WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Picture the modern map of the United States. 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:04.440 You know the one. Yeah, just that classic map 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:06.620 we all have in our heads. Right. Focus your mind 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:09.900 on those really sprawling, iconic landscapes 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:12.199 of the West and Southwest, like we're talking 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:16.440 about California, Texas, Nevada. Utah. Exactly, 00:00:16.579 --> 00:00:19.280 Utah. They feel just entirely permanent, right? 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.579 Like they've always just been there neatly outlined 00:00:21.579 --> 00:00:23.780 and colored in. Oh, absolutely. Like it's just 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:26.260 a given. But I want you to take that image and 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:28.620 just completely shatter it. Yeah. Because that 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:30.929 map. The one we take for granted literally every 00:00:30.929 --> 00:00:33.590 day was actually carved out in just two short 00:00:33.590 --> 00:00:36.090 years. Which is incredibly fast for that much 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:38.770 land. It is. And it was done through this brutal, 00:00:39.229 --> 00:00:41.850 highly controversial and honestly largely forgotten 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:44.500 conflict. the Mexican -American War. Yeah, it 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:46.140 really doesn't get talked about enough. It really 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:49.340 doesn't. So today, our mission in this deep dive 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:52.159 is to take a massive stack of historical research. 00:00:52.979 --> 00:00:55.179 We're anchoring this on a really comprehensive 00:00:55.179 --> 00:00:58.179 Wikipedia breakdown of the war and uncover exactly 00:00:58.179 --> 00:01:03.579 how this 1846 to 1848 conflict served as, well, 00:01:03.979 --> 00:01:06.140 basically the bloody prequel to the American 00:01:06.140 --> 00:01:08.909 Civil War. A direct prequel, yeah. Right, we're 00:01:08.909 --> 00:01:11.230 going to explore how it fundamentally reshaped 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:14.049 the destiny of two entire nations. and how it 00:01:14.049 --> 00:01:17.069 introduced modern military tactics to the world. 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:20.129 Yeah, to really understand North America as it 00:01:20.129 --> 00:01:22.849 exists today, you know, you just have to understand 00:01:22.849 --> 00:01:26.329 this exact pivotal moment when the map was violently 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:28.969 redrawn. It changed everything. It did. It wasn't 00:01:28.969 --> 00:01:31.829 just a clash of armies on some dusty battlefield. 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:36.069 This conflict caused deep, bitter political divisions 00:01:36.069 --> 00:01:38.569 in both the United States and Mexico. Totally. 00:01:38.909 --> 00:01:42.329 And it set into motion these massive sociological 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:46.189 and economic shock waves that would, honestly, 00:01:46.510 --> 00:01:49.430 echo for generations. OK, let's unpack this. 00:01:49.450 --> 00:01:52.109 Because before a single shot was ever fired, 00:01:52.409 --> 00:01:54.530 you really have to look at the incredibly fragile 00:01:54.530 --> 00:01:56.670 state of both nations. Oh, yeah. I mean, the 00:01:56.670 --> 00:01:59.150 entire region was just a geopolitical powder 00:01:59.150 --> 00:02:01.329 keg just waiting for a match. Exactly. Let's 00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:04.109 look at Mexico first, because their situation 00:02:04.109 --> 00:02:06.469 is crucial. They had gained independence from 00:02:06.469 --> 00:02:10.389 Spain in 1821, but it was an incredibly traumatic 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:12.340 transition to sovereignty. It wasn't a clean 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:15.520 break at all. Not even close. Post -independence 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.300 Mexico was just financially devastated. The decade 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:22.020 long war with Spain had physically ruined their 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:24.719 primary source of wealth. The silver mines, right? 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.319 Yeah, the great silver mining districts of Zacatecas 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:31.020 and Guanajuato. The mines were flooded. The infrastructure 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:33.259 was completely destroyed. So they're starting 00:02:33.259 --> 00:02:35.699 out as a brand new sovereign nation, but they 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:38.379 are completely bankrupt. Exactly. Bankrupt from 00:02:38.379 --> 00:02:40.979 day one. And on top of that, they were experiencing 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:44.180 massive political I mean, the government was 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:46.819 constantly changing hands between federalists, 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:49.599 centralists, and various military dictators. 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:52.560 And because of that bankruptcy, those vast northern 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.500 territories, the land that eventually becomes 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:57.439 the U .S. Southwest, they were incredibly vulnerable. