Land Loss in Trying Times
Under the
treaty that ended the Mexican War, most of the Mexicans who lived
in the new United States territories became U.S. citizens. The
treaty also guaranteed their safety and property rights, "as if
the [property] belonged to citizens of the U.S. according to the
principles of the Constitution." In practice, however, the new
territories were far from the centers of U.S. government, and
these guarantees were not reliably enforced. By the end of the
19th century, many Mexican Americans had been deprived of their
land, and found themselves living unprotected in an often hostile
region.
At the turn
of the 20th century, the borderlands between Mexico and the U.S.
were torn by political and social instability. As more immigrants
crossed the border, some were preyed upon by bandits and rustlers.
Once in the U.S., they had to face harsh weather, an uncertain
economy, and the possibility of attacks by both longtime citizens
and Native American raiders. Law enforcement was scarce, and justice
was often rough and quickly executed. To make things worse, some
lawmen were said to be as much of a threat to Mexican Americans
as the criminals they were sent to arrest. The Texas Rangers came
in for especially fierce criticism. In the " Corrido
de los rangers," a singer describes a gunfight between
city officials and Texas Rangers in the streets of Brownsville,
Texas.
The Mexican
Americans overcame their situation in part through a new type
of popular music--the corrido, or border ballad. Shaped
by hard times and long distances, these storytelling songs were
much like musical newspapers and carried news of current events
and popular legends around the border region. Passed from one
singer to another, many of these songs survive to the present
day. "Corrido
villista de la toma de Matamoros" tells of the rebel leader
Pancho Villa's troubles in the town of Matamoros, while "Versos
del mojado" describes the troubles faced by a new immigrant
in Texas.
We can learn much about the lives and cultural
values of a people through their music. What types of music today
tell stories about difficult times and colorful characters, like
the corridos did? Why does music make such a wonderful vehicle
for telling the stories of a people? |