Conquest of Southwest America and New Mexico - Essay Example

Chicano Studies Identity Identity refers to the way a person expresses himself and his association to a group. Identification influences the perception of a person about himself and the rest of the world hence determining how a person treats himself. It is dynamic since it is ever changing as seen in the case of the populace of Mexican background living in United States. The Mexican Americans over the past years have experienced difficult in identifying themselves mainly because of their history, which poses ambiguity. The Mexicans after the Americans colonized them were expected to automatically adopt American culture but this was not the case. This is because circumstances forced them to isolate themselves from the mainstream Americans especially after the end of the Mexican American war. The geographical distance made it difficult for them to interact with the Native Americans and as a result most of them maintained their culture unpolluted. A good number of them adopted some aspects of the culture of the Americans and consequently brought confusion on the identity question. The culture of the Hispanics was mixed and up to today most of them portray aspects of the two cultures hence most of them lack a clear perception of their identity. The Hispanics have for long time been treated as second-class citizens as evidenced in the oppression and discrimination they have experienced especially economically. This discrimination has led to existence of a deep division among the communities with foreign origin and the natives. Consequently, this has fueled the rise of land activists groups among others in a bid to fight for their rights. Colonization Colonization is creating a colony where one group of people moves to a foreign land and dominates the local residents whereas decolonization is the withdrawal of the foreign dominance where the colony attains independence. The colonization of the Spanish Northern Frontier involves three major events where the New Mexico is first invaded and later a new conquest, which ultimately led to attainment of independence. The colonization of the Pueblo Indians involved a lot of violence, as villages were burnt, sacred places destroyed, murder of people especially the leaders and indoctrination of children. Colonization led to a lot of injustice on the colonies and it resulted to colonization of the mind where the Pueblo Indians could not make free decisions uninfluenced by the colonizers. The colonization of mind is the worst level of any form of colonization as it denies one the natural gift of free will that gives freedom. The quote by Dred scot in 1857 that the non-citizens lacked an opportunity to sue the state of the injustices they experienced clearly expresses the adverse effect of dominance of the mind (Ridge 30). The colonization of Alta California which took place in 1769 to 1823 by the Spanish people was fueled by the fear that Britain and Russia would colonize the region if Spain delayed in colonizing the state. San Diego and Monterey were the first regions to be colonized and the expedition involved a lot of violence and led to many deaths mainly from malnutrition related diseases like scurvy. The colonization continued northward as the Spanish people explored the land in the sea and the colonizers became less violent since they discovered that the residents were not rebellious. Spanish colonization was unique since they believed in the policy of accompanying the sword by cross which meant that military forces were accompanied by priests as they executed their duties. Conquest of Southwest America and New Mexico The conquest of New Mexico in the sixteenth century took place in diverse ways and it differs largely with the one of the now America’s southwest. The conquest of New Mexico involved violence that was characterized by destruction of sacred places, killing of perceived leaders, burning down of villages among other injustices. On the other side the conquest of America’s southwest was mainly castigated by manifest destiny which is the idea that racial and national supremacy go hand in hand. Expansion determinism was given much power and the Mexicans were considered to be racially inferior to the Anglo-Saxons in all dimensions. They were also termed as lazy people who were not capable of governing themselves because they could not form a stable governing body. The America believed that they should clean themselves by destroying the Mexicans because they were not like them and this led to innocent people being killed. In New Mexico, the people resisted the attacks and tried to kick off the Spaniards from their territories for around twelve years. This led to the famous Pueblo revolt that is believed to have been led by Pope where the Pueblo Indians killed around four hundred Spaniards and drove an estimated two thousand others out of their land. The aim of Pope was to completely get rid of the Spain colonizers but his plans were not completely successful since his plans were revealed to his enemies. This forced him to order the Indians to attack them a day earlier than the planned day hence resulting to some inefficiency on the part of the attackers. The Spaniards left their territories but they later came back led by Otermin and this time they opted to be peaceful rather than staging another conquest. They experienced some resistance mainly from the Pueblo who tried to revolt again by killing some of their missionaries and settlers. With time the colonizers were able to completely dominate the land and they later signed a peace treaty which was bloodless. The conquered people in America responded to the conquest in diverse ways where some retaliated immediately and openly while others took time to fight back. Most of the response took place much later after treaties had been signed and this happened when the conditions of the respective treaties were violated. For example, most of the treaties required both parties involved in maintaining peace but often the colonizers would breach this agreement. This act of disobedience prompted several people in United States Southwest to respond to the attacks and among the many people who rebelled were Cortez and Joaquin Murrieta. They utilized every opportunity they encountered to revenge through well-planned and calculated executions of the colonizers. In one incidence Murrieta met some Americas and Germans carrying gold which they had just mined and because he had a large troop he ended killing most of them (Ridge 63). Murrieta initially never spared the property of the invaders especially horses when he was in a position to destroy. In several occasions, he attacked and killed the horses of the colonizers probably to limit their movements since the horses were mainly used for transport. He would occasionally destroy anything that he considered it worthy to destroy and more so if it posed a threat to the locals. Joaquin however in few situations behaved differently and responded politely to the foreigners who had formerly colonized them. In one incidence he met some young American men and he was almost to murder them but they pleaded with him to let them free and promised not to let the secret out. Murrieta after carefully considering the request he explained to them that their companions were the one who were responsible for his behavior and forgave them (Ridges 79). This kind of mixed reaction from Joaquin shows that he and his people had no pleasures in retaliating though the circumstances forced them. Gregorio Cortez response to the conquest was in a greater way similar to that of Joaquin as he too was involved in stealing and killing horses belonging to the Americans. He was also involved in several killings as he tried to fight back and make the oppressors pay for their actions. Far much later after the signing of the peace treaty, he was involved in murder and he was charged in a court of law where he was found guilty and given a penalty of fifty years imprisonment. This kind of behavior where he attacked a person after there was peace and normalcy returned shows the inner bitterness that remained in him. Cortez in his response shows the challenges that the people underwent in the journey of forgiving the people who had oppressed them and who were continuing with the oppression (Paredes 34). Generally, most of the Hispanics fought back when their rights were infringed and especially when they were treated as inferior human beings. This as it is revealed in Gregorio’s case has continued many years after the agreement on peace where the Hispanics have tried to proof that they are not inferior in any way. This continual fight for their rights has made to be accepted and respected just like any other Americans. It is evident that the conquest of New Mexico and that of Southwest America led to a lot of discrimination among the Chicanos. Over the past years, efforts have been made to completely reconcile them with the Native Americans and make them stop being treated like second-class citizens. The efforts have born fruits and today The Chicanos though a minority group form a significant part of Americas population and they have integrated well to the community. Work Cited Paredes, Américo. "with His Pistol in His Hand": A Border Ballad and Its Hero. Austin: University of Texas press, 1986. Print. Ridge, John R. The Life and Adventures of JoaquínMurieta, the Celebrated California Bandit. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1955. Print. Read More