Help me study for my History class. I’m stuck and don’t understand.
In 1848 at the conclusion of the Mexican War, the United States had conquered the entire country of Mexico and some Americans — and many Mexicans, I might add — expected (even welcomed) that Mexico would soon become part of the United States. However, on account of the intense dislike that White, English-speaking, Protestant Americans had for the part Native-American, Spanish-speaking, Roman Catholic Mexican population, Mexico was not absorbed into our country. The border south of San Diego was intended to keep the two peoples separate forever. Today, the border is evaporating and the American Southwest is becoming largely Hispanic.
The Americans of 1848 were clearly bigoted — even racist — towards the Mexicans and were determined to keep their country intact without a huge infusion of outsiders. Regardless of their feelings towards Mexicans, do Americans (or any people, for that matter) have the right to insist that their own country retain the same “character” or are international borders and nations an old way of thinking that needs to be replaced by a more open world even if, in the process, the original core population is swamped or even largely replaced by newcomers?
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