Nationalism and Capitalism in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Mexico��

Ruben Flores

Ruben.Flores@Rochester.edu

Wednesday 9/29/21, 4:30-6:30 pm

Territory taken by USA Mexican-American War, 1846-8

Nineteenth-Century Mexico��

John Coatsworth, economic historian, Columbia U.

Senator William Seward, 1852:

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“Who does not see that every year hereafter, European commerce, European politics, European thoughts, and European activity, although actually gaining greater force – and European connections, although actually becoming more intimate – will nevertheless relatively sink in importance; while the Pacific Ocean, its shores, its islands, and the vast regions beyond, will become the chief theatre of events in the World’s great Hereafter?”

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Contrast US empire to British and French empires

Results of Panama Canal for US trade

Position of US military bases on either side of �Panama by 1910

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The overseas empire is directly related to the effects of the industrial revolution in America

The overseas empire was not instant

Neither was it madness nor forced upon us

It was an economic and cultural reaction 50 years in the making

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By the time of Seward in 1861, the “New Empire” had begun to take shape

It was now moving to extracontinental geographies

It was not expanding to acquire lands for grazing or farming, but to catapult agricultural and industrial goods overseas

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Features of the New Empire

It was territorially small

It depended on a priori movement of the US military

It was an empire of business and contract

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Most analyses of US history overlook that Mexico had been completely surrounded by the United States by 1898.

Why? (1) Civil War (2) “democracy” (3) British lineage

Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920����Constitution of 1917��A social compact that is still hegemonic today��End of regions against the center�����

José Clemente Orozco�“The Epic of American Civilization”�Butler Library, Dartmouth College, 1932

José Clemente Orozco Panel 15 “Anglo America”

José Clemente Orozco Panel 16 “Hispano America”

Panel 17 “Gods of the Modern World”

Diego Rivera, “Frozen Assets,” NYC 1931

Nationalist Development, �1920-1988��Articles 3, 27, 123 of the Constitution of 1917�Political consolidation�Protectionist economic policy�Development of the consumer market�Birth of the Mexican middle class�Nationalization of industry as economic policy�Institutional education and science as mediators of transformation�The assimilation of the nation�

• Article 3 - Education
• The education imparted by the Federal State shall be designed to develop harmoniously all the faculties of the human being and shall foster in him at the same time a love of country and a consciousness of international solidarity, in independence and justice. Said education must be free of bias. (As per the full definition of the word "Laica" as used in the original document)
• I. According to the religious liberties established under article 24, educational services shall be secular and, therefore, free of any religious orientation. II. The educational services shall be based on scientific progress and shall fight against ignorance, ignorance's effects, servitudes, fanaticism and prejudice.^[19]
• It shall be democratic, considering democracy not only as a legal structure and a political regimen, but as a system of life founded on a constant economic, social, and cultural betterment of the people;
• It shall be national insofar as - without hostility or exclusiveness - it shall achieve the understanding of our problems, the utilization of our resources, the defense of our political independence, the assurance of our economic independence, and the continuity and growth of our culture; and it shall contribute to better human relationships, not only with the elements which it contributes toward strengthening and at the same time inculcating, together with respect for the dignity of the person and the integrity of the family, the conviction of the general interest of society, but also by the care which it devotes to the ideals of brotherhood and equality of rights of all men, avoiding privileges of race, creed, class, sex, or persons.
• Private persons may engage in education of all kinds and grades. But as regards elementary, secondary, and normal education (and that of any kind or grade designed for laborers and farm workers) they must previously obtain, in every case, the express authorization of the public power. Such authorization may be refused or revoked by decisions against which there can be no judicial proceedings or recourse.
• Private institutions devoted to education of the kinds and grades specified in the preceding section must be without exception in conformity with the provisions of sections I and II of the first paragraph of this article and must also be in harmony with official plans and programs.
• Religious corporations, ministers of religion, stock companies which exclusively or predominantly engage in educational activities, and associations or companies devoted to propagation of any religious creed shall not in any way participate in institutions giving elementary, secondary and normal education and education for laborers or field workers. The State may in its discretion withdraw at any time the recognition of official validity of studies conducted in private institutions.
• Elementary education shall be compulsory.
• All education given by the State shall be free.
• The Congress of the Union, with a view to unifying and coordinating education throughout the Republic, shall issue the necessary laws for dividing the social function of education among the Federation, the States and the Municipalities, for fixing the appropriate financial allocations for this public service and for establishing the penalties applicable to officials who do not comply with or enforce the pertinent provisions, as well as the penalties applicable to all those who infringe such provisions.

