History in the first half of the XIX century is the history of American and Spanish expansion. The annexation of new territories was accompanied by the expansion of the borders of the state. The issues of territorial expansion and the formation of the state border are closely related and can hardly be considered independently of each other. Of particular interest is the history of the formation of the border between the first two independent states in North America – the USA and Mexico. The chronological framework of this study covers the time interval between Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821. Chapters of the book Recovering history, constructing race: The Indian, black, and white roots of Mexican Americans demonstrate the ongoing independence from the point of view of the two colonizing countries, broadcasting differences in their perception of territorial borders and the independence status of the former colonies.
In 1819, representatives of the United States and Spain concluded a Transcontinental Treaty that established the border along the entire length of the North American continent – from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. The border passed along the currents of the Sabine, Red River and Arkansas rivers and the meridional lines connecting them, then from the source of the Arkansas River north. and further along this line to the Pacific Ocean. This phenomenon is noted in both chapters, and the signing of this agreement is their common feature.
However, the line of the border between the United States and the Spanish possessions in this area has not been determined. This is the reason for the differences in the views of the colonizing countries on the boundaries of possessions indicated in the chapters. Today it is considered that between 1803 and 1819 the border passed along the watershed of the west bank of the Mississippi, but this was not fixed either in official documents of that time or on the ground (Menchaca, 2002b). It took two years to ratify the Transcontinental Treaty, which entered into force in February 1821. Six months later, Mexico became virtually independent. Spain officially recognized the independence of its former colony in 1836, as indicated in the chapter on the Spanish colonies (Menchaca, 2002a). Despite the fact that the Mexican government did not dispute the territorial agreements reached by Spain, the American-Mexican border was officially established by the treaty of 1828. It entered into force in 1832 after ratification in strict accordance with the line of 1819, as evidenced by another chapter (Menchaca, 2002a). In 1819, official Washington, under a treaty with Madrid, was forced to recognize the borders of Mexico, which at that time was still in colonial dependence on Spain (Menchaca, 2002a). However, according to another chapter, the Americans did not abandon their expansionist aspirations, simply changing tactics (Menchaca, 2002b). Since 1820, the mass resettlement of US citizens to the fertile lands of Texas began (Menchaca, 2002b). At first, the Mexican authorities did not see any threat in this and even encouraged such actions, hoping to accelerate the economic development of the region.
One of the most sensitive issues at the conclusion of the Transcontinental Treaty, touched upon in both chapters, concerned Texas. Shortly after the Louisiana purchase, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson announced that Texas was part of the acquired territory. Such an assertion did not have sufficient grounds, the Americans were also in no hurry to confirm the voiced territorial claims with real actions. This issue was raised during the drawing of the border in 1819 and during the subsequent ratification of the treaty in the Senate. In one of the chapters, it is indicated that the American side relatively easily abandoned its claims to Texas (Menchaca, 2002a). This also happened because the treaty secured Florida, captured in the previous decade, to the United States. However, in another chapter it is indicated that the official refusal of the United States claims to Texas did not mean that the Americans no longer count on the development and annexation of these territories, nor that they consider their southern borders as fixed and unchangeable (Menchaca, 2002b).
At the same time, the heads have different assessments of what is happening in the colonies that have become independent. According to one of the chapters, the XIX century passed for Mexico in endless internal conflicts of the aristocracy and the common people, reformers and conservatives, supporters of Spain and patriots (Menchaca, 2002a). The republic was replaced by the dictatorship of the next leader-caudillo, foreign intervention – partisanship and a surge of national feelings. The second chapter focuses on the fact that by the middle of the century, Mexico had almost halved, ceding the northern territories (Texas, California, Utah, Nevada, etc.) in favor of the United States (Menchaca, 2002b). The author also notes that in the same XIX century, several new stable features of Mexico’s development appeared, such as a tendency to authoritarianism.
Thus, both chapters dwell on about the relationship of Mexico with the colonizers. However, at the same time, historical events will rise through the perspective of one of the countries – Spain or the USA. This is the reason for the various interpretations regarding the borders and the time and degree of Mexico’s independence.
References
Menchaca, M. (2002a). The Spanish settlement of Texas and Arizona. Recovering history, constructing race: The Indian, black, and white roots of Mexican Americans (pp. 99-113). University of Texas Press.
Menchaca, M. (2002b). Liberal racial legislation during the Mexican period, 1821-1848. Recovering history, constructing race: The Indian, black, and white roots of Mexican Americans (pp. 99-113). University of Texas Press.