Conquering Mexico's Northern Frontier

Like a story, human history is a tale of change over time. Empire raise and fall, lands changes hands, and new countries are built. Mexico is no different in this regard. Mexico's struggle to create a functioning government allowed the United States to acquire its northern frontier.

How did this happen?

During the 1800's, tired of being considered inferior to Spanish-born elites, and seeing the success of the American Revolution, Mexico engaged into a bloody revolution. Yet it was a long and costly process that although ended in Mexico's favor, was at a high price. An estimated two million Mexican were dead [Online Web page], and hundreds were wounded. Still, this was not the only problem--with the absence of Spanish officials, most of whom led the government, Mexico was left with a fragile government, a terrible economy and a huge debt. Weber describes this problem in his book.

Profound change in Mexico's political, economic, and religious, and social institutions had begun prior to independence and the process was far from complete. As the nation struggled to overcome the effects of a ruinous civil war that had given it life, it had continue to stagger under repeated economic crises, quarrels between Church and State, the machinations of predatory and often illiterate army officials, the defiance of local leaders whose regional interests ran deeper than their allegiance to the nation, and the threats of foreign invasion.i

Thus, Mexico had many problems to content with after it revolution, and many more problems to come.

The New Governments

The first government of Mexico was little more than a dictatorship, before it too was over thrown in 1823. In the end, Mexico had no less then twelve changes in government, its pol...

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... blows deep into Mexico”xvi compared to the Mexican settlers who were simply struggling to survive on the land that no one could, nor would defend against either the Americans or

Pinales 7 the Indians.

The Mexican Frontier Lost

After a short and rather embarrassing war in 1846, Mexico was forced to give up most of the land in its Northwest to the United States. This was the result of a large population of Americans that Mexico could neither get rid of nor stop that eventually led to Mexican becoming isolated from their mother country., as well as the inefficient government that Mexico struggled to achieve but was made difficult because of the following reasons, a failed legacy from Spain, multiple changes in political governments, low birth rate of Mexicans (especially after the Mexican Revolution), large debt, low tax revenue, corruption, and vast social divides.