Europeans interested in USA-Mexico history

There is much interest during the 2016 USA election cycle, even in Europe, about relationships between the USA and Mexico. Check out this recent article on the History News Network, by university professor Kevin Waite in the United Kingdom:

“When the image of the border-crossing Mexican rapist emerged from Donald Trump’s fevered imagination at the start of this election cycle, it struck a surprisingly resonant chord with the electorate. Since then, xenophobic appeals have been at the heart of the Republican candidate’s campaign.

“Yet well before provocateurs like Trump and Anne Coulter began spinning stories about criminal Latino immigrants coming up from the south, it was Mexicans who very rightly fretted about American immigrants streaming down from the north.

“Historically, Mexico has lost far more land, power, and resources to American immigration than vice versa. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, it was the largest nation in North America. But three decades later, it had lost over half of its landmass. The events that culminated in that dramatic territorial reduction were set in motion by American border-crossers.”

Click to read the full article on the History News Network site. And click here to buy the book Abraham Lincoln and Mexico.

Mary Todd Lincoln’s role in supporting Mexico

Never underestimate the influence of a First Lady of the United States in world affairs. The new history Abraham Lincoln and Mexico reveals the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in furthering foreign relations with Mexico, based in part on archival documents in both the USA and Mexico.

Mrs. Lincoln had many meetings and shopping trips with the Mexican consul in Washington, Matias Romero, during which she shared his anxiety over France having an army in Mexico and the danger of it joining up with the Confederacy. Based on their mutual concerns, she urged President Lincoln to support Mexico in the 1860s. What particularly endeared the American President to Romero was the fact the consul escorted Mrs. Lincoln on her frequent shopping trips in the capital with good-natured grace. It was a duty which Lincoln was happy to relinquish.

Romero, in his voluminous notes and correspondence (now part of the archives of Banco Nacional de México), was the first to note the similarities between Lincoln and Benito Juárez. Lincoln befriended the twenty-four-year-old diplomat, and their friendship would last his lifetime. Also, Lincoln promised that his administration would treat Mexico fairly. Romero, who knew of Lincoln’s anti-expansionist views, promised in turn that Juárez would pursue liberal policies and be friendly to American investments.

As a result, the Lincoln administration furnished massive amounts of military weapons to Mexico as the US Civil War was ending, and Union officers and troops redeployed to Mexico to help defeat the Imperial Army of Napoleon after Lincoln’s death. 

Educators like Abraham Lincoln book

The new history/ biography titled Abraham Lincoln and Mexico attracted a lot of attention among more than 800 educators from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America Oct. 5-7 during the 35^th annual conference of the Tri Association in Guadalajara, Mexico.

In the photo above, students Brenda Garden and Isaa Amaro from the American School Foundation of Guadalajara joined ASFG scholarship director Magdalena Contreras and author Michael Hogan in offering the book for sale and providing information. They also raised money for the ASFG scholarship fund by selling Hogan’s 2015 book of inspirational speeches titled We Never Know How High We Are Till We Are Called to Rise, a collection of fifteen inspirational five-minute speeches he delivered at National Honor Society events.

Dr. Hogan’s students at ASFG during the 2012-2013 academic year inspired him to research and write the book about Lincoln. It examines Lincoln’s support for Mexico both as a Congressman and President, something missing from textbooks in the USA and Mexico. A major value of the book is its use as supplemental classroom material for the four-million 11th grade high school students across the USA who are required to take US History every year, and the 400,000 students around the world who take Advanced Placement US History each year. Because it contains archival documents in the appendix, the book is like having a reference library right in the hands of teachers and students.

As a result, many conference attendees bought copies of Abraham Lincoln and Mexico for classroom use, in addition to gifts. The book is also available from Amazon http://amzn.to/1qGubOw and Barnes&Noble, and at independent bookstores. If it’s not yet on your bookstore shelf, ask them to order a copy for you via the Ingram distribution catalog, ISBN 978-0985774493.