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.759 Oh, extremely. You have these massive sparsely 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.219 populated high deserts. The Mexican government 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:05.479 simply couldn't afford to fund the military outposts, 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:07.740 you know, the presidios out there. Right, and 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:11.099 nature abhors a vacuum. So in the absence of 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:13.180 that government, and that military presence, 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:16.419 powerful Comanche and Apache tribes launched 00:03:16.419 --> 00:03:19.539 massive sustained raids across the North. And 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:21.719 these weren't just small raids, right? No, we're 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.000 not talking about small skirmishes here. These 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.979 were highly coordinated attacks that completely 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:30.379 decimated the local ranching economy. Wow. Yeah. 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:33.159 By the time the war with the U .S. actually started, 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:35.860 the civilian population of northern Mexico was 00:03:35.860 --> 00:03:39.340 so demoralized, terrified, and depleted that 00:03:39.340 --> 00:03:41.979 they could offer, you know, Very little resistance 00:03:41.979 --> 00:03:44.419 to an invading army. Meanwhile, if you look at 00:03:44.419 --> 00:03:47.300 the United States at this exact same time, it's 00:03:47.300 --> 00:03:49.500 a completely different reality. Oh, totally night 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:52.860 and day. The US is riding this massive wave of 00:03:52.860 --> 00:03:55.780 expansionism, heavily driven by the ideology 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:58.800 of manifest destiny. Right, that intense cultural 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.099 belief that Americans were divinely ordained 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:03.219 to just spread across the continent. Exactly. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.419 But it wasn't just lofty idealism, like it was 00:04:06.419 --> 00:04:09.439 raw economics. Heavily so. I mean, the Industrial 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:11.740 Revolution was just booming across the Atlantic, 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.099 particularly textile mills in Britain. Which 00:04:14.099 --> 00:04:17.040 created an absolutely insatiable global demand 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.300 for cotton. Yes, cotton was king. Which means 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:21.300 the southern states are desperate to expand. 00:04:21.379 --> 00:04:24.060 They need more land to grow cotton. And crucially, 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:26.379 they want to carve that land out of northern 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:29.100 Mexico to create more slave states. Exactly. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.240 To solidify their political power in Washington. 00:04:31.540 --> 00:04:34.579 It's this massive economic engine driving the 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:37.519 politics of expansion. And this perfectly aligns 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.279 with President James K. Polk. Oh, Polk is central 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:42.360 to all this. Right. He's a Democrat elected in 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:46.139 1844 on a hardline platform, basically promising 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:49.060 to expand U .S. territory by any means necessary. 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:51.939 And Polk initially tries to just buy the land. 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:55.279 He secretly sends this envoy named John Slidel 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:58.699 down to Mexico City to offer $25 million for 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:00.860 the disputed territories. Which included Alta 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:04.120 California, New Mexico, right? Exactly. But Mexico 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.939 refuses to even receive him. I mean, of course 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:09.480 they did. Right. From the Mexican political perspective, 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:12.019 selling off half their sovereign country is just 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:14.319 an unthinkable insult to their national honor. 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:17.540 Any Mexican politician who even entertained the 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:21.120 idea was instantly branded a traitor. So when 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.220 diplomacy hits a brick wall, Polk makes this 00:05:24.220 --> 00:05:27.060 highly calculated, really provocative military 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:29.850 move. Yeah, he forces their hand. He sends General 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:32.550 Zachary Taylor and his troops down into the Nueces 00:05:32.550 --> 00:05:36.550 Strip. Now, this was a highly volatile, disputed 00:05:36.550 --> 00:05:39.089 piece of land. Very disputed. Texas and the U 00:05:39.089 --> 00:05:42.829 .S. claimed the border was the Rio Grande, but 00:05:42.829 --> 00:05:45.290 Mexico claimed the border was further north at 00:05:45.290 --> 00:05:48.009 the Nueces River. Right. So by marching troops 00:05:48.009 --> 00:05:50.689 into that specific strip of land, Polk knows 00:05:50.689 --> 00:05:53.529 exactly what he's doing. It's basically the geopolitical 00:05:53.529 --> 00:05:55.449 equivalent of a hostile neighbor dispute. Oh, 00:05:55.550 --> 00:05:57.329 that's a good way to put it. Like you deliberately 00:05:57.329 --> 00:06:00.050 build a fence on a contested property line, just 00:06:00.050 --> 00:06:01.949 hoping the other guy throws the first punch so 00:06:01.949 --> 00:06:04.029 you can justify hitting him with a massive lawsuit. 