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32. The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'

By Miguel Pérez

​
May 14, 2013 - If you missed CBS's "Sunday Morning" program last week, you missed a report that should be required viewing for all Americans.

And if you are one of those Americans who still question why Latinos in the Southwest are offended when they are treated like foreigners, someone needs to sit you in front of a computer and make you watch this video online.

If there ever was a chapter of American history that needed a refresher course, this was it!

That's because this particular chapter on the Mexican-American War has been so egregiously and conveniently forgotten that many Americans are forming opinions that are based on ignorance.

We still call it the Mexican-American War. But in Mexico, they still call it "The American Invasion."

Some of us forget, and some never learned, that up to 165 years ago, most of the western United States belonged to Mexico, and that this territory was won in a war provoked by the United States to satisfy its thirst for territorial expansion.

We forget that for many Latinos in the Southwest, it wasn't their ancestors who came to the U.S. It was the U.S. that invaded the land of their ancestors.

For those who are unaware of this, making mistakes, and even offensive remarks, can be easy — especially when addressing Hispanics who can trace their ancestry further back than Anglo-Saxons in certain parts of the country.

It happened to me as I trekked across Arizona with community activist and Hispanic history buff Martin DeSoto last summer.

"So you are telling me that your great-great-great-grandparents came from Mexico?" I asked naively.

"Nooo," DeSoto replied. "When my great-great-great-grandparents lived here, this WAS Mexico!"

Obviously, my friend DeSoto was the first person who came to my mind when I saw Mo Rocca's wonderful "Halls of Montezuma" report on CBS's "Sunday Morning." In less than eight minutes, Rocca examines the Mexican-American War in a way that surely would make most Americans better understand their Latino neighbors and their right to be in this country.

Readers of my columns on Hispanic American history immediately called to tell me that Rocca was moving into my turf. But I was glad to see it. I call my series "Hidden Hispanic Heritage," and I welcome all who try to bring our history out of hiding!

"A lot of people live in land that was taken from Mexico in this war, and they are not aware of that," Penn State historian Amy Greenberg tells Rocca. "I believe a lot of the immigration debate that's going on now operates in a vacuum, where people are not realizing that in fact Mexicans are here in lands that once belonged to Mexico."

In Rocca's report and in her recent book, "A Wicked War," Greenberg explains how the Mexican-American War was engineered, provoked and manipulated by President James Polk, who believed that it was this country's "Manifest Destiny" to expand across the continent — even though a huge chunk of Mexico stood in the way.

In the CBS report, historians on both sides of the current Mexican border explain how, after failing to convince Mexico to sell almost half of its territory, Polk bullied Mexico into a war based on greed and lies, instead of ideology and principles. They explain how "Manifest Destiny" was used as a rhetorical excuse to go to war with Mexico and how many prominent Americans, including two who went on to become U.S. presidents, were opposed to this war.

Before becoming president, Abraham Lincoln was part of a group of congressmen who questioned Polk's warmongering claims and stood against "a war unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the president of the United States."

And President Ulysses S. Grant, who served as a young army lieutenant in the 1846 to 1848 Mexican-American War, noted in 1879 that, although he lacked the moral courage to resign from his army post when he was a youngster, "I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico."

In his 1885 Memoirs, Grant said he had been "bitterly opposed" to the annexation of Mexico and that he regarded the war as "one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation." He added that, "It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory."

In fact, when the war ended in 1848, after the Mexicans suffered defeats all the way into Mexico City, Polk had realized the largest acquisition of U.S. territory. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, for $15 million, Mexico was forced to give up its claim to a disputed portion of present day Texas and to the entire New Mexico and California territories.

Of course, just like it's misleading to say that Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida when in fact he discovered the mainland that is now the United States, it's also misleading to say — as many people do — that Mexico lost New Mexico and California. In fact, the territory Mexico lost encompassed present-day California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Mexico lost almost half of its territory and the United States grew by a third of its size.

