The Mexican-American border has a very interesting history. It once was part of the Spanish Empire that included the present-day Southwest region of the United States. The United States declared independence from England in 1776, while Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1810. Both countries were new and turned their focus on building their governments, economies and sovereignties.
The goal of the United States was to become economically strong and looked to gain territory that would benefit its goal. Mexico’s goal was to gain control of its Northern territories from the raiding Indian groups and to populate the region with Mexican settlers. The United States had some real advantages that Mexico lacked. It had navigable waterways and a lot of land for farming. Mexico did not because of the fact it is very mountainous. Possible this was a reason they looked to motivate people to move North. The U.S. was already much stronger than Mexico in different ways.
The U.S. wanted to expand its boundaries using the reason that democracy depended on it. They also said it was Manifest Destiny. So, the United States made a move for Tejas (Texas). Mexico fought to defend its land but ultimately lost it. Mexico’s goal was to keep the U.S. from taking more. Once it discovered that the Southwest/West had mineral resources, the push to acquire more of Northern Mexico increased. It was difficult for Mexico to defend its land because it was dealing with many problems. Also, it could not support the troops like the U.S. theirs.
The U.S. did have a big challenge as it pursued and gained the land under the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty. The Indian groups that continuously raided in this region posed a very difficult problem. It was one of the reasons that Mexico could not get Its citizens to move there. Other factors that created problems for the creation of the boundary was the climate and the rough geography of the land. It took a great deal of time and difficulty to survey the boundary because of this. Once the border was set, there were continued disputes over it. The Gadsden Treaty added a small portion of land to the U.S. which became Southern Arizona and New Mexico. The Americans decided they need this land for a transcontinental railroad.
Many things happened in the following years. Mines, smelter, and ranching on both sides of the border boomed. People from near and far came to buy property or work. More railroads were built. Most of the Indians involve in the raiding were moved to reservations. Towns were founded along the border and custom houses for border crossing were built.
Mexico and the U.S. cooperated with each other on some issues but disagreed on others. They worked together to stop the raids and for border security. They tried to survey the boundary together. One thing that created a major problem was the inequity based on race at the mines on both sides of the border. Americans were paid about double the pay for Mexicans. They were promoted over them too. Americans were paid in gold, the Mexicans in silver. There were riots and strikes, and people lost their lives over it.
Ranchers could not control their cattle herds from crossing the unfenced border and eventually, livestock fences were put up. The first fence on the boundary was put up in 1911 along the California/Baja border. Immigration became a greater issue especially after the Chinese Exclusion Act. Chinese citizens who wanted to enter the U.S. were entering through Mexico since they could not access it from seaports. Border security became more important. In 1924 the U.S. Border Patrol was formed.
It is interesting that some in the United States wanted to take a much larger part of Mexico. There was talk to taking all of Baja and Sonora in order to have the port of Guaymas. Fortunately, Mexico was able to keep these areas. It is eye opening to learn the history of this region and the damaging effect it had on the different groups of people involved. Looking at the landscape around my town has a different feel.
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