The Anti-Imperialist Tradition of U.S. Hispanics

The “imperialist” tendencies of American Democrats in the years prior to the American Civil War put Spanish colonies in America and Asia in the spotlight, as well as the later Latin American nations. Due to its classical liberal and Republican mindset, the US Hispanics were greatly opposed to the aspirations of the Democratic Party.

The love of liberty that these people espouse, as well as the cultural and ethnic proximity that they shared with the countries that were subject to the ambitions of these Democratic demigods, put U.S. Hispanics firmly on the side of the Republican Party which emerged, at that time, as the true defender of U.S. Constitutional principles.

The Hispanic population in the United States, especially the Mexicans in the states and territories of the Southwest, which had been part of New Spain and later of northern Mexico, had been educated in the classical liberal tradition.  They belonged to the generation of insurgents/thinkers who believed in the ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution (equality, liberty and brotherhood) as well as those of the American Revolution and of  Spain’s 1812 “Cortes de Cádiz.”

In some ways, Hispanics in the United States accepted the inevitable conquest and usurpation of their territory by the United States, but they did so believing that the American Constitution made them citizens and beneficiaries of the concepts of liberty, justice, and a secular education.

With this classical liberal and Republican baggage in tow, the Hispanic population within the United States, in general, could not support the Democrats. This party was experiencing an “involution” in the years prior to the Civil War, embracing old ideas from the ancient regime in Europe from which the Founding Fathers of American independence were fleeing in 1776.

The Democrat plantation owners in the South, plagued by intrigues and their omnipotent power in the U.S. Congress, were seen by U.S. Hispanics as a throwback to the past.  What was known in Spanish America, at that time, as “la reacción”, was an alliance between the clergy and large landowners in an effort to institute, within the U.S., monarchies such as those that had been dethroned in the French Revolution.

As we can see in the following editorial by Los Angeles-native, Republican journalist Francisco P. Ramírez (1838-1908), Hispanics in the United States had a Romantic view of a nation as a community of citizens who shared a common religion, language and culture. This explains why they simply did not understand how proponents of “Manifest Destiny” could have gone so wrong, first in the area west of the Mississippi, and later in the area south of the Rio Grande.

Those who fought to expand their territory by usurping others could only be unanimously vilified and rejected by the classical liberals and Republicans who supported a laissez-faire, laissez-passè philosophy. This was a time when Romanticism was in full bloom and the culture and destiny of nations was sacrosanct. There was no reason to undertake any other enterprise than that which would affect progress within one’s own nation, or develop the moral principles of the community/nation in which destiny had placed you as an individual.

In the following editorial published in Los Angeles, in the newspaper El Clamor Público, Francisco P. Ramírez reflects the mentality of the times which espoused the principle of non-aggression and a “live and let live” philosophy. Democrats made continual references in their conventions, platforms, and speeches to the possible “purchase,” or even invasion, of foreign lands, and in support of the filibusterers. This served to convince people such as Ramírez, Ramón Verea, Antonio J. Martínez and José Álvarez de Toledo, all community leaders and intellectuals, that these were not the principles upon which the United States had been founded:

Op-Ed by Francisco P. Ramírez. December 25, 1858. El Clamor Público

We see that several of the newspapers that we receive, especially those that are of the Democratic persuasion, are whipping up interest in the idea of the United States government purchasing Sonora. These editors are too involved in the business of our neighbors. It is true that the political situation in Mexico is in a deplorable state due to the unfettered ambitions of party leaders who aspire to the governance of the country. But, can’t the same be said of our own government? And could this be the reason that we are coveting more Mexican territory, against the will of the Mexican people? On many occasions the citizens of Sonora have expressed their repulsion of the idea of becoming subjects of any foreign nation. Whatever the internal divisions of the people might be as regards the parties led by Gándara and Pesqueira, they are united in their rejection of the dismembering of the nation. They are unanimously and unequivocally opposed to the sale or transfer of its sovereignty to the United States or any other foreign power.

Their reasons are clearly understandable: the love of home and country, memories of childhood, feelings of patriotism, and a love of liberty. These are always the strongest impulses of the human heart and this is as true for the Mexican people as it is for citizens of any nation. These are the most sacred of sentiments and time will never be able to erase them. These are sentiments that originate with our very existence and are only extinguished at the tomb. So why is there support for the idea of forcing a free people to accept a government that is rejected and loathed? President Buchanan and his friends promised to expand the borders of freedom, and of slavery as well, if he should be elected. The acquisition of Cuba and establishing control over Mexico are the favorite measures of this President, and of the democracy that elected him. We dare to predict that his hopes and expectations will be dashed. Spain will never consent to giving up Cuba, much less selling it. It is as likely that Queen Elizabeth would buy the sates of New York and Louisiana that Spain would sell the always loyal Island of Cuba, the brightest jewel in the crown of Castille. The idea of such blatant national speculation is simply absurd. So why would Mexico feel obliged to sell Sonora, a rich state with mineral and farming resources, a beautiful climate … only for dollars and cents? The United States already has more territory than it could cultivate in a century. And it is time for the nation to consider its own national interests.

We need industrious workers to develop our wealth – satisfaction brings happiness – and let us leave Mexico and Cuba to solve their own problems as they see fit.

(El Clamor Público, Los Ángeles, Cal., December 25th, 1858. Editorial translated from the original text in Spanish)

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