Journal #10: Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton

"Thus the government washes its hands clean, liberally providing plenty of tribunals, plenty of crooked turnings through which to scourge the wretched land-owners. Don Mariano had for some years been under the lash of the maternal government, whom he had found a cruel stepmother indeed."

The Squatter and the Don: After the Mexican-American war, the Treaty of Hidalgo Guadalupe and the Land Act of 1851 cheated "Californios" out of their rightfully owned land. White American "squatters" came in and began to start their own little ranches and plantations on the Californios' land, and began to steal and kill the cattle. And the government used schemes and tactics that made it just plain difficult for the Mexican Americans to keep their land. In the story, Don Mariano realizes that he can't fight the government, so he decides on a peaceful, reasonable, and intelligent proposal that he hopes will convince the squatters to live and work in harmony with the Californios.

It's sad that the "Don Marianos" of true history were forced to submit in this manner, but the story paints a picture of a Mexican American man who does not simply tuck his tail between his legs and wander away empty-handed. He's an intelligent business man who makes one last attempt to keep peace and preserve what little cattle he has left. Unfortunately, the prejudice, ignorance, and stubbornness of the squatters makes them inclined to reject the Don's proposal. His brilliant and common sense approach to plant fruit trees and raise cattle, as the nature of the land intended, is shot down, and both sides end up losing land in the end due to capitalism and expansionism... due to the concept of "Manifest Destiny."
I'm thrilled to be gaining so much knowledge of U.S. history through the excellent readings of this class in American Literature, but unfortunately, but I forge on with mixed emotions. While I know it behooves me to know the history of my country, I continue to lose respect for "white mankind." I look at the way the "pale face" has treated every other race over the years, and how he has decided that white equals superior, and how the delusion still continues into modern day America... We still have a long way to go.