Takaki Chapter 7

In chapter 7 Takaki talks about the Mexicans and how they struggled from being land owners to workers and fighting for acceptable wages and lands. Boarder disputes throughout the years forced the Mexicans to give up what is now Texas, but overall the Mexicans have struggled to be accepted and had somewhat succeeded.
The chapter starts off by talking about the struggle over California. Commandante Vallejo was the authority figure in California at the time representing the land north of San Francisco. Vallejo explained after being released, “I left Sacramento half dead, and arrived here almost without life but am now much better.” He did not let his captors get the best of him even after he lost his land. Vallejo’s servants never asked for pay and in return Vallejo provided them with everything that they needed. For example they were provided food, shelter, and were taken care of when they became ill. The people had various ranks though. The gente de razon were the people at the top, the laboring class was below them, and the Indians consisted of the lower class. The Mexicans were then criticized as being Yankees and were said to have “lacked the enterprise and calculating mentality that characterized Americans.” Soon enough the Mexican-American War started and California was annexed. The Mexicans then outlawed the immigration into Texas and slavery. Although this made people upset people still continued to own slaves and illegally immigrate into Texas. The president at the time, James K. Polk had to order troops to dispute the boarder of Texas which ended up being near the mouth of the Rio Grande. Over the years Mexicans were granted suffrage but to a certain extent. For example Takaki states, “Mexicans in San Antonio could elect a government if they voted” but were then called ignorant and were said to not be able to make such choices.
In the end the Mexicans established a Mexican-American identity and continued to fight for equality. But why did the Mexicans strike more than the other groups? It is almost as if they felt they deserved to be treated equally and have fair wages so that is exactly what they demanded. The other cultures may have felt scared, at first, to stand up to authority, but the Mexicans stood their ground.
I thought the chapter was very informative and I recalled some information from previous history classes. I am glad the Mexicans stood up or what they believed even though they were defeated in areas such as the land disputes.