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:06.329 That is exactly what it was. He puts his troops 00:06:06.329 --> 00:06:08.649 right on the edge of the Rio Grande, directly 00:06:08.649 --> 00:06:11.069 in the face of the Mexican military, and sure 00:06:11.069 --> 00:06:13.730 enough, he gets his spark. The Thornton Affair. 00:06:14.069 --> 00:06:18.680 On April 25th, 1846, A Mexican cavalry detachment 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:21.800 spots a U .S. patrol in that disputed zone. They 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:24.720 attack, killing 11 American soldiers and capturing 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.160 52. And Polk immediately takes this to Congress 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:31.579 and delivers this incredibly famous impassioned 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:34.160 declaration. He says, American blood has been 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:36.629 shed on American soil. It's a brilliant piece 00:06:36.629 --> 00:06:39.730 of political rhetoric, honestly, but it faced 00:06:39.730 --> 00:06:43.230 immediate, fierce domestic backlash. Because 00:06:43.230 --> 00:06:45.889 it wasn't a popular war with everyone. No, not 00:06:45.889 --> 00:06:48.660 at all. This was not universally popular. The 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:52.060 Whig Party, which was the more institutionalist, 00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:55.180 pro -business political party of the era, they 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:57.180 strongly opposed the conflict. They saw right 00:06:57.180 --> 00:07:00.399 through it. They did. They viewed it as a blatant, 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:03.779 unconstitutional land grab designed specifically 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:06.339 to expand the institution of slavery. And this 00:07:06.339 --> 00:07:09.040 is where Lincoln steps in, right? Yes. A young 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:11.259 Whig congressman from Illinois named Abraham 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:13.959 Lincoln submitted what became known as the spot 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:16.540 resolutions. I love this detail. It's great. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.079 He openly demanded that President Polk point 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.220 to the exact spot on the map where the blood 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:23.740 was shed, directly challenging the claim that 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:25.800 the skirmish actually happened on legitimate 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:28.399 American soil. He basically called his bluff. 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.620 Exactly. But despite the pushback from people 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:34.300 like Lincoln, the declaration of war passes anyway. 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.680 So... The politicians have made their moves. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:38.980 The war is officially on. Yeah, there's no going 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:41.660 back. But when you look at the actual armies 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:44.920 marshaling on the ground, the contrast between 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.759 these two militaries is just staggering. It really 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:51.930 is. The U .S. Army brings a distinct modern technological 00:07:51.930 --> 00:07:54.769 edge to the battlefield, specifically what they 00:07:54.769 --> 00:07:57.649 called flying artillery. And this was revolutionary 00:07:57.649 --> 00:08:01.410 for the time. These were highly mobile, fast 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:04.670 firing cannons mounted on lightweight horse carriages. 00:08:04.829 --> 00:08:06.610 So they could just zip around the battlefield. 00:08:06.910 --> 00:08:09.790 Exactly. The artillery crews would ride the horses 00:08:09.790 --> 00:08:12.829 at full gallop right up to the battle line, jump 00:08:12.829 --> 00:08:15.620 off. unlimber the cannons, meaning they quickly 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:17.620 detached the cannon from the transport carriage, 00:08:17.660 --> 00:08:20.000 so it rested on its firing wheels, and they could 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.500 start laying down devastating fire almost instantly. 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:25.319 And if the enemy moved? If the battle line shifted, 00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:27.639 they could just limber back up and move in minutes. 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.879 That is a huge advantage. Now compare that highly 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.519 mobile firepower to what the Mexican army was 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:35.700 dealing with. It's a rough comparison. They are 00:08:35.700 --> 00:08:38.580 fighting with surplus British muskets, the old 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:41.279 brown bests left over from the Napoleonic Wars. 00:08:41.669 --> 00:08:44.649 decades earlier. Just incredibly outdated stuff. 