History of Mexico and Anglo Expansion Essays

Part 1: History of Mexico

Mexico is a republic country found in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico in North America. Her early history talks about Aztec civilization, Toltec, and Maya. Spain invaded and conquered Mexico between the year 1519 to 1525, and she later fought and gained her independence in 1821. In the year 1836, Mexico lost some of her states like Texas to the US, and in the year 1848, New Mexico and California were also lost. Generally, Mexico is mountainous with ranges but also a large central plateau and a large central plateau. Spanish is the official language, and the majority of people are religious of Roman Catholic. According to the latest estimates of the United Nations of 2018, Mexico has an estimated population of 130,558,128 and the total land area is 1,943,950 Km2. The currency is called peso, and the Mexico City is the capital city. After 1810, the growth of the population was very low as people had just come out of war and oppression from the Spanish. The war had caused big damage, and the living condition of the people was deplorable. The rate of survival of the newborn was minimal, and the mortality rate was affected severely. Diseases and infections was also a major factor as people were weak and prone to diseases. There continued to be a big gap between the rich and the poor as the rich privileges and the poor living in abject poverty. Illiteracy was also at the highest level as the majority of the population lacked the basic level of education. Religious wise Roman Catholic dominated the society, and the clergy was highly respected.The war in Mexico had affected the labor force and the economy at large. A bigger population had been affected by either death, injuries, physical disabilities and majority being men since they actively participated in the war. The economy sector such as mining, agriculture, and local industries was adversely in a mess. Lack of workforce enhanced the reduction in foodstuffs. The government also inherited a debt as they had to give salaries to the soldiers who had helped them with weapons, fighting, and other expenses. For this reason, the government had to reduce the taxes so that they could raise the money required to maintain the economy. This allowed the rich to do better in trade. Despite all this, the economy still stagnated since the infrastructure was very poor and the civil unrest in the local rural areas. The bank of Avio was formed in 1830 to solve the problem of industries, but it was never successful because of the low development

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The political state of the country between the years 1821 to 1851 was never conducive, as Mexico had not less than 20 governors. Mexico was a country trying to find its stability and rosy foreign diplomatic relations with her neighbors. Agustine de Iturbide was the first leader who was openly pro-independence. He later facilitated his appointment, as the emperor and this did not last long as some people did not welcome the move. The leadership of Veracruz led by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna upon realizing the mission of Agustine marshaled his army to defeat his and managed to rise to power in less than ten months with the support of Nicolas Bravo and Vincente Guerrero. The struggle for power led to the division of the nation to conservatives and Realists. The conservatives were supported by the military, Spain and the rich in the society and had their objectives as; education was only meant for the rich, the privileges of the rich were to continue, free choice of religion and give the priests privileges among others. The realists, on the other hand, were supported by the USA, and had proposals as; the church was to be separated from the state and take their property, education to all people. Equity was to be the judgment factor of the crimes perpetrated by the army; there were to be three arms of the government, that is, judiciary, executive and legislative among others. The supremacy of the two protagonists ran the country in deeper problems. In 1824 a 36, article critical constitution was made printed and published, which stated that the country would be representatively governed. This allowed the Federalist Republic where states were given the authority and sovereignty, but still formed part of the country. The people received this with a lot of hope as this would bring and reflect the true and beliefs of the independence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mexico was driven in the wrong direction in contrast to the expectations of the heroes and heroines of independence. The government did little, or no attempt in solving poverty problems, illiteracy and reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, there rich continued to abuse the poor since there was no law to protect them. The economy also deteriorated leading to the suffering of the people. This hindered the national development of Mexico due to bad leadership and selfish interest.