Yet in 2008, when Absolut Vodka used a map of old Mexico in an advertising campaign, instead of seen pre-1846 North America, many history-deprived Americans were outraged. Their xenophobia, based on their ignorance of their own history, made them believe Absolut was suggesting that Mexico should conquer the United States.

In fact, 165 years ago, it was the U.S. that conquered Mexico.

Even though the CBS report corrected the misconception created by the Absolut ads, people who suffer from paranoid xenophobia are showing that they cannot be cured, even by a good history lesson.

On the CBS web page featuring Rocca's report, some people are posting comments that show just how threatened they feel by a TV news report that simply establishes that many Latinos have very deep roots in the United States. They would clearly prefer to keep the Mexican-American War conveniently forgotten.

Some claimed to "take offense" because the war was being mixed with the current immigration debate, as if bringing history into today's context wasn't exactly what a good journalist is supposed to do!

Some tried to justify Polk's aggression, and one even thanked him for waging the war. One said that had the West coast remained under Mexican rule, today it would "reek of poverty." One asked when CBS became "a mouthpiece for La Raza."

No one in Rocca's report suggested that Mexico is seeking the return of the land it lost in the war, yet some people hear what they want to hear.


"We invaded, we won. It's ours now," commented another CBS viewer. "If Mexico wants it back, it better have an army big enough to take it back."

Absurd!

One viewer obviously was so paranoid that he jumped to the conclusion that Rocca's report "implies that Mexicans are immigrating, not to become U.S. citizens, but instead to reclaim territory lost in a war. This implies that the motivation for immigration is revenge. They will never be loyal U.S. citizens."

​
Even more absurd!

A report that should make most Americans better understand their Latino neighbors and their right to be here made this American conclude that he had "another argument against Mexican immigration amnesty."

You can be in denial because you don't know your history. But when you have historians correcting your ignorance and you remain in denial, when you are offended by a report that uproots America's hidden Hispanic heritage, perhaps you should look in the mirror and have a sincere talk with yourself.

And if you still see a bigot ranting and raving, who knows? Perhaps at least you will see how the rest of us see you.

COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM
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En español:
La Guerra Convenientemente Olvidada

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Después de haber escrito esta columna hace casi cuatro años, cuando vi estas nuevas gorras a la venta, tuve que comprar una!
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Martin DeSoto -- His ancestors didn't come to the United States. They were in old Mexico when the United States came to them.
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Ulises S. Grant
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Abraham Lincoln
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James Polk
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                   CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS

1. Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
Nuestros Días de Acción de Gracias Pre-Mayflower
               
2. A Tale of Two Cities
                 
3. Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
              

4. The Black Legend Returns

4. La Leyenda Negra Regresa
                
5. Even on HBO, The Black Legend Lives
                   
6. Our Spanish Heritage
                     
7. Exalted or Offended?
                    
8. We are all 'Americanos'
                  
9. Latinos are Failing
                  
10. Hispanic, Columbus or Indigenous Day?
10. 
™Dia Hispano, De Colon o Indigena?
                   
11. Two Good Places to Rest
11. Dos buenos lugares para descansar
                  
12. Whitman's Prophetic Letter
12. La Carta Profética de Whitman
                  
13. America’s Cradle
13. La Cuna de America
                 
14. Our Quincentennial is Coming!

14. ´Nuestro Quinto Centenario Se Avecina!
                   
15. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29
                
16. A Time To Welcome the Spirits
                  
17. A Hispanic Christmas
17. Una Navidad Hispana
                  
18. JOSE MARTI:
     His Legacy Lives Here
     Su Legado Vive Aquí 
                
19. Hyphenated and Proud!
                   
20. Politicizing Education

21. Speak Any Spanish Lately?
              
22. Happy Three Kings Day!
22. ​
´Feliz Día de Reyes!
               
23. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29

24. A Long-Overdue Museum
                 
25. America's First Christmas was celebrated in Spanish
25. La Primera Navidad Americana fue celebrada en español

26. The Grand Canyon
and the Bucket List
 Of Hispanic Heritage
26. El Gran Canyon
y la Lista de Lugares de la Herencia Hispana

                  
27. Now That Fiesta Month Is Here,
Can We Talk About Heritage?

27. Ahora que el mes de fiesta hispana esta aquí,

​™Podemos hablar de nuestra herencia?
                  
