How were hispanic citizens deprived of their wealth and land in the course of western settlement?

Chapter 17 Extra Credit1.Which of the following does not represent a group that participated significantly in westwardmigration after 1870?

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2.Which of the following represents an action that the U.S. government took to help Americansfulfill the goal of western expansion?

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3.Why and how did the U.S. government promote western migration in the midst of fighting theCivil War?

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4.What specific types of hardships did an average American farmer not face as he built hishomestead in the Midwest?

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5.What accounts for the success of large, commercial “bonanza farms?” What benefits did theyenjoy over their smaller family-run counterparts?

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6.How did everyday life in the American West hasten equality for women who settled the land?

By far, the highest levels of Hispanic participation in the Civil War occurred in the states and territories of the Southwest. Following war with Mexico (1846-1848), the victorious United States acquired vast portions of Mexico's northern territories. More than 100,000 Mexicans lived on these lands and with the stroke of a pen became citizens of the United States. These residents of Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico soon found themselves immersed in a national dispute over the expansion of slavery into the West. When war erupted, they had to choose sides.

They often faced difficult choices. Slavery had been banned by the Mexican government and only a few dozen enslaved African Americans lived in the arid lands of west Texas and New Mexico. Many Hispanics opposed the idea of bringing the institution into their homeland and endorsed Union efforts to prevent it. Nevertheless, owners of crop lands in New Mexico-a group that included some wealthy Hispanics and Anglo Americans--often relied on the coerced labor of American Indians and shared some of the views of their slave-holding counterparts in the South. Other Hispanics harbored bitter feelings toward the US government as a result of the Mexican War and demonstrated their disapproval by supporting the Confederacy. The political influence, trade connections, and geographic proximity of the South also drew many Hispanic ranchers and farmers closer to the movement to secede from the Union.

The result was a scattering of loyalties. Texas became a stalwart supporter of the Confederate cause, but Hispanics--particularly those along the Rio Grande frontier with Mexico--divided in their support for the Union. In New Mexico, lucrative links to Missouri and the southern states via the Santa Fe and Butterfield Trails encouraged some Hispanic residents to lean toward the Confederacy while others maintained Union ties. California was also split. Union sentiments prevailed in the northern reaches as stronger Confederate leanings developed in the predominately Hispanic southern part of the state. By the time the first shots of the war were fired at Fort Sumter, Texas had joined the Confederacy. California remained, uneasily, a part of the Union.

Between these two states, the vast New Mexico Territory became a point of contention. Confederate leaders who hoped to gain access to the gold and silver mines and the strategic ports of California needed control of New Mexico to do so. In mid summer 1861, Lt. Col. John R. Baylor led the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles into New Mexico, drove away Union defenders, and occupied the town of Mesilla. Establishing Mesilla as a capital, on August 1, 1861, Baylor declared that the southern portion of New Mexico had now become the Confederate Territory of Arizona. He later divided the territory and waited for Capt. Sherod Hunter and his Arizona Rangers to occupy Tucson, which would serve as the capital of a second judicial district, solidifying Confederate control of the area.

Hunter's troops faced limited resistance. Union soldiers in Arizona forts had been ordered to support the war on the east coast and before leaving had burned their buildings and stores to prevent them from falling into Confederate hands. The departure of Union troops left Hispanic and Anglo Americans in the region unprotected from bands of Apache raiders and local outlaws that roamed the region. Fearing for their lives and property, these settlers had little choice but to accept protection from Confederate troops. Hunter's mounted riflemen entered Tucson without resistance, and on February 14, 1862, President Jefferson Davis officially proclaimed the Territory of Arizona as part of the Confederacy. A critical link between Texas and California had been established.

The Union took measures to prevent Confederate expansion westward. President Abraham Lincoln had wisely selected territorial officials from within the local community, ensuring that leaders would remain loyal to the Union. In the New Mexico Territory, he appointed as governor Henry Connelly, who had married into a prominent Hispanic family. In September, Connelly called out the militia to defend the Union cause.

The ranks of the New Mexico Volunteers were soon filled with "Nuevo Mexicanos" (Hispanic New Mexicans). Many of the volunteers lacked formal military training. Nevertheless, these descendants of Spanish pioneers were excellent horsemen, knew the terrain, and had experience in combat against Apaches, Navajos, Utes, and Comanches, making them prized soldiers and scouts. A few, like Capt. José Sena, who had practiced law in Santa Fe prior to the war, and Capt. Rafael Chacón, a graduate of a Mexican military school, had professional skills that made them even more valuable to the Union cause. The New Mexico units were commanded primarily by Hispanic officers.

The fight for New Mexico escalated. In early 1862, Confederate Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley pushed northward with 2,500 troops from Fort Bliss, Texas. Sibley's goal was to seize Fort Craig on the Río Grande south of Socorro in order to strengthen the Confederate foothold in New Mexico. Col. Edward R.S. Canby, the Union commander of the fort, moved to halt this assault. On February 21, 1862, his 3,800 troops, including 2,500 Hispanic soldiers of the New Mexico Volunteers and militia, engaged the Confederates at Valverde. The Confederates won the day, but heavy casualties convinced them to abandon their advance on Fort Craig. Although defeated, the New Mexico Volunteers under commanders J. Francisco Chaves and Christopher "Kit" Carson fought admirably.

Meanwhile, Confederates in Tucson found themselves threatened by Col. James H. Carleton's "California Column," a force of California Volunteers guided by Hispanic scouts familiar with the trails and water sources of the region. On April 15, 1862, these Californian troops skirmished with Confederates near Picacho Pass, 45 miles northwest of Tucson. The Confederates prevailed in this clash--the westernmost engagement of the Civil War--but the "California Column" continued marching and occupied Tucson soon thereafter.

