Capitalist Development of SWCapitalist Development of SW

• Frederick Jackson Turner

• Expansion of the West

• Frontier Thesis, 1893• Manifest Destiny• Winning the West• Robert Sperry

– Irrigation in IV

The Imperial ValleyThe Imperial Valley

• Home to multibillion dollar agricultural industry

• Mexican labor

• Desert

• Home to Yuma Indians

Imperial ValleyImperial Valley

““Winning” of the WestWinning” of the West

• Indian Removal Act of 1830– Southern U.S.: Cherokee, Choctaw,

Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole– Cherokee Trail of Tears 1838—4,000 died

• 1848: U.S.-Mexico War

• *January 1848: gold discovered in CA

The YumaThe Yuma

• Fort Yuma established

• Yuma as guides, traded with soldiers, forded river

• Yuma land trampled and vandalized during Gold Rush

The Ferry BusinessThe Ferry Business

• 1850: Battle with (John) Glanton Gang

• Morehead War– General Joseph C.

Morehead

• 1852: Major Heinzelman of U.S. Army

Destruction of the YumaDestruction of the Yuma

• Gold rush• Military occupation• War with enemy

tribes• Large scale

agriculture• Arrival of railroad

Irrigation arrivesIrrigation arrives

• 1898 California Development Company diverts water from CO River to farms

• End of Yuma floods

• 1900-Van Horn and Gillett families arrive– Pioneer myths of the West

Fresno scraperFresno scraper

Crossing the Colorado RiverCrossing the Colorado River(video clip)(video clip)

• Unpredictable rapids• Sandbars• Rocks• Yuma aquatic skills

Shared povertyShared poverty

• 1906: Yuma as wage laborers-help build dams during flood– Worked on first canals of IV

• Food, shelter, sand storms, fresh water, floods earthquakes etc.

• 1905: Autobiography of Fred W. Peterson, MD

AlliancesAlliances

• Jose and Francisca Perez (and children) arrive in IV in 1902

• The great fire

• Yuma aid

• 1911 Yuma famine

Rapidly Expanding IndustrialismRapidly Expanding IndustrialismEllis Island, Triangle Fire, YumaEllis Island, Triangle Fire, Yuma

• Southern and Eastern European immigrants in the East– Urban factories– Dangerous working

conditions– Extreme poverty– racism

• Yuma in the SW– Rural life– Large scale agriculture

• End of floods• Reservations• Destruction of crops

– Military occupation– Shared poverty– racism

Mexican LaborMexican Labor

• Profirio Diaz (1876-1911)– Mass exploitation of Mexico’s resources – Ejidos – Mass immigration of Mexicans at turn of 19th

century.– Mexican Revolution: By 1900, about 103,000

Mexican immigrants came to U.S. By 1910, about 500,000 had immigrated to the U.S.

Labor organizing Labor organizing

• Ricardo Flores Magón – Partido Liberal Mexicano

• 1906 strikes– Worker grievances against Consolidated

Copper – La Union Liberal Humanidad

• Sonoran governor Rafael Izábal sends in federal troops

Ricardo Flores Magon

Political Organizing: Political Organizing: Plan de San Diego Plan de San Diego

• Plan called for a general uprising of Mexicans and other minorities on Feb. 20, 1915

• Participants would execute all white males over the age of 16

• reconquer territory lost during the U.S.-Mexico war

• 3-5,000 joined the revolt • President Venustiano Carranza • Raids on Mexican communities

U.S. Dependence on Mexican U.S. Dependence on Mexican Labor Labor

• Restrictions on Chinese and Japanese immigration*

• European immigration slows during WW I• Immigration Act of 1917

Immigration Act of 1917Immigration Act of 1917

• Asiatic Barred Zone

• Literacy Act established an $8 head tax and banned illiterate immigrants

• Mexicans exempt– Mexicans as an ideal labor force – 1909 Dillingham Commission – No strict border enforcement

U.S. Department of Labor:U.S. Department of Labor:Wage Withholding Scheme Wage Withholding Scheme

• encourage laborers to return to Mexico

• 20 percent of each worker’s wages for the first 2 months

• Employment restrictions

• Growers demanded access to Mexican workers

• By 1920 about 500,000 children of Mexican descent were born in the U.S

Bath RiotsBath RiotsEl Paso, Texas: January 28,1917El Paso, Texas: January 28,1917

• Carmelita Torres

• Refused disinfection

• 200 Mexican women had joined her and blocked all traffic into El Paso

• Demonstrators on the march

• Blocking traffic

• "el esquadrón de la muerte,"

Santa Fe BridgeSanta Fe Bridge

Fumigation w/ DDT, 1956Fumigation w/ DDT, 1956

Indignity on the Border:Indignity on the Border:videovideo

• The Bath Riots: Indignity Along the Mexican Border by David Dorado Romo

• What was the purpose of disinfections?• Why did European immigrants escape this

treatment?• What are some present day views of the

U.S.-Mexico border?• Do you agree with the author who claimed

the protests had no effect?

After the RiotsAfter the Riots

• Reclaiming sense of dignity

• Debunking myth of passive Mexican laborer

• Tradition of protest in Mexico carry over to U.S.

• Brought attention to issue

• feelings of solidarity

• Sense of confidence for future activism