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Part 1: New Spain and Mexico. Maria Sanchez
JASON: I decide to start with the west coast. With New Spain. It did not take much searching to select my candidate for the interview. It was more difficult to get her to agree and find the time for my project. Maria Sanchez has made appearances on television and published in-depth articles herself as a well-known member of the Legislature of the State of California. I know that she is articulate and that her ancestors go back to the early colonial times in California, and before that to the south of Mexico. Since the stories of Mexico and New Spain are closely interwoven during the colonial period and after, she may be able to relate both.
That is why I find myselfin her office, which I enter through the beautiful rotunda of the California State Legislature in Sacramento, California. I am looking at a handsome fifty-five year old woman. Age, and perhaps experience, has left deep lines on her face. Lines that seem to speak of intelligence, set in the tan skin of her Latina heritage. Her hair is severely pulled back with some wisps of grey which serve to emphasize the contrasting warm hue of her skin. We are surrounded by leather-bound books in this vast room, many of which are filled with the recorded history of this country, New Spain.
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“” So Maria, thank you for giving me this time. You know why I am here. I am interested in how it came to be – how did this place evolve from a distant colony of Spain, how did it separate and gain independence from Mexico and the original Spanish colonies, and how did it manage to avoid being taken over by the major English and French powers on the continent. And, I want it from your point of view. So to begin can you tell me a bit about yourself?””
MARIA: “” Well, where do I start? I was born right here in Sacramento in 1975 one of five Sanchez children. I graduated from Southern Cal University with a major in Social Justice, which was, and still is, my passion. I did have a short career in my field with a couple of NGOs. But then, some thirty years ago, I decided that I might have more, or at least broader, impact if I went into Politics. I think I probably underestimated the struggle it would take to achieve some of that impact. So yes, at 25 years of age, I was that “kid with a dream”. Which brings me to today – I’m the New Spain Congresswoman from the proud State of California””.
JASON: I have chosen a California Congresswoman yes, but she is more than that. She is the head of a special New Spain Federal Commission reviewing government structure and investigating alternatives, or possible adjustments. But we will get to that later.
“”Maria, most people find it a surprise, if not a miracle, how New Spain, from California and New Mexico in the south, to Oregon and Montana in the north, became an independent country. The miracle being that this land was not taken over by the westward expansion of the powerful English and French speaking colonies to the east””.
MARIA: “”So, how did we get the government that we have today? And where did it come from? Well, some would say that is simple. We are a Republic, the same as Mexico and that is where we came from. But of course, there is more to it than that. A lot more. Let’s start when California was part of the Spanish colony we called Mexico .
It begins in the 1500s. This is the time the Spanish arrived in the new world and discovered the mineral rich areas in the central plateau north and west of Mexico City. Silver and gold to keep the Spanish monarchies and their ravenous spending habits afloat. But for the remote areas to the north, here in California, there was no gold at the time and there would be no large immigration from Spain. Instead they established the Catholic Church missions to convert the native peoples to Christianity and to the European way of life. They saw this as a large population that they could eventually control . . . and of course tax. And, for a time, it worked well for these remote colonies in the north.
The Spanish Conquistadores were the brutal military force that suppressed the native indigenous tribes in Mexico, predominantly the Maya and Aztecs, and imposed their Catholic religion. What they were seeking . . . . . and what they found, was the source of the native gold and silver artifacts. They established a network of mines throughout central Mexico to extract these precious metals, which were then shipped back to the motherland. The main generals who were the architects of securing this vast wealth were rewarded with prestigious political positions. Hernan Cortes was one of the most famous . . . and one of the most brutal.
We here in the north did not have any gold or silver (or it had not been discovered at that time) so we were saved from the slave-like labour that the native peoples in central Mexico were subjected to in the mines.
By 1800 the Viceroyalty of New Spain included all of Mexico today, plus California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and most of Texas. Over the next fifty years they would lose it all””.
JASON: Such a vast area for colonization. It would amount to several times the area of Spain itself, and was populated by indigenous tribes, many of whom were hostile to the Spanish invasion. The colonization of such a vast area would take hundreds of years and lots of patience to accomplish. But the Spanish colonizers were ambitious, and thought they were up to the task – after all, they were also colonizing even greater territories in South America at the same time.
MARIA: “”Here in California the colonization began as missionary work. The Catholic Church, with the support of the Spanish military, set out to convert and “save” the indigenous tribes. The Spanish viceroys and governors had learned from their experience enslaving the native Indian population as they had done in the south, in Mexico. It had brought hardship and rebellion along with the riches that they mined from the earth. Here, there were no mines and the workday was strictly organized; with six hours of work separated into two parts with a two-hour lunch and siesta mid-day. Some ninety days a year were designated as religious or civic holidays free of the work. So they had learned a lot since the time of the conquistadors arrival in Mexico.
It was an ambitious project, yes. In Texas for instance, the church built twenty-six missions throughout the land. Why so many? There were hundreds of different tribes living across the land and they selected the ones that were most likely to be successfully converted to the ways of the church. The selection was mainly based on density and size of population, and an existing tribal structure based on village life. Some twenty-six such tribes warranted their own missions which were scattered across the territory.
