Forgotten Dead: Mob Violence Against Mexicans in the United States, 1848-1928Mob violence in the United States is usually associated with the southern lynch mobs who terrorized African Americans during the Jim Crow era. This book uncovers what is by contrast a neglected chapter in the story of American racial violence, the lynching of persons of Mexican origin or descent. Over eight decades lynch mobs murdered hundreds of Mexicans, mostly in the American Southwest. Racial prejudice, a lack of respect for local courts, and economic competition all fueled the actions of the mob. Sometimes it was ordinary citizens who committed these acts because of the alleged failure of the criminal justice system; other times the culprits were law enforcement officers themselves. Violence also occurred against the backdrop of continuing tensions along the border between the United States and Mexico aggravated by criminal raids, military escalation, and political revolution. Based on exhaustive research on both sides of the border, the first half of Forgotten Dead explores the characteristics and causes of mob violence against Mexicans across time and place. The second half of the book relates the numerous acts of resistance by Mexicans including armed self-defense, crusading journalism, and lobbying by diplomats who pressured the United States to honor its rhetorical commitment to democracy. In reconstructing these stories, the authors provide detailed case studies and assess how Mexican lynching victims came in the minds of many Americans to be the "forgotten dead." The conclusion of the book also contains the first-ever inventory of Mexican victims of mob violence in the United States. With Latinos having an increasingly powerful influence on American public life, this book provides a timely account of their historical struggle for recognition of civil and human rights. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 Manifest Destiny and Mob Violence against Mexicans | 17 |
2 Judge Lynch on the Border | 64 |
3 Mexican Resistance to Mob Violence | 97 |
4 Diplomatic Protest and the Decline of Mob Violence | 128 |
Remembering the Forgotten Dead | 159 |
Other editions - View all
Forgotten Dead: Mob Violence against Mexicans in the United States, 1848-1928 William D. Carrigan,Clive Webb No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
accused African Americans Albuquerque alleged Alta California American West Angeles Star Anglo mobs Anglos Anglos and Mexicans arrest August authorities Bancroft Benavides border Brownsville California California citizens Colorado Cortina County courts crimes criminal execution frontier Gold Rush History horse Hubert Howe Bancroft jail and hanged January José Juan July June justice killed Los Angeles Star lynch mobs lynching of Mexicans lynching victims Manuel Matías Romero Mexican diplomats Mexican lynching Mexican victims Mexico miners mob leaders mob violence Murder Murder Murder Murder Taken newspaper November November 16 Nuevomexicanos officers outlaw political posse protect racial Ramírez reported Sacramento Union San Antonio Express San Francisco San Luis Obispo Sept September sheriff Shot south Texas Taken from jail Tejanos Territory of Arizona Texas Murder Texas Rangers Texas Texas Texas Theft Hanged United unknown Mexicans victims of mob vigilance committee vigilantes violence against Mexicans Weekly York