Destruction and Rebirth: Mexican American Politics 1880s-1920

1. Destruction and Rebirth:Mexican American Politics 1880s-1920 Mexican Americans and Politics Class 3 January 17, 2006

2. Recap • Nadir of Mexican American politics—late 1800s • Decline of pre-1848 elite and no pre-existing middle class • Loss of political voice • Mexican American population lacked institutions to rebuild power • Legal rights could not be enforced • Some of loss of power was not ethnic, instead national and local political institutions moving against mass participation • Trends particularly strong in the West

3. Las Gorras Blancas • Who were they? • How did they organize? • Why did they appear in this era? • What did they achieve?

4. Arellano, “The People’s Movement: Las Gorras Blancas” • Thesis: The political culture of New Mexico in the 1880s allowed for organized Hispano resistance to land seizures by Anglos. The dynamics of Hispano culture in New Mexico ensured protection of the social banditry at multiple levels. • Method: Newspaper archives; court transcripts/records

5. Political Changes Around 1900 • Imposition of Jim Crow legislation • “Progressive” reforms lead to greater disenfranchisement of Mexican Americans • Virtual elimination of Mexican American office holders • Sporadic unionization in Colorado and Arizona • Mexico begins period of political dissolution that spurs migration

6. Economic Changes Around 1900 • Incorporation of Southwest into national economy • Conversion of ranches to farms and of economic foundation of Southwest to cash crops and, slowly, industrial production • Introduction of cash crops • Labor shortage in Southwest creates demand for new migration from Mexico • Mexican American labor becomes wage labor • Labor migration out of Southwest begins • Mexican American land holders continue to disappear

7. Social Changes Around 1900 • Anglos—Migration from Southern and border states to Southwest • Mexican Americans—Slow migration to towns • Results • Increased inter-group contact • Emergence of “dual societies” with dual institutions • Decline in intermarriage • Mexican Americans become “racialized”

8. 1900-1920: Politics • “Mutualista” and fraternal organization • Mexican Revolution leads to a focus on Mexico for some • New “political” migrants • Plan de San Diego • Mexican loyalty questioned • War economy provides previously unavailable organizational skills for some Mexican Americans

9. 1900-1920: Economics • Small Mexican American middle class in urban areas • People who provide services to other Mexican Americans • Leaders of new political organizations come out of this middle class • Laws restrict Mexican American economic opportunities • War economy provides training for some • New class differentiation appears in Mexican American communities • Expansion of migrant stream

10. 1900-1920: Society • Dual institutions • “Mexican schools” • Exclusionary commerce • “Americanization” • Urbanization • Immigration • First Mexican American communities outside Southwest

11. Mexican Immigration to Permanent Residence, 1900-30

12. Why Does the Mexican Share Increase -- 1910s and 1920s? • Laws that exclude European immigrants create new incentives for immigrants from the Americas, particularly Mexico • Today’s Mexican immigration directly tied to changes in this era • Fastest growing region of the nation becomes dependent on Mexican labor • Migration networks appear in this era that continue today

13. For Next Time • What are the roots of the tensions between U.S.-born Mexican Americans and immigrant Mexicans? • Why did they appear in the 1920s? • Do those tensions remain today?