Here in California it was different. Here the church decided to build missions along the coast where the population was concentrated. They located each mission one day’s ride from the next. It involved much planning and consideration for the exact location of each – several months and often years. But the result was twenty-one missions, all linked together by the Camino Real, or royal road, stretching from San Diego to San Francisco.
The plan from the outset was to establish a mission building that would become the village center and house the priests, nuns, some military protectors and a complement of skilled tradesmen and artisans. The mission would teach the natives the various skills needed for European style village life – farming, livestock herding, woodworking, brick making, tool making, house building, grain harvesting, leather tanning, as well as weaving, wool and cotton fabric milling. . . . And of course steep them in the preachings of the church . . . on the path to baptism as members of the Catholic faith. They also created the Presidios, or forts, to house the military; and they established Pueblos, or villages, to supply the missions with the needed food stocks based on agriculture and livestock.
The Spanish missionaries brought with them from Spain fruit seeds that would introduce citrus fruits, grapes, apples, and peaches that were important then, and even more important now. Yes, the first wine produced in California was over two hundred years ago at the Mission San Juan Capistrano. For the most part colonization of the indigenous tribes was very successful. But there were a few tribes, such as the Comanche, that were nomadic in nature, resisted the newcomers, and led raids on the missions – but that was mostly in Texas””.
JASON: She makes colonization sound like an idyllic world. Of course, she does not mention that the labour, which was all provided by the indigenous tribes, was essentially slave labour. But the work was interesting and clean, the hours were good, and the peons were well fed and cared for. Not what we associate with the forced black labour in the brutal cotton plantations of south east America.
“” So Maria, the Church has established its missions over a period of time . All seems to be going well. Is this the happy ending they wanted? “”
MARIA: “” No, the Church considered it just a temporary step toward a civilized and self supporting society. The goal from the beginning was to at some point, when the village and faith were established and operating smoothly, to “secularize” the village. This meant that land plots would be granted to the native population and the church mission would pull back to the role of a village church – the completion of their European model. The original planning thought that this secularization could take place within ten years of the mission being established. But in practice, they found it to be much longer. In some cases sixty years. But by the 1830s all of the missions had evolved into this form of village life. They were now ready to take on the next chapter in their development.
The style of governance that was adapted from Spain was the Patron system where a political appointee, usually a retired military man or someone with friends in high places, was awarded vast plots of land, thousands of acres, to own and manage. And even larger favours were bestowed on other loyal friends who were called Governors and who managed a groups of Patrons. So it was a hierarchal structure based on some corrupt favoritism. But the favouritism was carried on out in the open, and on a very large scale, unlike some of the corruption that still continues behind closed doors today, here and in Mexico.
Initially there were some thirty large land grants issued. By the end of the mission era this had grown to more than four hundred large “ranchos”. Each was about eight to ten kilometres square – some 20,000 acres! The patrons organized their large tracts of land surrounding the original missions or pueblas. With the promise of security and family well-being, these settlements expanded rapidly – leading to some of the large centers we have today in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These were all part of the original missions along the Camino Real.
So the Patron system was not all bad, and in some ways was well suited to new and remote colonial territories. As I mentioned, the land grants were enormous. So large that it did not require the distribution of an unmanageable number of favours. And even the most greedy of those receiving the favours were well satisfied. But perhaps the most redeeming feature was the responsibility that the Patron took on with this gift of land. He was responsible for ensuring that the village had adequate support and services. Of course he needed sufficient labour of all types and skills to manage the farmlands and livestock. But he also needed to provide the infrastructure for the village community. Sufficient doctors and nurses, shop-keepers and teachers, and of course religious training and leadership of a Catholic persuasion. It was in his interest to do this, and do it well, since the prosperity of the community, and his own prosperity depended upon it. It was a nobles-serf structure, much as was in vogue throughout Europe at the time””.
JASON: We know that many of these mission buildings are still standing today. Most were the work of the Franciscan Friar Junipero Serra who created the simple but elegant designs for local craftsmen to build. He left a trail of beautiful mission buildings throughout California and later he did the same in his homeland of Mexico.
“”So Maria, this way of life for the church, the patrons, and the peons, continued from the early days of the colonies through into the 1800s in what is now Mexico as well as north of the border, here in what was called Alta California and New Mexico at the time. But around the world, and here, things were about to change. The days of monarchies, colonies, and feudal labour were about to end””.
MARIA: “” Yes significant change. Violent change. How did we gain our independence here? It had to happen in stages. First in Mexico, and later here in California. And as with all great changes, it happened with a large share of spilled blood and violence. It turns out there were several preliminary events that were necessary to set the stage for the final rebellion””.
JASON: “” We know that Spain was running out of money to finance their adventures in the Americas. It always was a bit of a house of cards scheme anyway. With the need for continuous injections of gold and silver from Mexico, Peru, and Colombia to keep the monarchy afloat. But then, the gold and money flow from the colonies began to peter out.
