The Involvement of U.S. Hispanics in 19th Century Politics

The following speech given in favor of J.C. Fremont, Republican presidential candidate in 1856, provides an excellent means by which to highlight the degree of political awareness and democratic culture that existed in the Mexican territories occupied by the United States in 1848. The californios had a well-established political tradition in place when the “North Americans” arrived, as did the Texans and the New Mexicans.  They were the heirs of the Constitution of Cádiz of 1812, the Apatzingán Constitution of 1814, and the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which explains why it was easy for them to accept the democratic principles found in the U.S. Constitution and at the same time denounce the violation of constitutional rights, something that was not at all uncommon during the 19^th century.

If the electoral process at that time had been subjected to the same type of scrutiny by external observers that is common today in countries that are just taking their first steps in democracy, the United States would not have passed muster.  The californios continually denounced irregularities as they were often the ones who were negatively affected by them. When someone was denied habeas corpus, it was often a Hispanic; if laws were applied arbitrarily, Hispanics were the victims (for example, there were “greaser laws”, vagrancy laws, the “Sunday law”, and bills put forward by the Democratic Senator from California, W. M. Gwin, which prohibited californios from participating in the mining industry and questioned their property rights).

Under the 1851 California Commission Legislation, co-sponsored by Gwin, the largest plundering of land in the history of the U.S. was facilitated; if there was election fraud, Hispanics were disproportionately affected; if there were lynchings, it was most often a Hispanic. Although U.S. Hispanics were often relegated to mere observers of the system, they never ceased to denounce the failures in the system and demand a fair and equal application of democratic principles for the entire population.

They denounced the exclusion of native Californians (Manuel Domínguez, one of the fathers of the California Constitution of 1849, was not permitted to testify in a court case because he was mestizo, and this enfuriated the native California community), of Afro-Americans (see El Clamor Público, Los Ángeles, Cal. 30-X-1855, 23-V-1857, and 16-VIII-1859), of the Chinese (El Clamor Público, Los Angeles 26-I-1856,16-X-1858, and 22-I-1859 and La Voz de Méjico, San Francisco, 3-IV-1862) and of Native Americans (El Clamor Público 4-VI-1859).  The californios thus became the guardians of democracy in these territories and through their writings we can see how they contributed to improving the democratic process.

José L. Sepúlveda (1814-??), the undisputed leader of the californios at the time, used his prestige in the community to try to convince his fellow citizens of the importance of the 1856 election, and he spoke of the advantages that J.C. Fremont of the Republican Party offered over the candidates from the Know Nothing and Democratic parties.  He defended his position by reminding his countrymen that J.C. Fremont participated in the Mexican American War (1846 and 1847) and was, in his opinion, better than other adventurers and military men who came to California and basically wrested political power from the native population of the area.

By defending the Republican candidate, José L. Sepúlveda, like the majority of leaders in California at the time, was looking out for the good of his community. He was well aware that under Democratic administrations, their land was at risk and their democratic rights as citizens of the United States were quite vulnerable. He himself suffered the injustices, losing his ranch in Palos Verdes under the Federal Commission Legislation mentioned earlier. Many californios lost their lands and their rights under the Know-Nothing and Democratic administrations and thus saw this election as an opportunity to bring about change in their relationship with the U.S. government by electing the candidate of the new Republican Party. The text that José Sepúlveda wrote, reproduced below, is also an important piece of political oratory, an art that flourished among our Hispanic ancestors in the 19^th century.

To My Fellow Citizens. By José L. Sepúlveda (Published in El Clamor Público, Los Ángeles, California, Nov. 1, 1856)

Californios! In just a few days an election will be held to elect the individual who will control the reigns of government in our dear republic. I hope that we can unite freely and spontaneously to vote for the distinguished candidate Juan C. Fremont. Do not forget, my fellow countrymen, that this man has been a loyal friend to all of us, even in the most dire of circumstances such as when we fought with the American forces. This was a long period of great effort and fatigue and there were many encounters that we had to face often without resources of any type, and more importantly, without any hope of finding consolation and relief for our Mexican republic.

We were fighting a powerful enemy by whatever means we could, and we put forth our best effort to achieve victory. But it was all, all in vain. All was death and demise in that terrible time, death for the californios, and at the end of all of the trial and travail during those ill-fated years 1846 and 1847, it was God’s will to send us in those fateful moments, a liberator to save us from certain demise. That liberator was Mr. Fremont, who with his great soul and magnanimous heart, tried to help us by inviting us to enter into treaties, something we had never hoped for or expected.

A more bloodthirsty man, with the army that he had at his disposal, would have undoubtedly made us his victims, but just the opposite occurred because we found ourselves face-to-face with a political leader and gentleman who was able to value each person for his own merits. And are we now to fail to repay the favors that this great man did for us? I say no, we shall not.

We should all make haste to give our vote to this man who is the only person who can alleviate the lamentations that we have for so long professed with no solutions to be had. This man is known to all of us. He can address the problems that currently oppress us. It is important to resist becoming fascinated by other candidates because they are all falsity, and there will be nothing we can do about it.

Now is the time for us to improve our lot. I believe that all sensible and clear-minded men will understand my modest reasoning and will go out and try to convince others to cast their vote for Mr. Fremont, our friend and a respectable candidate.

Asking you to do this, my friends, is for no other reason than to improve our wellbeing and preserve the few possessions that we have. If we do not try to remedy the situation right away, it will be too late and we will end up lamenting our sad fate without even a crust of bread to give to our beloved children.

I hope, gentlemen, that all of you will help us elect Mr. JUAN C. FREMONT the next president.

I remain respectfully and cordially yours, José L. Sepúlveda

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