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:47.750 But it wasn't just old guns. It was a fundamental 00:08:47.750 --> 00:08:50.889 failure of industrial logistics. Because Mexico 00:08:50.889 --> 00:08:53.429 lacked a strong industrial chemical manufacturing 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:56.789 base, their gunpowder was notoriously poorly 00:08:56.789 --> 00:08:59.429 mixed. Yeah, the chemical ratios were all off. 00:08:59.690 --> 00:09:02.649 The saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal just weren't 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:05.590 integrated properly, which resulted in incredibly 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:09.009 slow burn rates. The muzzle velocity was so low 00:09:09.009 --> 00:09:11.759 that American soldiers recorded instances where 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:14.539 they could literally see the Mexican cannonballs 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:16.980 bouncing along the ground toward them. Wait, 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:19.279 really? Like they could see them coming? Yes. 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.120 And they had time to just step out of the way. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.279 That is wild. Just a stark, brutal, technological 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:26.700 mismatch. But the U .S. side wasn't exactly a 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:28.879 well -oiled machine either. No, definitely not. 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:31.360 While they had those highly disciplined regular 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.379 troops managing the artillery, Polk's army relied 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:37.820 heavily on volunteers with very short term enlistments. 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.149 Right. And these volunteer units were largely 00:09:40.149 --> 00:09:43.750 untrained, totally unruly and deeply influenced 00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:46.889 by intense anti -Catholic and racial prejudices. 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:49.090 It was a huge problem. They committed horrific 00:09:49.090 --> 00:09:51.769 atrocities against Mexican civilians. We're talking 00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:55.090 robbery, murder, the burning of entire villages. 00:09:55.409 --> 00:09:58.029 Which, aside from being horrific, was a massive 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:01.269 strategic failure. By terrorizing the civilian 00:10:01.269 --> 00:10:04.330 population, these volunteers entirely alienated 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:06.450 the local Mexican citizens. And they basically 00:10:06.450 --> 00:10:09.110 created their own worst enemy. Exactly. They 00:10:09.110 --> 00:10:12.549 transformed potential neutral bystanders into 00:10:12.549 --> 00:10:15.490 fierce guerrilla fighters who would relentlessly 00:10:15.490 --> 00:10:18.289 harass U .S. supply lines for the rest of the 00:10:18.289 --> 00:10:21.190 war. You're seeing these deeply ingrained prejudices 00:10:21.190 --> 00:10:23.470 play out violently on the ground. And here's 00:10:23.470 --> 00:10:25.669 where it gets really interesting. Yeah. Because 00:10:25.669 --> 00:10:28.889 that exact same anti -Catholic prejudice in the 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:31.809 U .S. actually caused the lines between the two 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:34.669 militaries to blur. This brings us to the San 00:10:34.669 --> 00:10:37.049 Patricios. Oh, the St. Patrick's Battalion. This 00:10:37.049 --> 00:10:39.070 is one of the most fascinating human stories 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.250 of the entire conflict. It really is. It was 00:10:41.250 --> 00:10:43.350 a unit composed primarily of several hundred 00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:46.330 U .S. Army deserters, mostly Irish and German 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:48.509 Catholic immigrants, who actually switched sides 00:10:48.509 --> 00:10:50.730 to fight to the Mexican Army. I mean, if you 00:10:50.730 --> 00:10:53.590 think about the 1840s, the U .S. is experiencing 00:10:53.590 --> 00:10:57.450 a massive influx of Irish immigrants, and there 00:10:57.450 --> 00:11:01.019 is intense... virulent anti -Catholic prejudice 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:04.059 in American society. Right, it was rampant. You 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:06.200 have to imagine that for an Irish immigrant soldier 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.120 facing brutal discipline from Protestant superiors 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.700 in harsh, disease -ridden U .S. camps, looking 00:11:12.700 --> 00:11:14.899 across the battlefield at a Catholic nation like 00:11:14.899 --> 00:11:17.610 Mexico. It suddenly makes a lot of sense why 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:20.909 they would defect. Precisely. They felt a deep, 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:24.370 shared religious and cultural allegiance to Mexico. 