• Why
  • The source is very relevant as it talks the differences in the social status of women between societies. The author observed that while Mexican women are more warm and affectionate, they were less educated than Western women. The author also observed that Mexican women were not risk-taker and were not willing to live away from home; that is why foreign husbands need to stay and live in Mexico. The source also revealed something about racism. The author said that while Mexican women are not white, they are nonetheless not irritating to their eyes. It reveals the higher social status of Mexican women relative to, say, African-Americans.
• Reading Notes:
  • Mexican women were less educated
  • Age matters a lot when it comes to deciding whether to send a child to school
  • Young women were already educated more if the family happened to see how different education for women was in Europe
  • Mexican girls were effective at hiding their low education
  • Mexican women were modest
  • The affluent families kept their daughters at home for fear of contamination
  • Mexican women rarely lived outside of the country that’s why their foreign husbands need to stay in Mexico

William S. Henry, With the Stars and Stripes in Mexico

• Who
  • The author is a lower-ranking officer of the army and he participated in the war with Mexico
• What
  • The source is a primary source, in particular a letter from a lower-ranked soldier. It talks about his experience in the war and his observations of the environment of Mexico, its people and of the war.
• When
  • The letter was written in 1846
• Where
  • The geographic focus is Mexico and Texas
• Why
  • The source talks about how reasonable it was for Texas to secede from Mexico. It has a very rich natural resource but very unfortunate to be left to the hands of incompetent officials. He also mentioned the irony that the Mexicans were in fact the ones benefitting from the conquest. American soldiers were asked to pay exorbitant prices while the locals enjoyed their rights and freedom. Henry also noted the class inequality in terms of educational opportunities and the case of a woman who led an army.
• Reading Notes
  • Mexico was very rich in natural resources
  • Mexican soldiers usually paid exorbitant prices for the products of poor Mexican farmers
  • The war benefits the enemy because Mexicans are paid at a price much higher than what it was in the US while their rights were protected at the same time
  • Medical professionals were overworked
  • Mexican generals were fond of making lies
  • Author is probably racist because he called the men led by Sta.Ana “barbarians”
  • The author narrates about a Mexican women who led an army
  • The author viewed the church as the main-spring of the war. It extorts from people
  • Education was also confined to upper-class children

Joel Poinsett, A Sketch of Mexican Society

• Who
  • The author is a physician who joined the army in the war with Mexico
• What
  • The source is a combination of excerpts from the personal anecdote of the author about his two-month stay in Mexico
• When
  • The travel account was written in the 1820s
• Where
  • The geographic focus is Mexico
• Why
  • The source can be said to be heavily colonial in terms of perspective. The views of the author were evidently shaped by his upbringing, growing up in a southern slave state. He viewed Indians as indolent, submissive and miserable. He also disgusted over the preponderance of beggars in the city and the moral decadence of urban dwellers, unlike their rural counterparts. The central claim of Henry is that the Mexican society was so diverse and stratified and that the poor mestizos were a victim of the combination of their deplorable Spanish and indigenous characteristics.
• Reading Notes
  • The creoles possessed great natural talents and intelligence. They are also good-mannered
  • Mexico was very diverse and groups can be distinguished based on the color of the skin (being white means to be noble and the last on the scale are those with Indian or African-American ancestry
  • The Indians had not changed (in terms of attitude) from the time the Westerners first set foot on the New World
  • He remarked that Indians were indolent, submissive and miserable
  • He acclaimed the role of the Church in improving the Indians
  • Indians were oppressed by laws intended to protect them
  • The cacique did not work at all
  • He noted the miserable economic condition of Mexico
  • Begging existed even before the conquest; civilization is the greatest gift of the Westerners to the Indians

Mexican Views of the Mexican-American War

• Who
  • The source is believed to be written by Jose Maria Iglesias
• What
  • The source is an insight of a Mexican about the true underlying causes of the Mexican occupation by the US
• When
  • The source is one of the many articles written by those critical of war. It is believed to have been written between September 1848 and May 1849
• Where
  • The geographic focus is Mexico and the US
• Why
  • The source provides an alternative perspective of the US-Mexican war, one that is from the oppressed people. Iglesias claimed that the triumph of the US was not entirely a result of its own might; the weaknesses of the Mexicans also aided the cause of the US. The author also criticized the US for using the alleged perception of the indolence of the Mexicans as justification for its war of conquest. US employed the same ideology when it conquered the Philippines. It justified its imperialist expansion as something needed by less civilized societies. The author also criticized how the concept of peace was perverted. There would not have any need for peace had the Americans not invaded Mexico and annexed almost half of it territory.
• Reading Notes
  • The Mexican-American War has had an enduring effect to the social, economic and political condition of the Mexicans
  • The Mexicans, especially their weakness, also caused the war
  • The US intended from the start to own the entire continent
  • Two ways US can extend its rule: extend its laws as far as Panama and open an overland passage to Pacific Ocean
  • US rapidly realized its plans by the deployment of a variety of approaches. Through these, it was able to conquer the former territories of Britain, Spain, France and Mexico
  • The US fabricated every facts and merely use the alleged indolence of the Mexican to justify its imperialist expansion
  • The concept of peace was perverted and interpreted to favour the cause of the Americans.