Research Question
The historical paradigm of the American continent includes a series of political conflicts over land and political influence within countries. Since the US gained independence in 1776, the country began to reconsider its territories and the means to extrapolate influence on the lands of Southern America. A prime example of such a conflict on the matter of geographical expansion is the Mexican-American war that took place between 1846 and 1848. As a result of this war, Mexico was forced to give the US a significant part of its land in order to settle an agreement with a big and influential country. A part of these territories given to the US is now known as the state of Colorado. Hence, the research question addressed in the present proposal is the scope of influence Mexican-American was had on the current population of Colorado.
Topic and Primary Hypothesis
The Mexican-American war of the 19th century demonstrated that the existing US government at the time became blinded by the possibilities of rapid geographical expansion and economic growth at the expense of slavery. As a result, the country’s decision to enter the war with another country was driven by selfish purposes of seizing territory without accounting for the cultural paradigm of ruling over the Mexican and Native American population. For this reason, it is reasonable to assume that seizing the areas of today’s Texas, Utah, and Colorado was a tactical mistake for the US at the time, as the refusal of the US government to recognize the minority populations has resulted in a rapid escalation of the civil conflict and further reconsideration of the US economy and Constitution. Hence, as a result of the Mexican-American war, the state of Colorado, while manifesting a wide range of ethnic minorities, became oppressed by white people, eliminating the centuries-long history of Native American ethnic diversity.
Research Plan
In order to dwell on the topic of Colorado in the Mexican-American War, it is necessary to dwell both on the conditions leading to the war and both sides’ stance on the situation. Hence, the first point of the research plan would be to discover the history of the Mexican-American war, including the political environment at the time. Thus, it is necessary to gather background data on both Mexican and US political ruling at the time by analyzing their political programs and speeches. The second step of the analysis would be to focus on the country’s motivation to enter the war and their expectations from it, as it is important to understand whether the territory of today’s Colorado was an explicit strategic goal or a party affected by other intentions. Finally, the research will be focused on the history of the Colorado area, including its political influence and demographics. By paying attention to the population of the state, it will be easier to estimate the effect of a political change after signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Literature Review
The first primary sources to be analyzed in terms of the research include the document of war declaration signed by the US president James K. Polk (1846). In the document dated May 13, 1846, Polk officially declares the beginning of the military conflict with Mexico on the basis of the “re-annexation” of Texas. To secure the critical analysis, the second primary source will be the speech declared by the president of Mexico, José Joaquin de Herrera (1846), in June of 1846. According to the document, de Herrera was never inclined to declare a full-scale war, as the primary intention, since the beginning of Polk’s negotiations about purchasing Mexican territories, was to defend Mexican land with the help of the fellow residents.
Along with reviewing personal statements relating to war, another important step would be to find legal documents that commence the overall tendency of joining territories to the US. Thus, according to the US Congress (1845) approved in December, the state of Texas officially became a part of the US. This historical precedent has a significant effect on the further fate of Mexican land in the Texas area, as the identification of Texas as a separate US state outlined the promising future for the local residents, including non-discriminatory policies. Finally, arguable, the most important document of this period is the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) that ended the Mexican-American war. This document has officially proclaimed the territory of Colorado as the land under US jurisdiction.
Hence, after analyzing these sources, it has become evident that initially, the process of giving Mexican lands to the US was not inherently the process of separating culture from its roots. Thus, according to Anderson (2021), before joining the US as the 38th state, Colorado was influenced by the ruling of not only Mexican but French and Spanish people, constituting Indigenous peoples as the majority of the population. For this reason, the creation of a separate state of Colorado was seen as the land’s ability to unionize despite such a diverse heritage, as the US outlined the promise to secure equal rights to all the citizens (Menchaca, 2021). Further history, however, demonstrates that these promises were broken not only by explicit discrimination of Mexican Americans in San Luis Valley, Colorado but by the brutal eradication of Native American ancestry by the US government, including Cheyenne Indians (Waddell, 2019; West, 2021). Hence, having taken into consideration the aftermath of the Mexican-American war and joining Colorado to the US, the evidence suggests that the US discriminatory policies at the time have contributed to the eradication of Colorado’s diverse authenticity and promotion of further resilience among the ones left.
References
Anderson, J. W. (2021). A to Z: Colorado’s nearly forgotten history 1776-1876. Rhyolite Press.
De Herrera, J. J. (1846). Proclamation [Digital copy]. Descendants of Mexican War Veterans. Web.
Menchaca, M. (2021). Recovering history, constructing race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans [E-book]. University of Texas Press. Web.
Polk, J. K. (1846). A proclamation on the Mexican war [Digital copy]. Library of Congress. Web.
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo [Digital copy]. (1846). Library of Congress. Web.
US Congress. (1845). Joint resolution of the US Congress, admitting Texas as a state [Digital copy]. Descendants of Mexican War Veterans. Web.
Waddell, B. J. (2019). A cautionary tale: discriminatory lending against Hispanic farmers and ranchers in southern Colorado. Rural Sociology, 84(4), 736-769. Web.
West, E. (2021). The Sand Creek Massacre. Oxford University Press. Web.