At the same time, in 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte, the self-declared Emperor of France, decided to invade and occupy Spain as well as much of Europe. This kept Spain, England, and the French occupied for the next eight years. The colonial population in Mexico was split at the time – some continued to pledge their allegiance to the monarchy in Spain, while others saw this as an opportunity to rebel and gain independence. They were not alone – many of the Spanish colonies in Latin America would also erupt in rebellion””.
MARIA: “”Here it started with a small group of villagers in the mining center of Guanajuato, in the center of Mexico. It was led by a priest, Father Hidalgo, who “had had enough” and who made his famous cry for independence on September 16, 1812. The date the Mexicans celebrate as their Independence Day. He was joined along the way by other villagers as he marched south, enroute to the Spanish capital in Mexico City. Hidalgo and his band of peasants were marching at a time when Spain was pulling its money and troops out of Mexico. Yes, Spain at home was in disarray following the invasion by the French under Napoleon and had little appetite for waging or supporting far-off battles. It was not easy. The Mexican war of independence ended lasted years and ended in 1821 when the colonial royalists negotiated a settlement with Spain granting a constitutional monarchy status to Mexico. It was independence yes, but for some it was not enough.
Two years later it was replaced with a true and independent Republic – the United States of Mexico. After two hundred years, the Spanish colonies of North America were freed of the Spanish colonizer. And this included all of the Viceroyalty of New Spain at the time of which Alta California, New Mexico, and Texas were a part””.
JASON: “”Interestingly, I believe one of two key figures that brought about this change from Constitutional Monarchy to a Republic was the twenty–seven year old Captain Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna – but I think we will hear more from him later. Also, I note that it took until 1836, some fifteen years later, for Queen Isabella of Spain to finally accept that her colony was independent and decide to sign the Independence treaty. Like today, some leaders refuse to admit they have lost””.
MARIA: “”Yes, freedom from Spain was gained, but the system of large Patron-run land holdings did not change with Mexican Independence. That took two things to happen. First of all, Benito Juarez took over as President of the Republic of Mexico in 1858. This was remarkable since he was the first purebred indigenous person ever to lead any country at that time. In fact, there have only been a few since. Yes, he was full-blooded Zapotec. But even more remarkable was that he held office from 1858 to 1872, some fourteen years! You see, prior to his term in office there had been some forty changes of government in Mexico since independence in 1821 – the average term was less than a year! As you are aware, one man, Antonio Lopez Santa Anna, was in and out as President eleven times in this period of chaos and instability after independence.
Compared to Mexican leaders of the past, Benito Juarez was an unlikely figure. His dark swarthy skin, and prominent forehead and nose, gave clear evidence of his Zapotec heritage. He was a humble man who achieved a degree in law and then rapidly rose through various political offices, initially in his home state of Oaxaca, and then in Mexico City. He eventually held the position of Vice-President of Mexico. Then, good luck found him when President Ignacio Comonfort fell out of favour with his conservative party members and was ousted, allowing Juarez to succeed him as President.
In his new position of influence, Juarez began to enact reforms, including an overdue separation of church and state. But Juarez went one step too far. Due to the bankrupt state of the Mexican treasury, he decided to suspend payments to his foreign lenders. This angered England, Spain, and France who then formed a loose alliance and decided to land troops at Vera Cruz to sort out these upstart Mexicans. But the French were soon alone in this adventure when the others realized that French President Napoleon III, like his uncle Bonaparte before him, was very ambitious. He planned to seize total control of all of Mexico. He was intent on creating a puppet state in Mexico for his own benefit””.
JASON: “”Indeed, the French did attempt to capitalize on the lack of interest from the other major powers of Spain and England and have their way with the fledgling new country of Mexico. It was their time, it was their turn for empire! Or so they thought””.
MARIA: “”The French landed their army on the gulf coast near Vera Cruz for a march to the capital. They would claim their new “possession”, and install their chosen arch-duke Maximiliano, to take the throne in Mexico City. It was to be a simple military operation. But the French campaign was temporarily held up enroute to the capital when they were routed by a smaller Mexican force at the Battle of Puebla on the Fifth of May, 1862 – yes, the Cinco de Mayo. This is now a date that is a convenient cause for celebrations, festivities, and serious tequila drinking around the world today.
However, soon after the embarrassment at Puebla, the French army moved on to Mexico City, and installed the French Emperor Maximiliano in the lavish Chapultepec Castle palace. You see, Maximiliano was chosen and recruited by the French from his native Austria largely because he held no position at the time, he was out of work, and therefore he was “available”. Maximiliano now began to enjoy the lavish life befitting an Emperor in the new land. Meanwhile President Juarez and his ministers had fled into hiding.
Maximiliano was Emperor for some three years. And surprisingly, it was a period of relative calm in Mexico, even though he had taken the throne by force.
