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Article: Our war with Mexico: rereading Guadalupe Hidalgo. (racism against Hispanics)
- Article from:
- Commonweal
- Article date:
- March 13, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Commonweal Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The war between the United States and Mexico ended 150 years ago this past February, but in some sense the struggle has continued by other means. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded nearly one-half of Mexico to the United States - 1 million square miles encompassing what are now the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, most of Colorado, and part of Wyoming. Though the territorial shift was enormous, the treaty itself was temperate. It guaranteed the civil, religious, and property rights of Mexican citizens in the ceded territory. They were presumed to be Americans, at least legally, if they did not leave or register as Mexicans within one year. ...