The animosity between Mexicans and Americans had an extensive history, based on various stereotypes and a lack of cultural understanding. Americans in the Southwest believed that Mexicans were, “lazy, shiftless, jealous, cowardly, bigoted, superstitious, backward, and immoral.” The Mexicans, however, thought Americans were “arrogant, overbearing, aggressive, conniving, rude, unreliable, and dishonest.” Tensions peaked during the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War, in which the United States rapidly and cruelly dispatched their Mexican foes, committing horrendous atrocities that General Winfield Scott claimed would “make Heaven weep and every American of Christian morals blush for his country.” To many Americans, the war affirmed their beliefs …show more content…
As Mexican-Americans struggled to adjust to being governed by new laws and a new judicial system, Americans quickly took advantage of their ignorance. They stole Mexican cattle and sold the herds to American beef companies, and acquired “’large bodies of land that now have enormous value…sometimes legally and sometimes illegally, for almost nothing.” An example of Mexican-American struggles with corruption comes from Maria Ruiz de Burton’s The Squatter and the Don, an 1885 novel that told the story of a Mexican landowner in California, Don Mariano, and a newly wealthy American squatter, Clarence Darrell. In the chapter “The Don’s View of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,” Don Mariano reflects upon how poorly the Treaty has been executed. Although the agreement supposedly protected the lands held by Mexicans (now Mexican-Americans), these landowners soon encountered issues with squatters stealing their land and killing their cattle. The Americans did not feel the Mexicans deserved so much land and made efforts to “take-back” what they thought was rightfully theirs. When asked if there are laws protecting property in California, Don Mariano responds, “‘yes, some sort of laws, which in my case seem more intended to help the law-breakers than to protect the law-abiding.’” Published only 39 years after the beginning of the Mexican-American War, the novel reflected many of the author’s personal experiences growing up and demonstrated a truth many Mexican-Americans came to know regarding officially sanctioned
When Spaniards colonized California, they invaded the native Indians with foreign worldviews, weapons, and diseases. The distinct regional culture that resulted from this union in turn found itself invaded by Anglo-Americans with their peculiar social, legal, and economic ideals. Claiming that differences among these cultures could not be reconciled, Douglas Monroy traces the historical interaction among them in Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California. Beginning with the missions and ending in the late 1800s, he employs relations of production and labor demands as a framework to explain the domination of some groups and the decay of others and concludes with the notion that ?California would have been, and would be today, a different place indeed if people had done more of their own work.?(276) While this supposition may be true, its economic determinism undermines other important factors on which he eloquently elaborates, such as religion and law. Ironically, in his description of native Californian culture, Monroy becomes victim of the same creation of the ?other? for which he chastises Spanish and Anglo cultures. His unconvincing arguments about Indian life and his reductive adherence to labor analysis ultimately detract from his work; however, he successfully provokes the reader to explore the complexities and contradictions of a particular historical era.
Weber, David J. Foreigners in Their Native Land: The Historical Roots of Mexican Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973.
The Territory of New Mexico, in the mid-1870-80s, experienced a wave of rampant lawlessness, unparalleled in the history of the United States. One must walk a mile in their shoes before coming to conclusions about the lives of men and boys in that era.
The relationship between the United States and Mexico has become increasingly complicated since the 19th century. In the mid-1800s, the United States aimed to spread its territory by settling a large portion of Mexico’s territory, including parts of California, Arizona, and Texas. The United States was drawn to Mexico’s rich land and its agricultural opportunities. Mexico had achieved its independence from Spain just before the U.S.-Mexican War, and was not ready to give up its newly acquired land. In 1846, however, war between the U.S. and its Southern neighbors began. Throughout the struggle, the United States exerted its power over Mexico. Many Mexicans felt threatened by the power of the U.S. The United States was viewed as a neighboring bully, looking to exert its force unjustly over innocent and defenseless people. A number of unfortunate personal exchanges throughout the dispute only worsened the nation’s opinions of each other. Mexico continued to see the U.S. as an overly powerful polity, threatening to discredit Mexico’s legitimacy as an independent nation. The United States saw Mexico as a disrespectful and inadequate younger sibling .
Whether they were on Broadway or in Hollywood, being a Hispanic actor meant you were put into this stereotyped box that was and is hard to break through. How many times has there been a Hispanic or Latino in the role of a hero, wealthy man/woman, or doctor in film or television? The following quote from Lin Manuel Miranda is to explain the struggles of a male Hispanic actor aspiring to be on Broadway. “I couldn’t see a way for me [a Latino man] to have a career in musical theater based on the musicals that already existed. I don’t dance well enough to play Bernardo [of ‘West Side Story’], or Paul in ‘A Chorus Line.’ And I don’t have an operatic voice enough to play the ‘Man of La Mancha.’ And if you’re a Latino man, that’s all you get… I
Imagine being at risk of being pulled over at any given time, the only reason? The color of your skin. “2010, the state of Arizona passed a law authorizing local police to check the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect of being in the United States illegally.” (11 Facts...). The ability to pull people over for the sole reason of looking illegal. This seems aimed at Latinos because they are the ones that are easily recognizable, and often stereotyped as not being legal residents of the United States. For example, if two people were lined up and one had a light complexion and light features, and one had tan skin and darker skin, when asked who looked like an immigrant, a large majority would choose the individual with the tan
The Mexican War of 1846-1848 was one of major importance to U.S. history, but has since fallen into annals of obscurity. It was the nation’s first war fought on foreign soil: a war that advocated the concept of “manifest destiny”, the United States God-given right to claim territory for the establishment of a free democratic society (Stevenson 2009). Even though many historians claim the war was forced on Mexico by slaveholders greedy for new territory, President John Polk viewed the war as an opportunity to defend the annexation of Texas, establish the Rio Grande as its border, and to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico (Stevenson 2009).
