Essay On The Mexican American War

The war between the United States and Mexico greatly affected many people, during and after the war. It was unique and unlike any other war, because it was fundamentally about violence. The violence did not end once the military phase of the world ended. Ultimately the war was about land, labor, and wealth. It was also about language, culture, race, and religion. The affects of this war greatly affected many people during and even after the war was over. The war greatly changed both the United States and Mexico, and helped shape them into what they are today. "We all live with the impact and the effects of the acquisition of that land, the displacement of the people on it, and the appropriation of their labor at less than livable wages. We have not come to terms with what it meant to be a conquering nation and what it meant to those who were considered citizens of that nation, and what it meant to those who were on the land base already and were conquered and subjugated Americans have still not come to terms with their history". (Castaneda) Most people do not know much about their history and the people they live with. If people learn their history, then they would have more knowledge about the past and the reasons they are where they are today. People must first learn the history of this war before they can properly advance and improve society. Many people think of this war that lasted from 1946 to 1948, to only be between the United States and Mexico. The war actually included many people that were not claimed by either nation. Some of the unclaimed people included the Mestizo peoples in Texas, the Tejanos in Texas, the Nuevo Mexicanos in New Mexico, and the Californianos in California. These unclaimed people lost their homeland and were subjugated as below second-class citizens. They were basically forgotten. Many people are unaware of many of the vital and important parts of this …show more content…
"From my perspective we still live that violence. It has not healed". (Castaneda) For people to go beyond the war and its effects, they need to come to terms with it, acknowledge it, accept its reality and meaning to people today. For people of Mexican origin or descent, living those realities means consistently affirming their history, their language and culture. Lives, cultures, languages, livelihoods, governments, structures and ways of being of the people that occupy those spaces were totally altered and changed within a very short period of time. Everything that was known was either completely altered or changed. People had to reestablish their beliefs, culture, and basically everything they had been so familiar before this historic event …show more content…
Its aftermath and continuation that we live with today, is about violence and violation. "I think it 's only by finally recognizing the existence and the meaning of that violence in all of our lives, in the lives of our families, in the lives of our communities, and the life of this nation, can we begin to go beyond it." (Castaneda) Healing has to be of the whole body. Part of the body cannot be healed. It has to be the whole body. If people look at the nation as a body, then it continues to be diseased and is not very healthy. Everybody must be healed before we can better advance