Mexican American Colonization during the Nineteenth Century: A History of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands [Hardcover]

This study examines various cases of return migration from the United States to Mexico throughout the nineteenth century.This study examines various cases of return migration from the United States to Mexico throughout the nineteenth century. Mexico developed a robust immigration policy after becoming an independent nation in 1821, but was unable to attract European settlers for a variety of reasons. As the United States expanded toward Mexico's northern frontiers, Mexicans in those areas now lost to the United States were subsequently seen as an ideal group to colonize and settle the fractured republic.This study examines various cases of return migration from the United States to Mexico throughout the nineteenth century. Mexico developed a robust immigration policy after becoming an independent nation in 1821, but was unable to attract European settlers for a variety of reasons. As the United States expanded toward Mexico's northern frontiers, Mexicans in those areas now lost to the United States were subsequently seen as an ideal group to colonize and settle the fractured republic.This study is a reinterpretation of nineteenth century Mexican American history that examines Mexico's struggle to secure its northern border with repatriates from the United States in the aftermath of a war resulting in the loss of half its territory. Responding to past interpretations, Jose Angel Hern?ndez suggests that these resettlement schemes centered on the developments of the frontier region, the modernization of the country with loyal Mexican American settlers, and blocking the tide of migrations to the United States to prevent the depopulation of its fractured northern border. Through an examination of Mexico's immigration and colonization policies as they developed throughout the nineteenth century, the book focuses primarily on the population of Mexican citizens who were lost after the end of the Mexican American War of 18461848 until the end of the century.Part I: Migrat