Empire and revolution : the Americans in Mexico since the Civil War / John Mason Hart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hart, John M. (John Mason), 1935-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Americans--Mexico--History.

Americans.

Investments, American--Mexico--History.

Investments, American.

Nationalism--Mexico--History.

Nationalism.

United States--Relations--Mexico.

United States.

Mexico--Relations--United States.

Mexico.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (722 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

The deep relationship between the United States and Mexico has had repercussions felt around the world. This sweeping and unprecedented chronicle of the economic and social connections between the two nations opens a new window onto history from the Civil War to today and brilliantly illuminates the course of events that made the United States a global empire. The Mexican Revolution, Manifest Destiny, World War II, and NAFTA are all part of the story, but John Mason Hart's narrative transcends these moments of economic and political drama, resonating with the themes of wealth and power. Combining economic and historical analysis with personal memoirs and vivid descriptions of key episodes and players, Empire and Revolution is based on substantial amounts of previously unexplored source material. Hart excavated recently declassified documents in the archives of the United States government and traveled extensively in rural Mexico to uncover the rich sources for this gripping story of 135 years of intervention, cooperation, and corruption.Beginning just after the American Civil War, Hart traces the activities of an elite group of financiers and industrialists who, sensing opportunities for wealth to the south, began to develop Mexico's infrastructure. He charts their activities through the pivotal regime of Porfirio Díaz, when Americans began to gain ownership of Mexico's natural resources, and through the Mexican Revolution, when Americans lost many of their holdings in Mexico. Hart concentrates less on traditional political history in the twentieth century and more on the hidden interactions between Americans and Mexicans, especially the unfolding story of industrial production in Mexico for export to the United States. Throughout, this masterful narrative illuminates the development and expansion of the American railroad, oil, mining, and banking industries. Hart also shows how the export of the "American Dream" has shaped such areas as religion and work attitudes in Mexico.Empire and Revolution reveals much about the American psyche, especially the compulsion of American elites toward wealth, global power, and contact with other peoples, often in order to "save" them. These characteristics were first expressed internationally in Mexico, and Hart shows that the Mexican experience was and continues to be a prototype for U.S. expansion around the world. His work demonstrates the often inconspicuous yet profoundly damaging impact of American investment in the underdeveloped countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Empire and Revolution will be the definitive book on U.S.-Mexico relations and their local and global ramifications.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Imperial Ambition

1. Arms And Capital

2. Rival Concessionaires

3. Ubiquitous Financiers

4. Building The Railroads

5. Silver, Copper, Gold, And Oil

6. Absentee Landlords

7. Resident American Elite

8. Boomers, Sooners, And Settlers

9. Mexico For The Mexicans

10. Interventions And Firestorms

11. Crisis In The New Regime

12. Nationalization Of Land And Industry

13. Cooperation And Accommodation

14. Return Of The American Financiers

15. Mexico In The New World Order

Conclusion: Imperial America

Endpiece

Appendix 1. Partial List Of American Landholdings And Ownership In Mexico, 100,000 Acres And More, 1910-1913

Appendix 2. Partial List Of American Properties Of More Than 100,000 Acres Or Of Special Significance, Derived Via Government Portions Of Land Surveys Or From The Land Survey Companies, 1876-1910

Appendix 3. American Banking Syndicates Formed To Render Financial Support To Britain And Her Allies During World War I, September 1914-April 1917

Notes On Archival Sources

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 607-638) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612358258

9780520900776

0520900774

9781282358256

1282358251

9780520939295

0520939298

9781597345934

1597345938

OCLC:

52842698