733 lives and was left with 4152 wounded from the war.
The USA gained 1.3 million sq. Km of land and had to pay $15 million to Mexico.
The treaty of Guadalupe helped to end the war.
Figure 4: Efforts to end the Mexican-American War (Gómez, p.72, 2018).
Slide 5: The impacts on the People of California
Californians (soldiers, civilians, volunteers, and children) were killed in the War.
California became overpopulated after the War.
The predominance of young males in California (both Americans and Mexicans).
The predominance of young males in California (both Americans and Mexicans)
Forceful and ruthless eviction of California's Natives off their lands by the miners.
The rise of ethnic and racial discrimination.
Speaker Notes
The War led to a massive number of causalities (soldiers, civilians, volunteers, children, and several deaths as a result of the War in combat and as an aftermath of the War)
California became overpopulated, with a population increase from just a few thousands to over 300,000 due to the gold-rush.
The death was through:
Death from War
Death from yellow fever, diarrhea, typhoid, and dysentery
Death from other diseases such as mumps, measles, gonorrhea, smallpox, syphilis, and cholera. During the War, some deaths were not directly caused by the War, but by the environment; the War created, for instance, the people who died of smallpox.
The predominance of young males in California (both Americans and Mexicans)
Forceful and ruthless eviction of California's Natives off their lands by the miners.
The rise of ethnic and racial discrimination.
The attacks, killings, and pushing off the lands of the American Indians and abuse of the American Indians by miners as reported by the Goldfield observers.
Dislike against non-Americans, particularly those from South America, and discrimination against the families from Hong Kong and South China due to their reputation of frugality and hard work, unlike the natives who were spendthrifts.
Figure 5: The smoke of death from the Mexican-American War (Flores, p.56, 2016).
Slide 6: The impacts on the Politics of California
There was a change of political jurisdiction of California from Mexico to the USA
Disagreements and lobbying for and against Slavery of the people in California
Ethnic attacks.
The rise of communism
Development of property laws "staking claims."
Speaker Notes
Attacks by the white majority against the Mexican and the Chinese minorities
Passage of laws to restrict the claims of new land to white Americans.
Feuds between the Northern Whigs and Southern Democrats over land obtained.
There arose strife between abolitionists and congress over power and Slavery (Rael, 2017) .
Political duels and debates over spoils from the Mexican-American War.
Wilmot's Proviso in ending Slavery both in California and other territories won through the Mexican-American War, with the primary goal of freeing California of the White Pennsylvanians so that they could work free from the slave labor competition.
The politics of Slavery as proponents and opponents of Slavery of with tensions mounting and interchange of accusations that threatened California's and national unity with the slogan "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men," having the goal of opposing slavery extension into the territories.
The writing of the 1849 state constitution, choosing a legislature and a governor and implementing California as a State as a part of the Compromise of 1850 (Guardino, 2017) .
Development of property laws "staking claims."
Figure 6: Rise of Communism after the Mexican-American War (Rael, p.82, 2017).
Slide 7: The impacts on the Society and Culture of California
The war led to the intrusion of California by people from other parts of the world.
The war birthed a hybrid culture of intermarriages and new social norms of civility.
The upsurge in drinking, gambling, widespread fighting, change in the justice system.
The war led to disharmony among the diverse people.
Speaker Notes
The intrusion of people from other parts of the U.S. to California for mining Gold and getting the newly found land.
Hybrid culture through intermarriages and sharing of social norms between the natives and the new entrants in the California state.
Birth of a new social center-the saloon
The upsurge in drinking, gambling, widespread fighting, change in the justice system
The rise in the number of brothels and new was of earning 20% of California's females through prostitution.
Change in clothing style with the invention of the trousers (the blue jeans) by Levi Strauss.
The influx of the Chinese people with the hope of making income from Gold mining between 1849-1854.
The aftermath of the war was disharmony among the diverse people.
Figure 7: A drinking joint in California as a result of the Mexican-American (Gómez, p.93, 2018).
Slide 8: The impacts on the economy of California
The war led to the discovery of Gold in California that led to the famous California Gold Rush.
There was an increased economic activity due to the influx of miners and traders of the newly discovered Gold.
Economic activity changed from farming to mining.
There was the expansion of agriculture and farming to cater to the increased population.
Speaker Notes
Discovery of Gold in California with the gold-seekers coming in fast and finding Gold worth $550 million in California (1849-1850) (Flores, 2016).
Change of the primary economic activity from farming to the mining of Gold.
Some Californians made it from gold mining, and while some didn't but instead lost their land, with some losing lives and livelihoods.
The California Gold Rush peak and stabilization of life in the 1850s (Flores, 2016).
Change of the ports of California to the United States flag.
The building of new roads, schools, churches, and towns throughout California due to the influx of the gold-seekers.
The rise of organized communities of 'civilized" life-stories, stage lines, saloons, fraternal lodges, and libraries.
Establishment of newspapers coupled with the arrival of singers, musicians, and acting companies for entertaining the gold-seekers.
Introduction and development of new transport methods such as steamships into the regular service such as building railroads from California to the eastern United States
Expansion of agriculture and ranching to meet the needs of the settler-invaders.
Figure 8: Sample gold from California mine from the Mexican-American (Gómez, p.55, 2018).
Slide 9: Impact on the environment/Geography of California
The change of territorial authority over California from Mexico to the United States
Change of land ownership of the land of California from Mexico to the U.S.
California became part of the United States' manifest destiny success in extending the nation coast to coast (Flores, 2016) .
The rise of ghost towns in places where miners had moved away from dotting the California state
There was an increase of California territory by more than a third due to the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
Speaker Notes
The people of California lost their lands to foreigners and the invaders through unjust court actions. These new occupants polluted the land and led to its degradation, some of which deserted it after their mining activities (Rebman, 2019) .
Initially, California had been under the jurisdiction of the Mexican government. Still, after the war, due to the treaty of Guadalupe, the land now belonged to the USA of Americans as part of its territory.
The effects of war led to the rise of ghost towns with no people in places where miners had completed mining and left the land to seek gold in other areas.
Figure 9: Map showing the land degradation in California after the Mexican-American (Guardino, p.32, 2017).
References
Flores, L. A. (2016). Grounds for dreaming: Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, and the California farmworker movement. Yale University Press.
Gómez, L. E. (2018). Manifest destinies: The making of the Mexican American race. NYU Press.
Guardino, P. (2017). The dead march: A history of the Mexican-American war. Harvard University Press.
Rael, R. (2017). Borderwall as architecture: A manifesto for the US-Mexico Boundary. Univ of California Press.
Rebman, N. (2019). The Mexican-American War. Weigl Publishers.