The decisive battle of the New Mexico campaign, however, took place in the northern part of the territory. Following the battle at Valverde, Confederate General Sibley continued northward along the Río Grande with the goal of seizing Fort Union via Santa Fe. Upon reaching Albuquerque, he received news that 2,000 "Pikes Peakers" or Colorado Volunteers under Col. John P. Slough were coming to bolster the Union cause. On March 28, Confederate and Union troops clashed on the rugged terrain of Glorieta Pass. The fierce battle swayed back and forth throughout the day with neither force gaining an advantage. The conclusive action of the clash took place at Apache Canyon near Johnson's Ranch on the west side of the mountain pass. There, Union forces, guided by Lt. Col. Manuel Chávez, attacked and destroyed the Confederate supply train. The loss of food and ammunition obliged the Confederates to abandon the field and Glorieta belonged to the Union.

The failure at Glorieta, often called the "Gettysburg of the West," spelled the end of Confederate designs on the West. Following an additional skirmish at Peralta, south of Albuquerque, the undersupplied, overextended, and outnumbered Confederates left New Mexico, ending their quest to create a gateway to California.

Following the Confederate abandonment of the New Mexico and Arizona territories, the Union quickly occupied many strategic points in the newly founded Territory of Arizona. Little known is the important role "Californios" (Hispanic Californians) played in this effort. Highly skilled on horseback and accustomed to working in excruciating heat, they made excellent cavalrymen. Serving under both Hispanic and Anglo officers, hundreds of soldiers from the First Battalion of Native Cavalry of the California Volunteers would prove their ability and loyalty by securing these vast lands for the Union, eliminating the intrusion of French imperialists who supported Maximilian's rule in Mexico and other backers of the Confederacy.

Texas remained critical to Confederate fortunes in the Southwest and some of the bitterest fighting occurred there with Hispanics serving on both sides. Here a civil war within a civil war occurred as "Tejano" fought "Tejano" (Hispanic Texans). Tejanos faced particularly complex choices as to where to place their loyalties. Living in a region where the institution was relatively scarce, slavery played less of a role in these decisions. Many had grown up on the northern frontier of Mexico as proponents of Mexican Federalism, a belief in regional autonomy that coincided with the states' rights policies of the Confederacy. Others had engaged in frequent clashes with US troops stationed on the border in the aftermath of the US-Mexican War and welcomed the removal of these forces from the region. Wealthy Tejano ranchers mirrored their Creole counterparts in Louisiana and were linked to the Confederate leaders of Texas by marriage, politics, and shared economic interests. Such was the situation of Santos Benavides, a member of a wealthy Laredo family who accepted the rank of colonel in the Confederate army.

Still Union sentiments remained strong among some Tejanos. Some opposed slavery and had no desire to support a government that promoted it. Others were Hispanics of the lower classes who had little interest in a Confederate social system that placed them at the bottom.

These differences occasionally produced strong political stands and even violence. When Texas first announced its secession from the Union in 1861, a group of 40 Tejanos led by Antonio Ochoa marched on the Zapata County seat to prevent local officials from taking an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. Confederate troops responded by forcing Ochoa to flee across the border into Mexico. There Ochoa gained the support of Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, a Mexican general and folk hero, who had already gained a reputation as a fearless defender of Mexican American rights. From the safety of Mexico, Ochoa, Cortina and others attacked military and economic targets in south Texas, keeping Confederate troops constantly preoccupied. In one brutal attack, pro-Union raiders commanded by Octaviano Zapata rode to the ranch of a Confederate county judge and hanged him. Confederate retaliation was swift. Capt. Refugio Benavides led a company of cavalry into Mexico in pursuit of Zapata, killing 18 and wounding 14 of his men. Zapata escaped that time, only to die later at the hands of Refugio's brother, Santos Benavides.

Skirmishes gave way to full scale warfare as south Texas gained importance for the Confederacy. When Union ships blockaded Confederate ports in 1862, Texas border communities like Brownsville and Laredo became key ports for the export of Southern cotton. Wagon trains rolled into south Texas, where the cargos of this "white gold" were carried across the Río Grande and loaded on Mexican flagships that could sail safely past Union warships. This trade, established largely through the efforts of the Cuban-born, Harvard-educated diplomat José Agustin Quintero, helped maintain a vital line of trade for the cash-strapped Confederacy.

The United States attempted to cut this economic lifeline. In November 1863, a large Union force landed on the barrier islands of south Texas and occupied Fort Brown in the city of Brownsville. From this base, Union troops continued west in an attempt to capture Laredo and its cotton stores. Instead, on March 19, 1864, Col. Santos Benavides forced the invaders back down the Río Grande.

In the aftermath of the failed attack on Laredo, much of the Union invasion force withdrew from south Texas to fight in other arenas of the war. Confederate troops took advantage, sweeping back toward Brownsville and, after several skirmishes, retaking the city in July 1864. Only a small Union presence remained in the region, occupying Brazos Island on the Texas coast.

It was this small garrison that would fight the final action of the Civil War. Aware of the surrender of Confederate General Lee at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, the Union commander of Brazos Island made one final foray toward Brownsville on May 12-13. Confederate troops including Hispanic soldiers responded, and on the coastal plains near the mouth of the Río Grande at Palmito Ranch, they defeated the Union forces--a final Confederate victory in a lost cause.

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