00:11:25.009 --> 00:11:27.269 And Mexico actively recruited them, offering 00:11:27.269 --> 00:11:29.529 land bounties and officer commissions to anyone 00:11:29.529 --> 00:11:31.830 who crossed the lines. And they were fierce fighters, 00:11:31.870 --> 00:11:34.490 right? Oh, the San Patricios fought ferociously 00:11:34.490 --> 00:11:36.570 against the U .S. mainly because they knew exactly 00:11:36.570 --> 00:11:38.399 what would happen if they were caught. Which, 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:41.200 unfortunately, they were. Yeah. Ultimately, after 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.559 the Battle of Churubusco, about 50 of them were 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:45.919 captured by the U .S. military. They were court 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.259 -martialed and subjected to a mass hanging. And 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:50.860 the timing of that execution was incredibly dark. 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:53.399 It was. It was timed exactly to the moment the 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:55.700 U .S. flag was raised over the captured Mexican 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:58.460 fortress of Chapultepec. It really highlights 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:02.019 how messy and human the reality of this war was. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:05.379 And that human element extends far beyond just 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:08.960 the men holding the rifles. Women played incredibly 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.200 vital roles in this conflict, too. Absolutely. 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:13.740 On the Mexican side, you had the soldaderas. 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:16.039 These were women who traveled with the army, 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:19.080 providing vital logistical support like nursing 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.679 the wounded and foraging for food. But they weren't 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.600 just in the background. No, many actually picked 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:27.019 up weapons and fought fiercely right in the battle 00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:29.240 lines, especially during the final defense of 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:31.679 Mexico City. And on the American side, you had 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.139 phaedras like Sarah Bowman, who became famous 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:36.679 as the Great Western. She is quite the character. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:38.919 She really is. She traveled with Taylor's army, 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.659 cooking and delivering food, and physically carrying 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:44.279 wounded soldiers off the field right in the middle 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:46.919 of heavy crossfire. Wow. And off the battlefield 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.659 entirely, you had American female journalists 00:12:49.659 --> 00:12:52.379 like Jane Swisholm and Jane Casnew utilizing 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:55.600 the relatively new power of the mass press to 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:58.529 actively shape public opinion. Right. Either 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:01.049 fiercely opposing or rallying support for the 00:13:01.049 --> 00:13:03.129 conflict. Exactly. OK. I have to push back a 00:13:03.129 --> 00:13:04.950 little here though. Sure. Go ahead. I'm trying 00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:07.269 to visualize this massive invasion. We're painting 00:13:07.269 --> 00:13:11.149 a picture of U .S. technological superiority 00:13:11.149 --> 00:13:14.110 with flying artillery and everything. But Mexico 00:13:14.110 --> 00:13:16.549 has a massive home field advantage. They do. 00:13:16.669 --> 00:13:19.590 You're talking about incredibly harsh deserts, 00:13:19.809 --> 00:13:23.370 treacherous mountain passes and literally thousands 00:13:23.370 --> 00:13:26.389 of U .S. troops dying, not from bullets, but 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:28.690 from yellow fever and dysentery. Disease was 00:13:28.690 --> 00:13:31.549 a massive killer, yeah. So why couldn't Mexico 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:34.169 just repel the invaders? It seems like they could 00:13:34.169 --> 00:13:37.330 have just bled the U .S. dry through sheer attrition. 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:40.169 It's a great point, and this raises an important 00:13:40.169 --> 00:13:42.929 question about the underlying sociology of a 00:13:42.929 --> 00:13:45.289 military force. Like, what actually holds an 00:13:45.289 --> 00:13:47.309 army together? Right. You're completely right 00:13:47.309 --> 00:13:49.210 about the geography. The environment was lethal. 00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:51.779 But the Mexican soldiers were overwhelmingly 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:55.039 conscripted peasants. Their loyalty was fundamentally 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:57.179 tied to their local villages, their crops, and 00:13:57.179 --> 00:14:00.559 their families. They felt basically zero allegiance 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.120 to the rotating cast of dictators and generals 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.100 in Mexico City who would violently force them 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:07.539 into service. Right. I mean, the Mexican presidency 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:10.679 changed hands four times in 1846 alone. Exactly. 