The setting of this story covers an immense number of years of conquering andcolonization in the Southwest areas we now know as California, Arizona, NewMexico, Texas, and Mexico.
It begins in the early 15 and 1600’s, in a timewhen many important Spaniards, such as Juan Bautista de Anza (in 1775 he led thelongest overland migration of a colony in North American history before Oregon),were moving into the Southwest in search of gold, silver, bread, and jobs. Italso talks about the Indians, who were already living in the area we now know asMexico, that did not get along real well with the Spaniards(Anglos) when theycame in to invade their land. The two main Indian tribes of that time were theMayas(a peaceful people who were interested in science, invented a calendar togrow maize, and were later believed to be wiped out by a great naturalcatastrophe), and the Aztecs(a powerful bloodthirsty tribe who feared no humanonly their gods). Next it went on to the 1800’s and early 1900’s, whenMexico decided to fight the Spaniards for their independence. Finally, the bookwent on into the mid to late 1900’s, where Mexico began to modernize andbecome a good neighbor to the United States. 6.
The major conflict was betweenthe Anglos and the Mexicans. It began with the Spaniards and the Indians(Aztecs)fighting over the Valley of Anahuac. The Spaniards(led by Cortez) ended upwinning the battle over the Aztecs(led by Moctezuma). Due to the cruel andruthless Spanish rule, a new social system was set up where the Spanish-bornwhites were the rulers, the Mexican-born whites were the aristocracy, and theIndians lived lives of poverty and slavery. Another class grew calledmestizos(Mexican-Indian), and out of all these were the forces that createdMexico. Next, Mexico(led first by Padre Miguel Hidalgo, then by Jose MariaMorelos, and finally by a traitor D.
Augustin de Iturbide) fought the Spaniardsfor their independence. The first two lost and were killed, but they ignited aspark that later led to victory with the help of Iturbide and his army. For awhile Mexico was in chaos, but with the help of many leaders,(Benito Juarez,Porfirio Diaz, and Lazaro Cardenas to name a few) they were able to start makinglaws and bring Mexico to become a modern society, free from slavery anddictatorship. Now, like the rest of the world, Mexico is developing into anurban area with cities that are modern and spreading out in many directions. 7.
I believe the theme of this story to be that although Mexico and the UnitedStates had very different histories, they have grown together. They share such along border that they need to maintain a peaceful border, otherwise manyproblems can occur. Mexico and U. S. rely on each other for many importantimports and exports.
In many cases, other than a political one, the line thatruns between Brownsville, Texas and San Diego, California is considered aninvisible one. Many cross it often, as in some areas it is only a barbed wirefence or a river easily crossed. Also there is said to be about as many”Mexican-Americans” in the Southwest as there are in the Mexicanstates just south of the border, which makes it seem, in many ways, as if it isall one region. 8.
The main characters were more groups than anything: theSpaniards, the Mexicans, the Indians, and the Anglos, however, there were someimportant ones’ within the groups to be mentioned. These are: Cortez(theleader of the Spaniards when fighting the Aztecs), Moctezuma(the leader of theAztecs), Padre Miguel Hidalgo, Jose Maria Morelos, and D. Augustin deIturbide(leaders of Mexico in their revolution against the Spaniards), andBenito Juarez, Porfirio Diaz, and Lazaro Cardenas(all leaders of Mexico helpingto organize and modernize Mexico). 9. I would recommend this book to many of myfriends and relatives. I have many Mexican American relatives that are veryinterested in all I am learning in this class, and whenever I find a good book,they are all very eager to learn about it.
This book was an excellent read. Itwas full of history that was not taught to me before, and I really enjoyedlearning about the history of the Mexican American.