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Constitution of 1917

• Article 27 – Land and Territory
• The property of all land and water within national territory is originally owned by the Nation, who has the right to transfer this ownership to particulars. Hence, private property is a privilege created by the Nation.
• Expropriations may only be made when there is a public utility cause.
• The State will always have the right to impose on private property constraints dictated by "public interest". The State will also regulate the exploitation of natural resources based on social benefits and the equal distribution of wealth. The state is also responsible for conservation and ecological considerations.
• All natural resources in national territory are property of the nation, and private exploitation may only be carried out through concessions.
• Nuclear fuel may only be exploited and used by the State. The use of Nuclear elements in the Nation may only have peaceful purposes (i.e., Mexico cannot build nuclear weapons).
• This article also deals with other subtleties on what constitutes Mexico's territory.
• Foreign citizens cannot own land within 100 km of the borders or 50 km of the sea; however, foreigners can have a beneficial interest in such land through a trust (fideicomiso), where the legal ownership of the land is held by a Mexican financial institution. The only precondition sine qua non to granting such a beneficial interest is that the foreigner agree that all matters relating to such land are the exclusive domain of Mexican courts and Mexican jurisdiction, and that in all issues pertaining to such land, the foreigner will conduct him or herself as a Mexican, and settle any issues arising from their interest in such land exclusively through Mexican courts and institutions. The stipulated consequence of a failure to abide by these terms is forfeiture to the nation of their interests in all lands where the foreigner has such beneficial interests.
• That an area of land next to the coast (20 meters from the highest tide line) is federal property which cannot be sold to particulars.

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Article 28 – Corporations

All monopolies are prohibited.

The areas of the economy in direct control of the government, such as post, telegraph, oil and its derivatives, basic petrochemical industries, radioactive minerals, and the generation of electricity are not considered to be monopolies.

The State will protect areas of priority in the economy, such as satellite communications and railroads.

The Nation will have a Central Bank with the primary objective of procuring the stability of the national currency. The Central Bank and its activities will not be considered monopolies either.

Unions and workers associations will not be considered monopolies. Guilds will not be considered to be monopolies when their purpose is the economic equality of the industry, as long as the guild is overseen by the Federal Government.

Copyrights and patents will not be considered monopolies.

• Article 123 – Labor rights
• Workers have the right to an eight-hour work day, the right to strike, the right to a day's rest per week, and the right to a proper indemnification following unjustified termination of the working relationship by the employer. Equality of labor rights shall pertain regardless of race or gender.
• Article 123 was perhaps the most radical of the provisions of the 1917 Constitution and was intended to give the working class a relief to the many abuses and hardships they had previously faced from uncontrolled labor managers.

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“Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is an economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. It is based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of industrialized products.��ISI policies have been enacted by developing countries with the intention of producing development and self-sufficiency by the creation of an internal market.”

Import Substitution Industrialization

Panamerican highway 1933

Ferrocarriles de México (1929-1937)

PEMEX 1938

Aeroméxico 1934

UNAM 1929, 1952

Instituto Politécnico Nacional 1936

Acapulco 1950

Instituto de Petróleo 1965

Lake Falcón 1952

Amistad Dam

Torre Latinoamericana 1956

Museum of Anthropology

Don Julio tequila 1942

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1958 Carlos Fuentes Where the Air is Clear

c. 1960 porrista strikes at UNAM

1965 Schoolteacher strikes in southern Mexico

1968 Tlatelolco massacre

1970 Labor surplus and beginning of heavy migration to USA

c. 1970 Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

1970 Migration to the USA in largest numbers of the 20^th century

1976 Oil shock and national recession

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Beginning of economic shock and social dislocation

Compare Mexico-descended population USA 1900, 1950, 1970

Population Mexico-descended 1950

Population Mexico-descended 1970

Globalism and Mexico, �1988-present��

A timeline of economic shock, political volatility, and

social dislocation since 1988

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1968 Tlatelolco massacre

1970 Labor surplus and beginning of heavy migration to USA

1976 Oil shock and national recession

1985 Mexico City earthquake

1988 Stolen national election

1988 Transition to global economy and end of ISI

1994 Zapatista uprising

1994 NAFTA

1994 Assassination of candidate for president Luis Donoldo Colosio

2000 PAN party overthrows PRI monopoly

2006 Drug war of president Luis Calderón

2016 Election of Donald Trump

2018 Victory of third-party candidate for president AMLO

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Population Mexico since 2000

Compare Mexico-descended population USA 1970, 2000, 2020

Population Mexico-descended 2020

New York Latino population, 1970

New York Latino population, 2000

New York Latino population, 2020

Current world GDP by nation and proportion