It turned out that Maximiliano, although born of privilege, was liberal minded. He started to enact various reforms to benefit the peasant class; with even more reforms being promised for the future. This must have rankled President Juarez who was waiting patiently in exile in his small apartments Vera Cruz. The new Emperor was becoming popular, and stealing his game! There was no room of two reformers, two leaders of the people. Juarez decided to act before it was too late.
He assembled his ministers, and with the help of the Mexican military, managed to capture Maximiliano, imprison him for a short time, put him on trial for an even shorter time, and then duly execute him. History had demonstrated to Juarez that this was the only sure way of avoiding a comeback. To complete the day, the widow Empress Carlotta was returned to her native Austria where her mental illness was sent into a steep downward spiral. She never recovered from the shock of the violent end of her reign in Mexico. So ends another quiet and straightforward chapter in Mexican history.
Benito Juarez picks up again as President of Mexico. Probably because Juarez was a full-blooded indigenous Mexican “Indian”, he had reason, and some direct experience, to know that the Patron system was outdated and unfair to the larger population who were now called “the working class”. During his consecutive terms as President he presided over the end of the Patron system. He replaced it with land reforms enabling the people working the land to own their plots of farmland and thus created a new economy,. It was the end of the outdated feudal Patron system””.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeD6YNni9mP
JASON: “”So Benito Juarez, the man whose image appears on much of Mexico’s currency today, a national hero, became President . . . once again. Mexico had gained independence from Spain, had weathered an invasion by the French, and had abandoned the feudal Patron system to emerge as a somewhat modern democracy. But what happened to the rest of the Spanish colonies to the north of Mexico? What of California? California, New Mexico and Texas remained part of the Mexican territories at the time of Mexican Independence in early 1800s. But would this last!””
MARIA: “”The new Mexican President Juarez did install a more modern structure of land reform in Mexico, but not here in Alta California. Not at first. It came later for us. What happened here had always been a sideshow compared to the big shows in Mexico and Spain. However, this time, events happened here with equal importance, and equal significance.
Mexico had been independent from Spain for little more than thirty years when things started to happen that would change the northern provinces forever. It was that time of great government chaos in Mexico before the advent of the Juarez presidency.
We declared our Independence from Mexico in 1846, and then had to fight for it for the next two years. A very significant event yes, and then, a year later, in 1849 the discovery of gold was announced in the San Francisco area. This second event sent many things in motion, fuelled by greed and intoxicated by too much liquor and the prospect of easy riches. But it also resulted in the creation of the vast settlements and commerce that started us on the path to what we see today””
JASON: “Maria, I think this would be a good time to take a short break? Perhaps some coffee or tea before we continue”.
I see Maria nod in agreement, or was it relief, as she turns to the credenza behind her desk. I suspect there was some planning on her part since she returns with a well laid out silver tray. She pours from a tall bottle into each of two small votive glasses, as she explains that it is the custom of her ancestors from the south of Mexico to enjoy some Mezcal with some slices of orange on the side as late afternoon hospitality. The smoky citrus of the tequila-like Mezcal pairs nicely with the orange that I notice has been spiced up with a sprinkling of chile powder.
“”Salud! Very nice indeed. The independence from Mexico and the great gold rush in California happened about the same time. Let’s start with the Gold Rush. It is well documented and well storied in books and movies, as a time of frontier spirit gone wild. But it is also an interesting historical period that did more than anything to accelerate the development of California into the populous and powerful state that it is today””.
MARIA: “” Yes the discovery of gold. In 1847 James Marshall found some shiny nuggets in the river fed trailrace of his new lumber mill. He had the nuggets analysed and confirmed they were gold, but kept the finding secret for fear of the area being overrun by undesirables. But they say a secret shared, is no longer a secret. It turned out that his partner, when travelling into the city for supplies, perhaps helped by a few whiskeys in the saloon, could not hold it in.
However, news did not travel fast in those days. And most locals thought the news was just some drunken fantasy. But then the story appeared in the local newspaper; and that was followed by an article in the New York Herald that gave credibility to the story, as well as worldwide attention. Reports that gold was there for the taking, visible in streams or recovered by simply digging with a spade were not exaggerations. The hunt was on. It began in 1849 and hence the term “Forty-Niners “ was given to the hordes of people seeking their riches. Riches which would sadly only be achieved by a small number of those that came.
The center of the gold fields turned out to be near the site of one of the early large land grants in the interior held by a man named John Sutter. He had grand plans to build a community named Sutter’s Mill on the fertile agricultural land, near the present day Sacramento. Sutter’s Mill became famous, but his dream of a prosperous agricultural community was preempted by the crush of novice miners to the area””.
JASON:“”So the news was out, and they landed by the thousands seeking new riches – by ship, by train, by horse and wagon, and some by foot. They came from New England, New France, from Asia, Russia and Japan as well as the rest of what was now Mexico. We see pictures of the San Francisco harbor full of tall masted sailing ships bringing supplies and unloading their passengers””.