When viewing a map of the country of Mexico prior to the American westward expansion, it was actually larger than the United States had been at that time. Some lands that Mexico lost in the Mexican - American war under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, are Texas (the second largest state in the present US), California (the third largest state in the present US) and New Mexico (the fifth largest state in the present US). Due to this defeat Mexico lost half of its national territory. Half of Mexico’s lands were gone and half of Mexico’s people displaced making them Americans and no longer Mexicanos. This occurred without their approval or consent. In the book “My History Not Yours” written by Genaro M. Padilla are accounts of men and women living in the lands of Texas, California and New Mexico during the this unruly time of loss and the unknown. The pages of this book contain the actual written accounts of Mexicanos and their feeling of outrage sadness and anger against the insurgence of their mother lands. The feelings of accommodation and resistance are a present among the writers within Padilla’s book but some lean towards one side and some the other. All humans are different and the people of Mexico handled and felt differently about the loss of their lands. Some possessed the mindset that the overtaking of their lands by the Americans was unacceptable and they resisted and resented the presence of the Anglo-Saxons that now occupied their territory. While others possessed more of an accommodating view. That being, they saw the Americans as a potential asset to develop the lands and that the US was more powerful than they so it would be best to tr...
Another dispute led to the beginning of the Mexican War, which took place in the mid nineteenth century. While most American’s supported the war due to the interest in gaining more land by expanding westward, they also faced their first war on other land outside of the United States (Liberty, p.499). Although Mexico was willing to stand their ground and fight for their rights, in the end they were quickly defeated and Americans were victorious in this war. Once they took over Mexico they began to expand further. This expansion led to a lot of changes which benefited America but caused a lot of destruction for others.
The idea of Manifest Destiny led the Americans to war with Mexico. In 1846, America gained control of what is now the Southwest. With this acquisition, America inherited years of Navajo-Mexican warfare. The Mexicans became American citizens; the Natives, being Indians, did not. Therefore, Indians were punished for attacks on Mexicans but not vice-versa (Brown 14). General Stephen Watts Kearney put it this way, addressing the Mexicans: 'The Apaches and the Navajos come down and carry off your sheep and your women whenever they please. My government will correct all this. They will keep off the Indians, protect you in persons and property " (L.
Imagine that you are of Arab decent you being screened more thoroughly than others at the airport. The only way the airport staff can identify that you are of Arab decent is based on your family name, Najjar. The airport staff constantly takes extra measures to confirm that you are not a terrorist. Stereotypes have existed in American culture for centuries. Early in American history stereotypes of Negroes and Mexicans predominately associate them with lower-class attributes (Campbell, 1967).
After Mexican’s sign of Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty, there has been plenty of complains in the Don Alamars family, worrying that their legal rights would be questioned by the U.S. government. As far as l am concerned, the role that Don Alamars was portrayed was a traditional Mexican man who was stick to feudal orders and the conventions of Mexicans. In The Squatter and the Don, the love story between Mercedes and Clarence can be regarded as the main story pattern that intrigued the interest of the readers. Ruiz de Burton portrayed Clarence as a brave and reasonable young man who posed different attitude towards native California resident (the Mexicans), and who fall in love with daughter of the Darrells. From this regard, Clarence can be regarded as a knight who fight for the integration of Mexican-American culture and the tense relationship between the two groups. Mercedes is another important character in this novel, who shouted out voice towards stereotypes and prejudices. As the description of the scene when Clarence first met with Mercedes, she was a shy girl and afraid of intruding the rules and traditional regulations. However, her final decision of getting married with Clarence can also be considered as a breakthrough to the rigid conventions represented by her father and her
Puerto Ricans, just like many other ethnic groups, are victims of stereotypes and prejudices. These individuals have been labeled as lazy, submissive, etc. However, one of the main stereotypes that affects Puerto Ricans, to this day, is the one that labels them as criminals. There are many media representations that continue to identify Puerto Ricans as criminals, even though that may not be the case. Unfortunately, for many ethic groups, the media plays a major role in regards to their stereotypes. As mentioned in earlier lessons, Native Americans have been labeled as lazy, drunk, savage, etc. The main reason that these stereotypes persist is because of how they are represented by the media. Usually hollywood portrays them according
There is so much controversy about immigration in the United States. There are many perspectives about how Immigration is seen by White Americans. Some are more extreme than others. Even though the Unites States was founded by diversity and on the inclusion of immigrants, stereotypes presented by society drives White Americans to go to the extreme of deporting immigrants. The stereotypes that propel this idea of deportation are immigrants on welfare, crime done by immigrants, and how immigrants affect jobs. These stereotypes can be promoted from many different parts of society ranging from media outlets to the upper government of the United States.
Los Angeles is unique in that it captures the essence of a multi-ecological setting bringing the ocean, the skyscraper, and the happiest place on earth under one rooftop. Its deep-rooted culture engulfs the city’s character and overwhelms the spirit of L.A. Los Angeles has encompassed the circle of the Mexican pueblo that began in 1848 and has returned over two hundred fifty years later. Hordes of “land hungry Anglo-Europeans” began to migrate to Los Angeles from various parts of Europe. They viciously took land from the inhabited Mexicans by fraud, force, and imposing ridiculous property taxes. Although Mexican rancheros fought gallantly for their land, they could not afford to pay the property taxes and as a result lost a vast part of their holdings. The Mexican ranchero lifestyle gradually vanished as new settlers took over. As the Anglo-whites became the majority in Los Angeles, they also became the major influence on the development of the city and its capitalist structure.