28. Our Hispanic Heritage: On Exhibit and Yet Hidden
28. Nuestra Herencia Hispana: En Exhibición y Sin Embargo Oculta

29. Florida's Birthday Should Be a National Holiday

             
30. A Local Celebration that Should be National               

31. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 30               
​

32. The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'
32. La Guerra Convenientemente Olvidada

33. Guantanamo Has a History  June 4, 2013

34. Exposing the Social Media Bigots  June 18, 2013
34. Exponiendo a los Intolerantes
     de los Medios Sociales June 18, 2013

35. Thinking of Cusi On the Fourth of July
35. Pensando en Cusi en el Cuatro de Julio

36. The Discovery of White Hispanics
36.  El Descubrimiento de los Hispanos Blancos

37. Let's Build a Timeline Of Hispanic-American History
37. Vamos a Construir una Cronología
     De la Historia Hispanoamericana

38. In the Name of Heritage
38. En el Nombre de la Herencia

39. Hispanics or Latinos?
39. ™Hispanos o Latinos?

40.  Hollywood's Hidden Hispanic Heritage
40. La Herencia Hispana Oculta en Hollywood

41. Obliviously Living in ‘The Land of Estevan Gomez’
41. Viviendo Inconscientemente
       En la ‘Tierra de Estevan Gómez’

42. Marking America's Birthplace
42. Marcando el Lugar de Nacimiento De Estados Unidos

43. Hispanics in Denial Should Be Infamous
43. Los Hispanos en Rechazo Deben Ser Infames

44. 
Gay Marriage's Hidden American History
      Started in Spanish
 CABEZA DE VACA'S JOURNEY
44. La Historia Oculta del Matrimonio Gay
      En América Comenzó en Español
        EL VIAJE DE CABEZA DE VACA​

45. Super Bowl Coke Commercial
       Draws Out Ugly Americans

45. Comercial de Coke en Super Bowl
     Hace Relucir a los Americanos Feos


46. 
The 'Discovery' of Self-Loathing Hispanics
46. El ‘Descubrimiento' de los
     Hispanos que se Auto Desprecian


THE GREAT HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR 
June 2014 - January 2015