MARIA: “”My family goes back for generations as residents of San Francisco. For a while, my great, great, grandparents lived in one of the ships that had arrived in port. You see many ships arrived from abroad bringing people seeking gold, people seeking employment to support the miners, and also bringing supplies to support the influx of people. In many cases the crews of these ships went ashore and never returned to their ship. They picked up the few supplies needed and set out for the gold fields to seek their fortune. The harbour was full of hundreds of abandoned ships with no crews to return home. So they were dragged up onto the mudflats and became warehouses, stores, hotels, and apartments.
The population of San Francisco in 1848, before the gold rush, was slightly over 1,000; but just two years later it had swelled to 25,000. Many new arrivals headed to the fields in search of gold, while others stayed in the city and opened stores and services in what was now one of the largest cities in the new land. They say that only a few of the novice miners became rich, but many of the proprietors became very prosperous and wealthy. They were the owners of restaurants, hotels, and equipment supply warehouses. And brothels, especially prosperous were the brothels that included saloons and gambling to keep their clients refreshed, and the gold nuggets flowing into their strongboxes. The incoming ships from South America and overseas contained entrepreneurs of all stripes; experienced restauranteurs, store owners, and more than a few painted ladies who paid for their passage in trade while on board.
One of the most famous of these lady entrepreneurs was Bell Cora. As a teenager Belle moved to New Orleans where she met her lover, Charles Cora. They did not marry but did relocate to different towns in California where she operated brothels until they made the final move to San Francisco. Here she opened the largest, most expensive, and reputedly “best” brothel in the city. It was strategically located right across the street from her main rival in the business, the house operated by Ah Toy. Both establishments offered what was called full service with gambling, a well-stocked bar, entertainers paid to sit with the men at the gaming tables, and specialists of all kinds who worked the upper floors. Ah Toy was oriental and probably had the advantage of also offering opium to her best clients. But Belle specialized in French ladies for which she proudly charged the highest prices in town. As a good business woman, she wisely catered to aldermen, judges, and other city officials.
Belle was living the high life herself when trouble found her. It seems Belle and the wife of US Marshal William Richardson had a running hate on, largely due to the Marshall’s wife not wanting to see a disreputable person like Belle frequenting the same high society parties and gatherings that she and the “proper ladies” of the city attended. Somehow this escalated to the point where Belle’s lover, Charles Cora, shot Marshall Richardson on Clay Street in broad daylight. Charles was jailed and tried of course, but public outrage festered with the creation of a Committee of Vigilance with some 2,500 members demanding proper justice. Many of the Committee members then armed themselves and led Charles out in front of Committee headquarters on Sacramento Street where he was hanged; some say lynched. But Belle’s good heart prevailed as she had married her long-time lover just days before the execution.
She had lost her lover and her husband on the same day, but business only flourished for her thereafter. She would die herself of pneumonia five or six years later at the ripe old age of thirty-five. Some say a short life, but well lived.
Justice was an elusive thing in those days. There was no system of deeds or recorded land rights. Simply “staking a plot of land” with four wooden stakes and some twine connecting them was all that was needed to establish a claim. Of course you could not leave your plot for fear of it being taken over. You had better have sufficient supplies and a rifle to protect your claim while your partner travelled back and forth for new supplies. There was no form of government issued bank notes, so payment for supplies was made by producing a pouch of gold nuggets or gold dust that would be weighed by the store proprietor and a value negotiated for the goods to be provided.
Because there was no land property taxes, all of the revenue for the expanding city of San Francisco came from customs taxes or tariffs. And it was substantial. All foreign ships coming into the port were taxed at about 25% on the goods they unloaded. This income helped to finance the rapid growth in streets, buildings, and everything else needed to support and house the expanding population””.
JASON: At the time, it seems there was little in the way of government in this new land. The whole area could have easily been overrun by “the law of the six gun”, which was no law at all. Instead, the Patron system, which was still in place at the time, paid off. Perhaps just out of self-interest of the Patron himself, the lawlessness could not be tolerated.
MARIA: “”This was a time of great uncertainty for the people here. There seemed to be little resistance to this crush of “invading”, miners as well as farm settlers, who were staking claims to land and controlling matters with violent self-interest.
The Patrons decided to unite and create one of the first police forces. They set up a new land registry system for the gold miners to try to keep disputes and claim jumping to a minimum. Of course, the fledgling judicial system had to be strengthened and expanded to handle the many belligerents now overflowing the jails. Gradually law was restored in the urban areas, mainly San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. But the lawlessness continued in the rural areas. There was a realization by the authorities that they needed help to gain control.
They knew that the tribes of the southwest states, the Hopi, the Puebla, and others were “settler” tribes. For hundreds of years they had established permanent villages and homesteads, grew crops and raised livestock. In the gold-rich areas near San Francisco, and also in the north of the state, these tribes had been attacked and pushed off of their ancestral lands by the marauding army of prospectors. There were hunting parties of settlers and miners that would hunt down and slaughter tribe groups in an open attempt to exterminate the Indian populations – man, woman and child. These massacres happened hundreds of times throughout the northern half of California. It was becoming a type of civil war I suppose, with the arrival of European settlers and miners pitted against the native indigenous population. But the government, such as it was, still was controlled by the remnants of the Patron system. And most of the people here before the gold rush were mestizo with Indian blood in their veins who stood with the tribes and their plight. For the tribes in the vicinity of the gold It was an easy choice to offer support in helping to suppress the rampant lawlessness. What would later be called “the Wild West”.
