History ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 5-16-2026

Abstract

After the U.S. annexed much of Mexico following the Mexican-American War, Mexicans in  the incorporated regions began to think of themselves as a racial group within the U.S. rather  than a distinctive nationality. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised citizenship  rights to all Mexicans in the area. The Treaty promises rarely were put into practice, as they  were left up to the enforcement of territories and states. Even where enforced, the rights of  citizenship were restricted and defined on the basis of race. Local laws excluded  Afro-Mexicans and Mexican Natives from exercising the rights promised by the Treaty. This  restriction served to transform what was once a multiracial Mexican nationality into one  distinctive race among many in the U.S. As the Mexican American landed elites of the  antebellum period began to lose their land and status in the face of challenges from the new  migrants, a new Mexican American elite of educated professionals involved in political  organizations began to emerge. In Texas, New Mexico, and California, these elite Mexicans  began to use variations of the phrase “la raza,” the race, to refer to themselves. The influx of  North American migrants, the commercial boom after the Civil War, the rise of the press, and  the emergence of labor organizations helped to develop this identity into part of the language  of social movements. Long before the rise of the Chicano Movement in the twentieth century,  Mexican Americans came to see themselves as a people with a shared political identity.

Level of Degree

Masters

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

L.M. García y Griego

Second Committee Member

Karen Leong

Third Committee Member

Katherine Massoth

Language

English

Keywords

racial formation, Chicana/o history, U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Texas, New Mexico, California

Document Type

Thesis

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