This post is the remarks given by Dr. Michael Brescia at the opening of the exhibit of pages from the original Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, on loan from the National Archives. The pages and related materials are on display at Arizona State Museum only through the month of February. Please do not cite or quote this blog entry without permission of Dr. Brescia (contact Dr. Brescia by email).

Museums, libraries, and archives display important documents and objects from their collections for many reasons, of course, but often do so in an effort to inform the public of how the displayed items fashioned the drama of the human experience, or, conversely, reflected its mundane and routine dimensions.  At first glance, the five pages of the original treaty on display here seem to speak to the antiquarian who identifies with the document’s intrinsic value, including its provenance or origins, and where it ended up.  These pages come not from our collections but rather are part of the larger 51-page treaty housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  As custodians of our national patrimony, the National Archives preserves original documents that historians and others have interpreted in ways that have shaped our historical memory, and, to varying degrees, our collective consciousness.  The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, for example, summon us to recall the manner in which the Founding Fathers expressed in words the better angels of the Enlightenment, that intellectual current which swept Europe and the Americas in the 18th and early 19th centuries, while the Emancipation Proclamation reminds us that it took our country almost four generations to begin to confront the contradictions of the Enlightenment and realize its political ideals.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo tells us much about the period between the Declaration and Emancipation.  Signed and ratified in 1848, it is a peace treaty that ended hostilities between the United States and Mexico, which means it was a product of war, making it difficult and unsettling to discuss when we are so used to celebrating historical documents and the milieu that created them.  The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is a stark reminder that the United States achieved its so-called Manifest Destiny at Mexico’s expense.  The call to link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts was issued, in part, to expand the institution of slavery and fulfill 19th century notions of American exceptionalism.  Such interpretations are grounded not only in some theoretical framework pitched to academics but also in the documentary record.  The Treaty, part of this documentary record, tells us that the international border was established as a result of military conflict.  As an anthropology museum that is part of a research university with roots in the land grant tradition of higher education, it is appropriate that we establish this historical context for the general public and for our students.

Historians tell their students to avoid the reductive fallacy when discussing the past, that is, to avoid reducing complexity down to one variable, one explanation, or one reason.  There is a constitutional wrinkle to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that adds significant heft to its importance as a historical document, a document that refuses to gather the archival dust of the centuries.  It is a living document that is on par with the U.S. Constitution.  Article VI, Section II of the Constitution elevates treaties to the same level as the Constitution itself, that is, the supreme law of the land.  This is important because the Treaty stipulated that the property rights of those Mexicans who suddenly found themselves residing north of the newly established border would be “inviolably respected.”  There are numerous communities today in northern New Mexico, southern Colorado, and northern Arizona that invoke the Treaty’s property protections when adjudicating their rights to land and water.  We are not surprised to learn, of course, that the U.S. judiciary—shaped by the English common law tradition—struggles to understand the nature and scope of property rights under the civil law that operated in Mexico prior to the Treaty’s ratification in 1848.  An imperfect understanding of Mexican jurisprudence and legal custom should not be seen as an outright dismissal, however; efforts to fulfill the promises made in 1848 have been complicated, messy, and painful, but these efforts continue nonetheless.  Even a casual glance at the litigation schedule on file in Santa Fe demonstrates the importance that Hispanic and Native American communities attach to the Treaty as a living document that protects their traditional rights to natural resources.  Moreover, the Treaty’s provisions establishing the parameters of American citizenship continue to speak to individuals and community organizations throughout the Southwest.  Our community partner, Amistades, for example, makes explicit links between civic engagement, personal responsibility, and cultural pride in its programs that serve our youth.

I want to conclude my remarks this evening by mentioning the Treaty’s legacy in Mexico.  It is fair to say that Mexico and Mexicans don’t find much to commemorate, let alone celebrate in this 1848 document.  Half of its national territory was sequestered.  Gold, other minerals, and natural resources discovered north of the international border in the mid-19^th century helped fuel the Industrial Revolution in the United States.  The war with the U.S. and the subsequent treaty pushed Mexico to the brink, as political discord and civil war threatened to tear the nation asunder.  In fact, disunity invited yet another foreign invasion, this time France in 1862.  The initial French push to occupy Mexico was turned back in dramatic fashion, however, near the city of Puebla in the famous ‘cinco de mayo‘ battle.  While Napoleon III redoubled his efforts a year later with success, the initial victory on May 5^th planted the seeds of Mexican confidence and self-esteem.  In fact, the United States supported Mexico’s effort to dislodge the French from Mexican soil.  The international border that had been created as a result of invasion and occupation now provided cover for the shipment of arms and volunteers from the United States to President Benito Juárez and his army.  Geopolitics aside, Mexican success provided a certain stimulus to its political framework as Mexico tried to rebound from decades of uncertainty and political violence.

In the entry dated Monday, December 24, 1849, the Journal of the House of Representatives contained an update on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  I want to share with you one particular line from it: “A faithful observance of the treaty, and a sincere respect for her rights, cannot fail to secure the lasting confidence and friendship of that republic [Mexico].”  One hundred and sixty three years later, we pause to consider that the living legacies of the Treaty are sustained not only by the cogency of our arguments but also by our ability to effect meaningful change as we seek to fulfill the promises made in 1848.  I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that, in addition to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo exhibit, we invite you to visit the Many Mexicos: Vistas de la Frontera exhibit (through mid-November, 2012) for the broad sweep of the Mexican historical experience and its links with the United States.

Please join us for a discussion of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and its on-going legacy at a free public symposium on Saturday, February 12, 2011 from 8:30am-12:30pm at the Center for English as a Second Language auditorium (just east of ASM).