47. My Pilgrimage to San Xavier
47. Mi Peregrinaje a San Xavier

48. The Great Hispanic American History Tour
48. La Gran Gira por la Historia Hispanoamericana

49. On the Trail of Conquistadors
49. En el Camino de los Conquistadores

50. Beyond St. Augustine
50. Más Allá de San Agustín

51. A Hidden Hispanic Role Model
51. Un Modelo Hispano Oculto

52. The Hispanic Flank of the American Revolution
52. El Flanco Hispano de la Revolucion Americana
​

53. New Orleans Has a Spanish ‘Ne Sais Quoi’
53. Nueva Orleans Tiene Un ‘Ne Sais Quoi’ Español

54. Galveston: Still the Isle of Misfortune?

55. Extracting Compacted History
     Unveils Hidden Hispanic Heritage

56. 'Remember The Alamo' Was a Spanish Mission

57. San Antonio: The Showcase Of Our Hispanic Heritage

58. There Was Compassion On the Spanish Mission Trail

59. A Hidden Latina Role Model

60. Time Portals on the Road

61. The First Thanksgiving
     In the (Southwest) United States

62. The World's Biggest Statue
of a Nameless Horseback Rider


63. A River Runs Through Our Hispanic Heritage

64. A Beacon of Hope On a Border Mountaintop

65. A Mexican-American Town
65. Un Pueblo Mexico-Americano

66. The Crossroads of Conquistadors

67. Hiking In Search of Coronado's Trail

68. The Real American Pioneers

69. Keeping My Pledge to San Xavier

70. If They Knew Arizona's History,
     They Wouldn't Be So Xenophobic

71. 'Tucson' is a Spanish Adaptation

72. Under a Utah Lake, Hispanic Heritage Lives

73. A Hilltop View Of Hispanic Heritage

74. Searching for Coronado's Quivira

75. The Spanish Savior of St. Louis

76. 
Jefferson's Spanish Library

WASHINGTON, D.C.
February-June 2015

77. When Galvez Came to Congress
77. Cuando Gálvez Vino al Congreso


78. A Tour of Our Extraordinarily Hispanic U.S. Capitol

79. Searching for Not-S0-Hidden
Hispanic Heritage in Washington, DC


80. Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit
80. Smithsonian Omite a los Hispanos
     en Exhibición de Historia de EE.UU.
MIAMI - August 2015
​
81. Finding Dad in a Museum
81. Encontre a Mi Padre en un Museo


​CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP - 2018
82. International Friendship Park ​at U.S.-Mexico Border
​- A Jagged Corner of the World


83. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
​
84. Cabrillo National Monument

85. ​It took more than 2 centuries

86. Presidio Park: The Birthplace
of the Spanish Colonization of California


87. Junípero Serra Museum Transcends the Story of a Great Man

88. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá:
California's First Spanish Mission


89. Old Mission (Padre) Dam: California's First Aqueduct

90. Even at the beach in San Diego, you can't avoid Spanish history

91. Chicano Park: Mexican-American ​painted under highway ramps

92. Balboa Park: Candy for your eyes amid a painful controversy!

93. San Diego: An American Town
Named After the Saint from Alcalá

93. San Diego: Un Pueblo Americano
Lleva el Nombre del Santo de Alcalá


94. San Luis Rey de Francia: The King of the California Missions
94. San Luis Rey de Francia: ​El Rey de las Misiones de California

95. San Antonio de Pala:
A Sub-Mission to Reach
 the Natives of the Interior
95. San Antonio de Pala:
Una Asistencia para Alcanzar los Nativos del Interior

96. San Juan Capistrano:
The Home of the Mission Swallows
 from Argentina
96. San Juan Capistrano:
El Hogar de las Golondrinas Desaparecidas ​de Argentina

97. San Gabriel Arcángel: A Mission that Launched Cities
97. San Gabriel Arcángel: Una Misión Que Lanzó Ciudades

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanics had to be imported

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanos tuvieron que sen importados


99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
A Walk through Mexican-American History

99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
Un Paseo por la historia 
​mexicoamericana


100. Strolling the Hispanic Walk of Fame
​100. Caminando por el Paseo Hispano de la Fama

101. San Fernando Rey de España Teaches
California's Colonial History

101. ​​San Fernando Rey de España Enseña
la historia colonial de California


​102. Mission San Buenaventura Survived Earthquakes and Pirates
102. Misión San Buenaventura Sobrevivió Terremotos y Piratas

​103. Father Serra Cross: On a hill,
​overlooking ​the land he shepherded

​103. La Cruz del Padre Serra: En una colina,
​con vistas a la tierra que pastoreaba


104. The Birthplace of Santa Barbara
104. El Lugar de Nacimiento de Santa Barbara

105. The Queen of the Spanish Missions
105. La Reina de las Misiones Españolas

106. Mission Santa Ines: Built to relieve other overcrowded missions
106. Misión Santa Inés: Construida para aliviar otras misiones superpobladas

107. Mission La Purísima Concepcion:
​Going back in time ​to Spanish California

107. Mision La Purísima Concepción:
Retrocediendo en ​el tiempo a la California española


XXX. Saluting an exile: ​Father Félix Varela
XXX. The Meaning of 'Sotomayor'
SPECIAL SECTIONS
• Great (pro-Hispanic) Americans
​
• 16th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 17th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 18th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
​
• Spanish-American expeditions before Jamestown
• NYC ​Hispanic Landmarks
• NYC Hispanic Art
• Do You Know/Sabes?
• Garita Art
​
• Do You Speak Spanglish?
HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TIMELINE
​1513 Ponce de Leon Discovers North America, Names Her 'Florida'