The fledgling police forces were expanded to the rural areas, and the tribal leaders deputized similar forces on their lands to establish a new form of law and order. A new Constitution was drafted including a new criminal code, which strictly enforced land rights and controlled the ownership of guns. This benefited the majority – the Spanish whites, the Indian tribes, and the mestizos (Spanish/Indian). This led the way for a strong criminal justice system and brought gun violence back to a manageable level. In the end, California benefitted from tremendous immigrant population expansion with all types of needed businesses, schools, services and all with a tolerable level of safety and security. We were finding our way as a new independent nation having won the war with Mexico shortly before the gold rush began. We were now New Spain””.
JASON:“ Yes, the fight for independence. We jumped to the gold rush, but the struggle for independence from Mexico took place at pretty much the same time. Just thirty odd years after Mexico had gained its own independence from Spain it was time for California ,and Texas to gain full independence from Mexico. Unlike Mexico, the northern territories were underpopulated and did not have standing armies. In the clash that led to your independence from Mexico, you were considered distant underdogs. I think we are now going to meet our man General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna”.
At the mention of Santa Anna I think I notice a slight change in the well-practiced poker face that Congresswoman Sanchez has worn for most of the interview. I see a slight glint in the dark brown eyes, and small pulling tight of the mouth – is this a smile??
MARIA: “”Independence! Where to start? You had asked about the Alamo mission. Let’s start there. At the time, Texas was seeking to gain or, depending on who you asked, maintain their self-declared independence from Mexico. Consequently the Mexican government decided to send your man General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to restore order and bring the upstart settlers in Texas back into line.
Santa Anna seemed to be just the man for the job. An impressive figure, he had a strong face with luxuriant dark pompadour hair and an equally full moustache gracing his upper lip. A straight nose and stern look befitting his Spanish blood . . . the face of born leader. His face expressed supreme confidence, and while he was not always right, he was always certain. His many exploits seemed to be aimed at garnering respect, love, and adoration from his people; but throughout his long life he was stalked by equal measures of gain and loss in this regard. 312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13ctxt0tu1
Santa Anna quickly rose to the level of Captain, and then General in the Mexican army. He would live a long and fulsome life, with many military successes . . . matched by an equal number of failures. Santa Anna also enjoyed many years as President of the new Mexican Republic – eleven times he held the presidency, usually for a year or less, and eleven times he was thrown out of office and out of favour.
He was able to make his many comebacks due to the Mexican enduring love of a tall, handsome figure, in ornate military uniform, sitting astride a magnificent white horse. In his time, he is reported to have owned some half dozen white horses, and easily had three times that number of mistresses, yielding at least eight children, two of which were legitimate offspring from one of his two wives.
Yes, Santa Anna was present at most of the major historical events of the emerging Mexico. He supported the uprisings that led to the Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. And was a hero in the battles against Spain when they tried to regain their lost colony just eight years later. His heroics in battle gained him his first term as Presidency a few years later. But this was just the prelude to his most famous success, and his most inglorious defeat.
In 1836 the forty-two year old Santa Anna and his army marched into Texas to quell the rebellious uprising of the settlers in this outpost of the Mexican territory. He became famous immediately in this campaign when he won the battle at the Alamo mission in San Antonio, Texas.
This is a story which was retold many times by the losers for a change - by the Texan defenders. Perhaps because the defenders of the Alamo had some, what we would call today, celebrities – Davy Crockett with his Kentucky squirrel gun and Jim Bowie with his Bowie knife. They were inspired by Colonel Travis and his famous “ I draw a line in the sand speech” to his men as they looked out on the sea of Mexican soldiers surrounding the mission fort. It was more of a siege than a battle since Santa Anna’s army surrounded the mission for thirteen days and waited for the fort’s supplies and resistance to fade before charging and overrunning the mission walls. The defeat at the Alamo was forever burned into the memories of native Texans. In Mexico, Santa Anna was a hero once again. But not for long.
The Texan upstarts were persistent and continued to engage the Mexican army for the next two or three years: but not in a straightforward way. Outnumbered, they preferred to play cat and mouse. Staying out of sight of the large marching armies from Mexico, they trained and gained strength of numbers waiting for their moment to strike. This was the strategy of Sam Houston who was leading one of the largest bands of Texan irregulars. I say irregulars because this was not a well-trained and disciplined army by any means. As they crisscrossed Texas their numbers rose and fell as farm hands with muzzle loading rifles joined and left the force each week. In doing so, Houston had gradually gained strength while staying out of sight of Santa Anna and his larger forces for over a year””.
JASON: Santa Anna was on the hunt. But, his short streak of good luck was about to end. Perhaps tiring from marching across Texas in what had been a futile search for the Texan forces, he was losing faith in ever finding his quarry, and perhaps becoming a bit lacking in caution.