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:12.860 You can't inspire troops when the government 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:16.159 is a revolving door. These soldiers were starved, 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:19.250 walking barefoot, using terrible weapons. and 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:22.610 rarely paid. So they just left? Yeah, when the 00:14:22.610 --> 00:14:24.750 battles got intense or when harvest season approached, 00:14:25.009 --> 00:14:27.710 the desertion rates were catastrophic. They simply 00:14:27.710 --> 00:14:29.610 slipped away into the mountains at night to go 00:14:29.610 --> 00:14:32.029 back home. Wow. You can have the greatest home 00:14:32.029 --> 00:14:34.669 field advantage in the world, but you can't leverage 00:14:34.669 --> 00:14:37.649 it if your army dissolves from within. That makes 00:14:37.649 --> 00:14:40.389 total sense. The foundation was completely rotten. 00:14:40.769 --> 00:14:43.850 Precisely. So how did the US actually capitalize 00:14:43.850 --> 00:14:46.899 on that and push deep into the country? because 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:49.279 it required some pretty intense tactical innovation. 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.039 Let's look at the Battle of Monterey. This was 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.659 a brutal wake -up call for U .S. forces. It was 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:57.460 a total nightmare. American soldiers, mostly 00:14:57.460 --> 00:15:00.100 led by officers trained at West Point, had basically 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:02.279 zero experience in urban warfare. Right. They 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:05.750 were used to open fields. Exactly. So at Monterrey, 00:15:05.970 --> 00:15:08.269 they initially tried traditional tactics, marching 00:15:08.269 --> 00:15:11.210 in formation straight down the open city streets. 00:15:11.649 --> 00:15:14.090 And they were absolutely annihilated by Mexican 00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.669 defenders who were perfectly concealed inside 00:15:16.669 --> 00:15:19.450 these really thick defensive adobe homes. But 00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:21.769 they adapted. and they actually learned from 00:15:21.769 --> 00:15:24.889 the Texans. They did. Texan soldiers, who had 00:15:24.889 --> 00:15:26.870 fought in urban environments during the Texas 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:29.509 Revolution, introduced the U .S. generals to 00:15:29.509 --> 00:15:32.549 this brutal tactic called mouseholing. It is 00:15:32.549 --> 00:15:34.549 so intense. Instead of staying in the streets, 00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:38.070 soldiers took sledgehammers and literally smashed 00:15:38.070 --> 00:15:40.830 holes through the shared adobe walls of the adjoining 00:15:40.830 --> 00:15:43.029 houses. Just blowing through the walls. Yeah. 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:45.840 They bypassed the streets entirely, fighting 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.940 a terrifying hand -to -hand, room -by -room indoor 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:51.259 war. And it completely changed the dynamic. The 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:53.419 Mexican defenders actually started calling the 00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:56.720 Texans the Diabolicos Tejanos, the Devil Texans. 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:59.379 It was incredibly violent, but it broke the stalemate. 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:01.779 Meanwhile, as the U .S. is fighting its way south, 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.019 a ghost from Mexico's past makes a stunning return. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.139 Oh, this is wild. General Antonio Lopez de Santa 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:11.580 Anna. He had been living in exile in Cuba. But 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.919 he secretly contacts President Polk. And he pitches 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:17.360 just an incredible deal. He promises that if 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:19.700 Polk allows him to slip through the U .S. naval 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:22.620 blockade, he will seize power in Mexico City 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:25.460 and immediately negotiate a peace treaty entirely 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:28.159 favorable to the U .S. And Polk actually buys 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.460 it. He totally falls for it. He is so desperate 00:16:31.460 --> 00:16:34.580 for a quick end to the war that he believes Santa 00:16:34.580 --> 00:16:37.460 Ana and even authorizes a two million dollar 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:39.720 budget to facilitate the negotiations. Which 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.879 is just crazy. So Santa Ana casually sails right 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.440 through the U .S. blockade, lands in Mexico, 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:48.419 immediately publicly denies making any deal with 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:50.919 the Americans, pockets whatever funds he acquired 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:53.580 and brilliantly maneuvers himself right back 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:55.740 into command of the Mexican military to fight 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:58.360 the U .S. It is an all time historical double 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:01.830 cross. It really is. And it was a massive embarrassment 00:17:01.830 --> 00:17:04.670 for Polk. It forced the U .S. to completely change 00:17:04.670 --> 00:17:07.329 strategy. Polk realizes they can't just win a 00:17:07.329 --> 00:17:09.650 series of border skirmishes in the North. They 00:17:09.650 --> 00:17:12.329 have to strike at the absolute heart of the country. 