The U.S. War with Mexico A Brief History with Documents

The U.S. war with Mexico was a pivotal event in American history, it set crucial wartime precedents and served as a precursor for the impending Civil War. With a powerful introduction and rich collection of documents, Ernesto Chvez makes a convincing case that as an expansionist war, the U.S.-Mexico conflict set a new standard for the acquisition of foreign territory through war. Equally important, the war racialized the enemy, and in so doing accentuated the nature of whiteness and white male citizenship in the U.S., especially as it related to conquered Mexicans, Indians, slaves, and even women. The war, along with ongoing westward expansion, heightened public debates in the North and South about slavery and its place in newly-acquired territories. In addition, Chvez shows how the political, economic and social development of each nation played a critical role in the path to war and its ultimate outcome. Both official and popular documents offer the events leading up to the war, the politics surrounding it, popular sentiment in both countries about it, and the war's long-term impact on the future development and direction of these two nations. Headnotes, a chronology, maps and a selected bibliography enrich student understanding of this important historical moment.

ERNESTO CHAVEZ (Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles) is Associate Professor of History at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Ch‡vez’s research interests center on the Mexican and Mexican American past. His first book, Mi Raza Primero! (My People First): Nationalism, Identity, and Insurgency in the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles, 1966-1978, was published in 2002 and focused on the rise of the Chicano movement in this California city. At present, he is working on a biography of Mexican-born, silent film star Ram—n Novarro, tentatively titled Crossing the Boundaries of Race, Religion, and Desire: The Life of Ramon Novarro.