MARIA: “”On April 21, 1836 Santa Anna was making camp by the San Jacinto River. It was a warm night and they were tired from the long march that day with no sign of the enemy forces to arouse their enthusiasm. Santa Anna set out his uniform for morning, and then fell into a deep, untroubled sleep on his camp cot. The following morning at day-break the cooks were lighting the camp fires for breakfast while the soldiers still slept in their tents. The morning was still and the smoke from the fires lofted straight and high into the sky. High enough that the advance scouts of Sam Houston’s band noticed it from their own encampment just over a hillside rise beyond a tree line that separating the two camps.
Houston’s men wisely postponed their own breakfast as they quietly amassed in the treed thickets on the rise overlooking Santa Anna’s camp. They could see that there was no activity except for the cooks carefully preparing the fires and starting to set out cooking utensils. Houston made the call to charge. And in just eighteen minutes, they had overrun the Mexican camp sending it into disarray with men and horses running in all directions. In the fray, Santa Anna was found, hiding in a swamp, while trying to flee. It looked like his luck had run out.
He was placed in jail in San Jacinto. He was discouraged but not finished. He managed to negotiate his release and was then packed off by ship for Mexico. But not before signing the Treaties of Velasco in his capacity as an official of the Mexican government, which officially granted independence to Texas for an agreed price. Some say Santa Anna was again lucky or fortunate to have escaped with his life, but others say it was just the first of his inglorious defeats””.
JASON: That’s right Santa Anna was not finished – either with his times as President, or his on-and-off military career. A few years later he was again brought out of retirement, actually out of exile in Colombia. This time to again lead the Mexican army in new hostilities emerging along its northern border . . . what would be called the Mexican American war of 1846 – 1848.
MARIA: “”In 1846 California and New Mexico and all of the Pacific west was still part of Mexico. Only Texas had won its independence. But then the Mexican government decided to no longer recognize the treaty that Santa Anna had signed in San Jacinto granting independence to all of Texas. The treaty had established the Rio Grande River as the border between Mexico and Texas. Now the Mexicans were claiming the border was to be 100Km north, at the Nueces River. Both parties sent soldiers to the disputed land, hostilities erupted, and then war broke out when negotiations failed.
So the leaders here in California decided this was an opportune time to wage a war with the new country of Mexico for our own independence. This was bolstered by the new alliance we had made with Texas, as they had remained fiercely independent of both Mexico to the south, and New France to the east. In order to build a safeguard from future disputes with either border country, Texas and California decided to join forces in a new War of Independence from Mexico. As it turned out, the Mexican American War did not last long. Just two years. The Mexicans were exhausted from their earlier war with Spain and realized quickly that they were in trouble trying to control such a vast and far off territory. Santa Anna lost the borderlands for a second time, and this time this time including all of California as well. He was quickly returned to exile.
With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo near Mexico City in 1848, we became an independent country comprised of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and eventually stretching all the way to Washington and Montana on the Canadian border. Showing a remarkable lack of originality, we named our new nation New Spain. At the time, little did we know during our celebrations that a few years later gold would be discovered at Sutter’s Mill.
That is the somewhat messy background of how we became New Spain today. And why our system of government, a Democratic Republic, started the same as that of Mexico, and has remained the same for all one hundred and seventy years since the founding””.
JASON: “”Yes, messy indeed. But Mexico was not the only neighbour. What of the neighbours to the east in New France. There seems to be relative peace with New France. An unusual situation for North America in the 1800s””.
MARIA: “”Our eastern border was always a peaceful border, and still is. At some three thousand kilometers north to south, it is one of the longest undefended boarders anywhere. Possibly this might have been because the main populations of our countries were massed along the Pacific coast in our case, and the Mississippi River to the east in their case. The border lands in between were said to have more cattle than people in those days and perhaps that is still the case. But probably the main reason was that the French had their hands full defending their eastern borders from the armies of New England who were intent on capturing more and more land for their ever expanding settler population””.
JASON: “” But what of our man Santa Anna? – Independence for California and Texas, and all the lands to the north, had been won. But his never-ending quest for glory and admiration surely was not finished””.
MARIA: “” No, for Santa Anna this was not his final moment. There was still an equal number of victories and defeats left in him. He emerges again at the time of the Gadsden Purchase in 1852 when, as President of Mexico at the time, he agreed to sell the Mexican part of southern Arizona to his northern neighbours for $10 million; probably to avoid our superior forces from just taking it. The Mexican treasury was again broke, and some money was better than a fight. It was significant because it established the current southern border of Arizona with Mexico, and we acquired the cities of Tucson and Yuma in the bargain.
Santa Anna had a magnetic personality and did have sporadic moments of true leadership, but he lacked any true principles. He was driven mostly by his personal pride and the glory of military and political life. So for the next thirty years he was feted as president several more times, either by election or on one occasion by a coup d’etat and rebellion. Each moment of political glory was followed by a defeat. Each time, in an attempt to make it his last, the Mexican government dispatched him off in exile – once to Jamaica and once to Colombia, and once even to Staten Island in New York.