April 22, 1513 ​Alaminos discovers the Gulf Stream

1517 De Cordoba, wounded in Yucatan, stops in Florida

1518 Grijalva Reaches Galveston Island

1519 De Pineda confirms Florida ​is not an island​

1521 Ponce de Leon Returns to Florida, Falls Mortally Wounded

1524-25 Estevan Gomez Explores North America's East Coast

1526 Ayllón lands in S.C., settles in Georgia


1528 Narváez expedition succumbs to storms and natives

1528-36 Cabeza de Vaca treks across North America

1537-42 Cabeza de Vaca Returns to Spain, Writes 'La Relación'

1539 De Niza Searches for Golden Cities of Cibola
​

1539-42 De Soto celebrates first American Christmas

1540 Hernando de Alarcon Reaches California

1540-42 Coronado Explores the Southwest,
Cardenas Discovers ​the Grand Canyon


1542-43  ​Cabrillo explores California coast​

1559 De Luna Builds Santa Maria de Ochuse​


1565 Pedro Menendez de Avilés Establishes San Agustin

1566 Santa Elena Built in South Carolina

1598 ​Juan de Oñate Explores New Mexico

1602 Sebastian Vizcaino ​explores the West Coast

1610 Pedro de Peralta establishes Santa Fe

1610-26 The Birth of San Miguel, oldest church in the U.S.A.

1613 Juan Rodriguez becomes the first Manhattan immigrant

1633 Misión San Luis de Apalachee is born in Tallahassee

​1682 San Antonio de la Ysleta becomes first mission in Texas

1691 Father Eusebio Kino builds Tumacácori and Guevavi

1692 ​Father Kino builds San Xavier del Bac 

1692 Diego de Vargas leads ​'Bloodless Reconquest" of Santa Fe

1695 Castillo de San Marcos ​Completed in St. Augustine

1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is born
​- long before it became The Alamo
​

1738 Runaway slaves establish Fort Mose,
​the first free African-American community​


​1738 Francisco Menendez Leads Fort Mose

1742 Spanish Soldiers ​Open Fort Matanzas

1752 Spanish Soldiers Build Presidio de Tubac

1763 Spanish Florida Goes to England

1765 Juan Antonio Maria de Rivera ​explores ​Colorado and Utah
​
1769 
Father Serra opens ​San Diego de Alcalá,
California's first ​Spanish mission


1771 Father Serra establishes San Gabriel Arcángel

1772 Good hunting determines site
​of ​Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa


1775 Captain Hugh O’Connor
​builds Presidio San Agustin del Tucson


​1776-83 Hispanics in the American Revolution

1776 The Birth of San Francisco

1781 Spanish troops defeat the British, capture Pensacola

1781 Pobladores of Los Angeles are imported

1791 ​Alessandro Malaspina Alaska Reaches Alaska

1797 Fermín Francisco de Lasuén
Establishes Misión San Fernando Rey de España


1797 The Birth of Villa de Branciforte

Herencia Hispana Oculta de America:
La Lista de Lugares, Ideas, y Evidencia Historica para Reconectár a los Americanos con sus Raíces Hispanas

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America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage:
The Bucket List of Places, Ideas and Historical Evidence to Reconnect Americans with their  Hispanic Roots
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US/QUIENES SOMOS
  • CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • ON FACEBOOK
  • IN THE NEWS/NOTICIAS
  • ACCOLADES/ELOGIOS
  • VIDEO LECTURES/CHARLAS
  • MY STUDENTS
  • MIGUELPEREZ.COM
  • ABOUT/SOBRE MIGUEL
  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
  • CONTACT US/CONTÁCTENOS
  • TIMELINE/CRONOLOGIA
  • THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM
  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA