Assignment Discussion: Mexican War for Independence

Question 1

Dr. Timothy J. Henderson is a Distinguished Research Professor and the Department Chair of the Department of History and World Languages and Cultures at the Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). AUM is a coeducational public university in Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. Henderson’s specialty is in the history of Latin American revolutions. His emphasis is on 19th and 20th century Mexico and US-Latin American relations. His qualifications includes authorship of five books devoted to this specialty, experience as a research professor at Yale University and AUM, a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of North Carolina, a Masters of Arts from the University of Texas, and a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Texas (“Profile,” 2014).

While the third question in this assignment seeks to quote the book’s thesis statement within the preface, a statement that follows this thesis statement underlines Henderson’s qualification as an expert in the field of Latin American relations: “Those divisions had been created quite deliberately during the three centuries when Mexico – or New Spain, as it was then known – was a part of the Spanish empire” (Henderson, 2009, p. XX).

Question 2

Henderson wrote The Mexican Wars for Independence between 2007 and 2009. It was published in 2009, near the 200 year anniversary of the Mexican War for Independence. The book was written during the 2007-2008 financial crisis that continues to affect the world economy. There are many parallels to the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the time period that this book covers. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the war was gripped with the fallout of a colonial-era where world powers stretched their reach around the globe. Contemporary globalization has many commonalities with this time period, and the financial crisis of the early 21st century has shown deleterious effects in developing nations.

Question 3

The theme of the Mexican War for Independence is steeped in the global trends of the early 19th century. The Mexican War for Independence occurred between 1810 and 1821. Its primary theme was that of an idealistic populist movement of peasants and native Latin Americans rebelling against the colonial powers of the Spanish Empire. The result, however, was the same amalgamation of lower-class populist sentiment and upper-class links to the Spanish Empire. The war had roots in Spanish colonial dominance throughout Latin America with events like the Aztec Conquest running through the rebellious spirit.

In the preface to Mexican Wars for Independence, Henderson (2009) states “Mexico’s wars for independence, which were fought from 1810 to 1821, were among the bloodiest episodes in the country’s history, but in this case blood brought no final redemption” (p. XX). With this statement, Henderson sets the tone for the book and defines his thesis. While the Mexican War for Independence was centered on discontent with external governance, the independence that followed retained many of the economic and social trends that created native discontent.

Question 4

The title of the book, Mexican Wars for Independence, is an allusion to the character of the struggle that took place in Mexico and its surrounding areas throughout the war. It wasn’t simply one war, but an international conflict that began with the first skirmishes between native Latin Americans and the Spanish conquistadors. Surely any rebellion follows a similar trend, but the Mexican War for Independence pulled many actors into a conflict of ideologies, waning empires, and new territorial managers. There was not simply one war for independence, but many interests represented through situational struggles that lacked clear definitions of aggressors or defenders.

References

Henderson, T. J. (2009). Preface. The Mexican Wars for Independence (pp. XIX-XXIII). New York: Hill and Wang.

Profile: Timothy J. Henderson. (2014). Auburn University at Montgomery. Retrieved from http://www.liberalarts.aum.edu/