Part 2: Anglo Expansion

There is certainly no talking of American History without having to mention the racial hate and prejudice that is both supported by the Native Americans and the policies they make. The black Americans are, seemingly the most targeted in the psycho of discrimination and denial of equality in opportunities. Other people such as the Mexicans have also been victims of the unending racial discrimination in the United States of America. Anglo expansion is one of the issues that need to be studied today to understand the issues that happened at the borders of the United States of America. The westbound extension was seen as exceptionally normal to some people such as the Puritans in Massachusetts. In fact, they favored the construction of a city on a slope. To understand the issue of racial stereotype in the country, it is important to understand its origin, which is closely tied to its origin history. The issues such autonomy during the revolution and the World War defined the destiny of America and the mindset of its citizens then and now. It is also important to study the "Manifest Destiny" that was adopted by most Americans. This has posed a lot of influence on the way they think and act. In this paper, the Jacksonian Democracy and the manifest destiny are compared and contrasted. This helps in understanding the history of the United States of America.

The Manifest Destiny was a phrase that originated in the 1845 and was vital in the expression of a nineteenth-century philosophy that drove the United States of America. According to the Manifest Destiny, the country was destined by the Almighty God to expand its borders so that it can spread capitalism and democracy throughout the continent of North America (Julius, 797). American advocated believed that God destined it to expand its borders all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Another important aspect of American history to look at is the "Jacksonian democracy' that was deemed as controversial, given the fact that it was during his era that the issue of slavery became more debated. It is important to understand the controversy in the Jacksonian Democracy, as he was the President of the United States of America and his philosophy defined the destiny of the country (Lee, 58). People believed in what Jackson said and did, thereby believing that racial disparity is not part of equality. The Americans at the time felt that they were better than the rest of the world and that the other people were meant to fear them, serve them and be their subjects.

One similarity between the Manifest Destiny and Jacksonian Democracy is that they both support the supremacy of the United States of America over the other nations. The two philosophies shaped the mindsets of the people of the United States of America to the extent that they defined the destiny of the country (Lee, 34). For instance, immediately the Oregon war was settled, the war between the United States of America and Mexico was already full-blown as is it was mainly caused by the Manifest Destiny that resulted into the urge to achieve territorial expansion (Julius, 796). The spirit that people had about the Manifest destiny made them embrace the territorial war and treat it as a holy war that is used to serve the purpose of God to the people of the United States of America. Even as the war ended in the year 1848, following the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty, the Americans were happy to have achieved their goal of expanding their borders that increased by five hundred and twenty-five thousand square miles. The war between Mexico and the United States of America, which resulted in the death of many Americans as well as Mexican also contributed to mistreatment of Native Americans and displacement.

Conclusion

In Summary, Blacks and whites can live happily together if they put hatred aside and only focus on what is good for both of them (Zinn 2). However, that is not the case since the blacks have been the prime targets by the whites. The discrimination that the African Americans are facing by the whites shows that the whites have not accepted the African Americans to be equal as them. In the nineteenth century, many of the American found the extension of the westbound to be normal since they believe that extending the westbound will lead to an expansion of the honorable republic of Pacific Ocean. Many Americans had a lot of hopes with the expansion of the westbound for example gutsy pioneers believed that America had a perfect obligation to extend the limits of their honorable republic to the Pacific Ocean. However, the Massachusetts Puritans never thought that way; they believed that if American expand the westbound, they will use the extension land to build a city upon the slope. The war that took place in 1812 reaffirmed the revolution that took place during the autonomy. People who won the war requested for more region and left the idea of "each man is equal" people started to be ignorant as they started to support this stereotype which was lingering in the society. Within a short period, the American culture was adopted. During this period, the American developed "Manifest Destiny," a driving force for America's western expansion. Manifest Destiny was a religious doctrine from the Puritans that influenced U.S policy until now.

Works Cited

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Mexico. Vol. 9. History Company, 1886.

Bazant, Jan. A Concise History of Mexico from Hidalgo to Cardenas, 1805-1940. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Benson, Lee. The concept of Jacksonian democracy: New York as a test case. Princeton University Press, 2015.

Hamnett, Brian R. A concise history of Mexico. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

McHenry, John Patrick. A Short History of Mexico. Doubleday, 1970.

Pratt, Julius W. "The Origin of" Manifest Destiny."The American Historical Review 32.4 (1927): 795-798.