Essay On Mexican Banditry

In between 1848 and 1900 Mexicans in the American Southwest were losing their jobs and earning less money. They now had to compete with Americans, who were better off economically, and with Mexicans coming across the Mexico-United States border looking for a better economic opportunity. After the Mexican American war Mexicans, living in the area that the United States annexed from Mexico, were worse off economically than they were before.
After the Mexican American war Mexicans living in New Mexico were losing their livelihood. “... Texas cattlemen began to establish their ascendancy in 1870s and 1880s. During these decades, they drove Hispanics stockman from areas settled only a few years before.” (Gonzales P104 and p105) Texans started to move to the grasslands of eastern New Mexico to raise cattle. The Texans used any means possible, including violence, to take the cattle grazing lands from the Mexicans. Without this lucrative income of raising cattle, the Mexicans in New Mexico looked for new opportunities elsewhere. Thus, the Mexicans livelihood was lost to the Americans. Banditry lured Mexicans living in California, New Mexico, and Arizona, because it had the promise of great wealth. “One consequence was the rise of lawlessness, which often took the form of banditry.” (Gonzales P89) The new territories that the
“The advent of corporate capitalism spelled disaster for the Mexicano entrepreneurs of Tucson.” (Gonzales p95) Before the Mexican American war the largest income for the economy in Arizona was large cattle ranches owned by the Dons. After the war corporations from the United States moved into Arizona, and change the economy from family owned to corporate owned. This left many of the Mexicans disastrously unprepared for the new economy. Consequently, Mexicans living in Arizona had their economic position