Primary Sources Collection: U.S./Mexico Border

This collection focuses on the contested history of the United States-Mexico border and the peoples who live in the surrounding areas, including Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Mexicans, and white Americans. These materials can be woven throughout U.S. History survey courses. 

1830s

• Textbook Section: “The Consolidation of Planters’ Power” in Vol. 1, Chap. 9 (covers the role of Texas independence, the Battle of the Alamo, and the role of slavery)

1840s

• Textbook Section: “The Settlement of the West and the Conflict over Enslaved Labor, 1848-1860” and “The Transformation of the West” in Vol. 1, Chap. 10 (covers the Mexican American War, the Mexican Cession, shifting populations in the West) 
• Voice: “We Are Engaged in a War of Conquest”: Opposition to the War Against Mexico 
• Voice: “A Foreigner in My Own Land”: Juan Nepomuceno Seguin Flees Texas, 1842
   

1860s/1870s

• Textbook Section: “Native Americans and Mexican Americans Fight for Autonomy” in Vol. 1, Chap. 13 (covers clashes between Native Americans, Mexicans, Mexican Americans and white settlers, final battles of the Civil War, dispossession of Native Americans, struggles of Mexican Americans living along the border)

1870s/1880s

• Textbook Section:  “Class Conflict in the Country” in Vol. 2, Chap. 2 (covers las Gorras Blancas, Mexican farmers who protected their rights against cattle ranchers) 
• Closer Look: Las Gorras Blancas

1910s

• Textbook Section: “Tension on the Southern Border” in Vol. 2, Chap. 6 (covers Mexican Revolution, the creation of railroads in northern Mexico, experiences of border crossings) 
• Voice: “Iron Road” (1930) 
• “Closer Look”: Anti-Mexican Violence and the Militarization of the Southern Border  

1920s

• “Immigration Restrictions” in Vol. 2, Chap. 7 (covers the impact of 1924 Immigration Act, labor of Mexicans, barriers to entry, new Border Patrol) 

1930s

•  “The Hardest Hit" in Vol. 2, Chap. 8 (covers the experiences of Mexican nationals and their children who returned to Mexico during the Depression in the 1930s) 

1940s

• Textbook Section: “Race and Ethnicity at Work” in Vol. 2, Chap. 11 (covers incoming Mexican immigrants between 1942 and 1964, bracero work program) 

1990s

• Textbook Section: “The New Immigration” in Vol. 2, Chap. 14 (covers 1990s influx of legal immigrants and undocumented immigrants from Mexico as well as other countries and their influence on American cities) 
• Image: “Roundup” (1990s) 

2000s

• Textbook Section: “The Obama Years–Successes and Failures” in Vol. 2, Chap. 16 (covers the role of Mexican farmers and loss of jobs, passage of NAFTA)
• Voice: Dreamers Tell Their Stories (2008) 

2010s

• Textbook Section: “Why Did Trump Win?” in Vol. 2, Chap. 17 (covers the impact of Trump’s racism on Mexican American communities) 
• Image: “Zero Tolerance” (2018)