The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo put an end to the Mexican-American War, which, for Mexican-Americans in America, had begun a new chapter that would be very interesting and complex. This Treaty ended the war; the time after it was implemented brought about complicated changes in cultural relationships and politics for the Mexican people living on the ceded territories. Apart from the Treaty promises concerning respect for inventories, artistic rights, and Mexican citizens’ integration into America, it especially failed to realize an opportunity as lack of enfranchisement and marginalization became widespread. The essay analyzes how the failed Treaty affected Mexican Americans and what resulted from their struggles, including the rise of Hispanic activation.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 184, stands at an important crossroads in the history of the Mexican-Americans (Hernandez, 2021). The Treaty entailed the acquisition of massive lands by the United States, including modern-day California, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico, among others. According to the Treaty, these Mexican citizens’ rights were ostensibly safeguarded as their property and cultural practices, Language, and religion were supposed to be preserved. The Treaty was also clear in Article VIII that Mexicans who lived in the ceded territories would enjoy all rights and privileges of property without limitation as possible.
Nevertheless, in reality, these assurances needed to be met. However, land grant conflicts became even more disruptive, and the U.S. justice system mostly ignored Mexican land grants (Gray, 2018). This resulted in massive disenfranchisement and poverty among the Mexican-Americans. The courts often undermined or ignored their rights under the Treaty, which, as foreign institutions, were unaccustomed, let alone unwilling, to recognize Mexican law and land tenure systems. With language rights, too, there was a systematic status of the subjugation of Mexican-American identity. The deep influence of English and American culture in the new territories made integrating Mexican culture and Language difficult. Anglo-American values and Language increasingly became reflected in schools, government institutions as well and public life, all at the cost of Mexican heritage. The ramifications of this broken promise were far-ranging. It paved the way for a long battle of civic rights and cultural recognition, forever defining the Mexican-American identity and its position in American society.
The abuse of Hispanic workers by private companies was a major injustice, and as a response to this wickedness, there was a bunch of activism that emerged during the mid-20th century. Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales’ 1967 poem ‘Yo Soy Joaquin,’ is one of the most seminal expressions of this activism that reflected on the hardships and two-fold identity many Mexican-Americans lived under. The poem became the anthem for the Chicano Movement, reflecting on this generation’s frustrations and aspirations (Kaiser Ortiz, 2022). Gonzales’ poem explores the nature of Mexican-American dual identity, rooted between their past heroic Aztec heritage and modern reality in America. It mirrors the historical injustices of Mexican-Americans, from the time of conquest of the Aztecs to modern times, as far as cultural assimilation and marginalization in the U.S. Gonzalez’ poem was a catalyst to the Crusade for Justice that he founded in Denver. The Crusade for Justice campaigned on the issues of educational inequality, police brutality, and political underrepresentation. It became a center of cultural and political activism; Mexican Americans began to feel united. The Crusade sponsored events, offered community services, and lobbied for legislative reforms, greatly contributing to increased national consciousness regarding Chicano’s problems.
Another crucial personality during that period was Cesar Chavez, who initiated the United Farm Workers (UFW). Hazardously, as one can see, the UFW battled for fair employment treatment and the rights of numerous Mexican American laborers (Borrego & Hackett, 2020). Chavez’s activism, on the other hand, during the Mexican-American war was directed by the appalling work environments, minimum wages, and inadequate worker rights that applied to armed force ranch hands. This strategy employed both non-militant strategies, such as strikes and boycotts, which sought to spur the public to launch a struggle aimed at achieving social justice, thus getting national attention to the cause of the farm worker. The Delano grape strike in 1965 brought the most respected campaign to the UFW. The protesters who took the lead in this campaign were Chavez and the farm workers, especially in California’s grape fields. This strike lasted for over five years and ended in a clear win for the UFW – a collective bargaining agreement with large growers that raised wages and working conditions on farms.
The creation of La Raza Unida Party in the late seventies was a political reaction toward the further representations that Latinos were hiding from being discriminated. The party led by José Ángel Gutiérrez aimed to promote Mexican-Americans’ political representation and emphasized education and economic independence(Rodriguez & Rivera Ramos, 2022). La Raza Unida fielded candidates for local and state offices in several elections, registering remarkable successes, especially in areas with a high Mexican-American presence. Their activism marked a trend towards political self-expression on the part of Mexican-Americans, indicating the urgent necessity for a reaction to American citizens in the spirit of democracy.
At the same time, the Brown Berets, a youth group established in Los Angeles in 1967, personified a more radical form of Chicano activism (San Miguel, 2022). They emphasized efforts against police brutality, education reform, and access to health care rights for the Chicano community. The Brown Berets held many rallies and strikes, to the high school walkouts of 1968 in East Los Angeles, referred to as blowouts that demanded educational change. Their activism played an integral part in nationalizing the plight of Mexican-American youth and was greatly informative of the overall Chicano Movement.
In conclusion, the history of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is a vibrant tapestry full of unfulfilled promises that symbolize the never-ending desire and struggle for justice and equality by Mexican-Americans. The activism that developed towards the 20th century was a direct retort to the failure of proper implementation of the terms contained in this particular Treaty. However, by the literary, political, and activist engagement of individuals such as Gonzales and Chavez and organizations such as La Raza Unida Party and the Brown Berets, the capable groundwork was done for the unceasing battle over civil rights and representation within diversity in America.
References
Hernandez, S. (2021). The Mexico-US Border and the Mexican Revolution. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History.
Kaiser Ortiz, J. (2022). Todos Somos Joaquín: An Inter-American Elaboration on Chicanismo. Radical Philosophy Review.
Rodriguez, I. Y. (2022). Mexican Americans in the United States. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History.
San Miguel, G. (2022). Amid Radicalism: Mexican American Moderates During the Chicano Movement, 1960–1978 (Vol. 3). University of Oklahoma Press.
Gray, T. (2018, April 25). The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/guadalupe-hidalgo
Borrego, G., & Hackett, A. (2020). DAC Blog 2020-03.
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