Download Where in World History is Mexico?

Where in World History is
Mexico?
So Much More than
Montezuma and Silver
Mexico in the Content
Standards
7th Grade Standards
7.7: Students compare and contrast the geographic, political,
economic, religious, and social structures of the Meso-American
and Andean civilizations.
7.11 Students analyze political and economic change in the
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of
Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).
10th Grade Standard
10.4: Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of
New Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or
countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America,
and the Philippines.
Reasons Mexico Needs MORE Attention
Proximity to United
States
Longstanding
Economic/Cultural
ties
Changing
demographics in the
U.S. and especially
California
And Most Importantly….
Mexico is an excellent case
study for some of the major
themes, processes, and
concepts that define the
study of World History.
Purpose of Presentation
Show how Mexico was a
part of broader historical
currents during the
Independence period
Discuss content material
on two topics in which
Mexico can be included as
an defining example
Present material that is
hopefully new and
engaging!
Some Essential Questions that a Discussion of
Mexico Can Address
How are individuals/cultures shaped by society and
how is society shaped by individuals/cultures?
What is the impact of government or power on
society? How is power maintained and achieved?
Does history show a progression toward equality and
the rights of the individual?
What is the impact of government or power on
society? How is power achieved and maintained?
Independence Period in
Spanish America, 18081821
Topic 1: Subjects into Citizens
The “Subject” in the Medieval/Early Modern World
Relationship, political and social, based on familial ties,
community/parish, and professional/religious organizations
(guilds, sodalities)
People exercise “rights” as members of a corporate body,
not as individuals
Monarch is seen as the arbiter of these often heterogeneous
and unequal corporate entities (no concept of equality)
Sense of shared identity, trans-local duties weak or nonexistent; i.e.: one serves the king/queen, not an abstract
nation-state
Problem with the “Three Estates” terminology
The Citizen
Idea of citizenship generated in the climate of intellectual
and political conflict
Notion that all people should exercise rights as individuals,
not as members of corporate bodies
Mainly a response to the growth of a wealthy, non-noble
class excluded from direct and legitimate avenues of
political authority
Individual has an obligation not only to the monarch but to
his fellow citizen as well (in hindsight, this will be seen as
nascent nationalism)
Should NOT be automatically associated with ideas of
“democratic” government
Subject in the Spanish Empire:
Are we the people or are you the people?
Who are these people anyway?
Different categories of “Subjects”
Problem: people fell outside of the legally defined
categories, namely criollos, mestizos, and mulattos
BUT Spanish legal and social practices were
notoriously complicated and contradictory,
allowing significant social mobility if you knew
the right people and had cash
The Two Republics in Spanish America
Republica de los Espanoles
Republica de los Indios
Originally a category for
peninsulares, but most criollos fell
into this group
Part of a legal/political system set
up according to Castillian practices
and NOT based on the patchwork
of local/regional systems
For many “Spaniards” this was a
new experience and many bristled
at the unfamiliar system and
regulations. Ex: the Pizarro family
in Peru.
Resentment and rebellion were not
uncommon.
Reserved for “civilized” Indian
communities that had sworn loyalty
to king and made peace with
Spaniards
Indian groups kept a large portion
of the land they occupied as a
people (but this varies widely)
Local politics/affairs were left to
the Indians and a separate courts
system was established to address
Most Important: Indian
communities are formally
integrated into the corporate legal
and political traditions.
The Kingdom (or colony?)
of Mexico
As a kingdom
As a colony-in-training under the
Bourbon Reforms (1780)
Re-emergence of regionalism
Neat legal categories and the republicas
inadequate
Process of Independence in
Mexico
Napoleon’s Invasion of Iberia, 1808
Political crises throughout Spanish Empire
Who wields legitimate political power when the
monarch is enjoying a forced vacation in Southern
France and some French guy claims to be the King
of Spain?
Political crises reshapes political landscape
THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SPANISH
EMPIRE! More land, people than France and U.S.
combined.
Insurgents in the Countryside
The traditional narrative:
Father Miguel Hidalgo singlehandedly kicks out the Spanish
crown (and then names at
least one road in every
Mexican town after himself)
Indians vs. Criollos vs.
Mestizos
“Long live the King, Death to
Bad Government!” and those
godless Frenchmen gotta go.
Rebels reacting to both
economic and political
conditions
Urban Elites
Salons of Mexico City
Role of the Enlightenment
Love the insurgency, but we’re NOT going to have
another French Revolution
Sovereignty reverts to the “people” (but
remember, not all people are the “people”)
Reform vs. Independence
Constitution of 1812
Representation and the Spanish Cortes: Provinces
vs. Kingdoms
The constitution as an “American” document
Most “Liberal” constitution of its era?
Initiated the largest popular election that the world
had ever seen
Model for subsequent Spanish/Latin American
constitutions
“We are all Spaniards now.”
The Return of the King
(and Fernando VII Screws Up)
Rollback of political
reforms
Attempt to re-establish
authoritarianism
Backlash in the kingdoms
(or colonies?)
Dead insurgents,
conspiring elites, and
turncoat generals
New Nations/New Citizens
Mexico declares independence in 1821
We were all Spaniards, now we’re all Mexicans and we
like the dead Indians, but the living ones are a bit of an
embarrassment
Too much democracy too soon?
Federalism vs. Centralism
The civil wars that afflict Mexico and Latin America are
extension of the conflict between regionalism vs.
centralism and the mestizo/criollo cities vs. the Indian
countryside
Topic 2: Insurgency- It’s Nothing New
(But It’s Not that Old)
Popular rebellions:
Spain and Mexico
Who commands the
military?
Jose de la Cruz, Felix
Calleja, Augustin
Iturbide
Insurgency in Mexico
Most active in central and southern Mexico
Insurgents hiding in the country, but are
affiliated with variety of small villages
Insurgents led by Hidalgo NOT supported
by elites in Mexico City
But some insurgent groups, like the one led
by Father Maria Morelos, are working with
urban elites.
Insurgent Demographics
Displaced farmers
Landless peasants
SOME regional elites
(Miguel Allende)
Clergy
Devout Catholics
And, of course,
opportunists
NOT AN INDIAN
REVOLT!
Guerillas and Guerilleros
Term “Geurilla” comes into usage during this time
period
In both Mexico and Spain, return of Fernando
does not stop the rebels
Eventually, largest rebels groups are put down by
military, but at the cost of political legitimacy.
When urban elites finally give up on Fernando VII
and they manage to convince army to join their
side, independence occurs with little bloodshed
(after nearly a decade of civil war, though)
Characteristics of
Modern Insurgency Revealed in the
Course of Mexican Independence
Large armies are trained to fight other large
armies, not small groups hiding in the jungle.
Martial law really irritates people accustomed to
little, if any, outside interference
Crack-downs on all citizens only compels more
people to join the other side
There will always be more angry civilians than
content, well-fed soldiers.
Insurgent leaders either become martyrs or
politicians
What the World Can Learn from Mexico
Political legitimacy
Enlightenment and its place in modern political
thought
Transition from monarchy and subjects to
constitutional government and citizenship
Who benefits/who loses in this transition
It is EXTREMELY tough, if not impossible, to put
down widespread popular insurgency
Mexico is part of the “Age of Democratic
Revolutions”