As you might expect, his final grasp for glory was typical of his life-long opportunistic self-interest. It was 1861 and the new Mexican Government was faced with the attempted takeover by Napoleon III of France. While in exile, he offered his services to both sides. To the Mexican defense, but also to the French Emperor Maximiliano. Both sides wisely refused his offer, and we know how that all ended. He lived on for another fifteen years and was generously allowed to return to Mexico for the last two years of his life. He died at age 82 in Mexico City””.
JASON: “”Well – a fitting career and life for a Mexican telenova TV series I would think. I feel a bit exhausted by it all but I still want to pursue your current inquiries into whether today’s system of government is best suited to guide the nation of New Spain into the future””.
I am more than ready for another round of Mezcal, and I suspect that Maria would gladly agree. But the professional in me keeps urging me to keep going. The interview is going well, better than I could have hoped, but I expect we are coming to the end.
MARIA: “”So, we have studied our current government structure and how we came by it. My committee is also looking at the governments of our closest neighbours and allies – New France, New England, and Canada. It is not a straightforward comparison, as there are pros and cons with each.
Today, with our current government structure, we are basically the same as Mexico. Although both have had many reforms and adjustments over the years, the main structure has remained the same – a Democratic Republic with an elected President who is both head of state and head of government with a multi-party system. There are upper and lower Houses of Legislature with parties that vie for majority control during elections. The President is the head of the Executive branch. And there is a separate Judicial branch. In that regard, it is similar to the system that has been enacted in New France, which was initially patterned on France in the early post-colonial period, as is the government of New England, which became a Democratic Republic following its war of independence from England.
The government of Canada is different. It is based on the British Parliamentary system which has separate branches of government, but there is no elected President. Instead the political parties select their own leaders, and should that party hold the electoral majority of seats in their House of Commons, the party leader becomes the Prime Minister and head of state. In practice, this means that, unlike the Republic system, the party in power can remove or change their leader at any time. That is because it is the party that is in power, not an individual. Another unique feature is that if the party in power were to lose a vote on a strategic matter in the House of Commons, this is referred to as a vote of non-confidence (meaning non-confidence in the government), then a new general election must be held.
In the case of the Republics, the President, a single man, or woman, holds enormous power and influence. Hopefully, he is of sound mind and judgement since it is difficult to make a change in the middle of an electoral term, short of death in office, or an unlikely case for impeachment.
So these are the two systems that are under scrutiny, along with the different structures in some of the European democracies. As you can understand, it is complicated, with no clear favourites, as each has its pros and cons. Most betting people wager that in the end, there will probably be no change for us, it will be less risky to stay the course, good or bad””.
JASON: I know that Maria is also part of another Committee, the North America Union Council – a free trade organization between the Five Countries of North America – similar to the ECC of several years ago in Europe, which then became the EU or European Union.
MARIA: “”The free trade agreement between our North American countries has been very successful. It has brought national wealth along with similar wage and labour conditions for all members. It has also made our trading block a strong force globally and we are able to compete well with the other major bocks of Asia and Europe.
However, to go the extra step as the European Union has done, I do not think will happen here nor is it in our best interest, or the interest of the other countries. We all wish to maintain full sovereignty over our individual nations – full control of language and culture, immigration, our food supplies and health services.
For instance here in New Spain, as well as Canada and New France, our taxes pay for very good health care systems that are not-for-profit, and universally available for all our citizens. It is affordable for our governments because of size and the fact that hospitals and essential health services are not for profit. And there are no middleman insurance profit takers. Taxes pay for it all, just as taxes pay for highways, airports, schools and much more.
It is different in New England where there are independent health insurance companies and independent heath care facilities like hospitals and labs; all privately or publicly owned and all seeking to maximize their profits while a good portion of the population goes without coverage. This is just one example where our countries would not find a common pathway of agreed regulations as they did, remarkably I might add, in the European Union.
Economically New Spain has thrived due to a combination of events: intense immigration and population growth coming in from all regions – from New France and Canada, as well as from Pacific countries in Asia and Russia. It has produced a multi-culture of inventive and innovative thinkers, with a hard work ethic, and catholic family values. We like to say we are all colours here, but mostly beige since the vast majority are mestizos or of mixed race. We have a temperate climate and my state of California enjoys it’s position as one of the favorite tourist destinations worldwide””.
JASON: ”” I think we leave it there, with some comparisons with your neighbours in North America. We were fortunate to have you, Maria, to share your understanding of the events of the past, and the current situation now in New Spain. I think it is time for a well-earned break – and perhaps we could enjoy another taste of the Mezcal”.
Maria smiles at this last request. I think I notice a sadness in the smile however. The interview has ended, maybe sooner than she would want. I wonder if I offer an invitation for dinner if it would be welcomed or not.
Anyway, I will continue my quest to understand the evolution of North America when I travel next to New France and explore their place in this story. My next stop will be – New Orleans, the capital of New France.
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