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
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