00:17:13.130 --> 00:17:15.869 So he tasks General Winfield Scott to launch 00:17:15.869 --> 00:17:18.589 a massive invasion from the sea. And this is 00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:22.910 a monumental shift. In March 1847, General Scott 00:17:22.910 --> 00:17:26.029 executes the very first major amphibious landing 00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:28.910 in U .S. military history. A huge milestone. 00:17:29.109 --> 00:17:31.269 He targets the heavily fortified port city of 00:17:31.269 --> 00:17:34.730 Veracruz, bringing 12 ,000 troops ashore, using 00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:37.230 these specially designed flat -bottomed landing 00:17:37.230 --> 00:17:39.210 crafts. But Scott couldn't stay on the coast. 00:17:39.269 --> 00:17:41.430 Because of the disease, right? Right. The environment 00:17:41.430 --> 00:17:44.250 was deadly. Yellow fever, what the locals called 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:46.829 the vomito negro, was just ravaging his men. 00:17:47.069 --> 00:17:49.730 So he marches inland. up into the mountains toward 00:17:49.730 --> 00:17:52.109 Mexico City. And Santana is waiting for him. 00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:54.829 Santana knows he has to stop him, so he sets 00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:57.369 up a heavily fortified defensive line at a mountain 00:17:57.369 --> 00:18:00.589 pass called Cerro Gordo. It was an undeniably 00:18:00.589 --> 00:18:03.210 strong position, blocking the only main road. 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:05.890 But Scott has incredibly talented military engineers 00:18:05.890 --> 00:18:07.890 with him, including a young captain named Robert 00:18:07.890 --> 00:18:10.730 E. Lee. Yes, this is where Lee really makes his 00:18:10.730 --> 00:18:14.009 mark. Lee scouts the terrain and realizes they 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.750 don't have to attack head -on. He directs the 00:18:16.750 --> 00:18:19.329 troops to hack a hidden path through dense ravines 00:18:19.329 --> 00:18:22.670 and incredibly rough terrain that Santa Ana assumed 00:18:22.670 --> 00:18:26.170 was entirely impassable. They quietly drag heavy 00:18:26.170 --> 00:18:28.890 artillery up sheer cliffs to the high ground. 00:18:29.069 --> 00:18:31.849 Which completely outflanks the Mexican army and 00:18:31.849 --> 00:18:34.309 forces a chaotic retreat. And following that 00:18:34.309 --> 00:18:36.569 victory, Scott makes a decision that changes 00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:39.640 military doctrine forever. To reach Mexico City, 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:42.220 he realizes his supply lines back to the coast 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:44.920 are entirely vulnerable to those Mexican guerrilla 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:47.380 fighters we mentioned earlier. Right. So he just 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:50.960 cuts them. Which is insane. I mean, imagine the 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:53.099 logistical nightmare of what he is doing. He 00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:55.900 is marching thousands of men deep into the heart 00:18:55.900 --> 00:18:58.660 of a hostile country, and he literally services 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:01.440 army from its base. Like, how does a 19th century 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.619 army survive without supply lines? Ruthless efficiency 00:19:04.619 --> 00:19:06.539 and strict discipline. Scott realized they had 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:09.039 to live entirely off the line. They marched rapidly, 00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:11.440 seizing local granaries and livestock. But he 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.000 handled it differently than the volunteers in 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:16.160 the North. Right. Crucially differently. Unlike 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:19.339 those volunteers, Scott strictly punished any 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:22.259 soldier who looted unnecessarily, and he actually 00:19:22.259 --> 00:19:25.000 paid local Mexican farmers for food whenever 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.480 possible. Smart. He knew that if he triggered 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:30.680 a mass civilian uprising, his army would be swallowed 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.339 whole. That calculated discipline ultimately 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:35.480 brings them right to the gates of Mexico City. 00:19:35.829 --> 00:19:38.950 And the final emotional climax of this invasion 00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:42.190 is the storming of Chapultepec Castle. Yeah, 00:19:42.309 --> 00:19:44.589 this is a heavy moment. This wasn't just a fortress. 00:19:44.970 --> 00:19:48.109 It was a revered Mexican military academy. It's 00:19:48.109 --> 00:19:51.009 the site of one of Mexico's most profound historical 00:19:51.009 --> 00:19:54.109 narratives. As the regular Mexican army retreated 00:19:54.109 --> 00:19:57.170 from the castle, six young military cadets, boys 00:19:57.170 --> 00:20:00.210 between the ages of 13 and 17, refused the order 00:20:00.210 --> 00:20:03.049 to evacuate. So, yeah. They chose to stay and 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:05.529 fight the advancing U .S. Marines hand to hand. 00:20:05.710 --> 00:20:08.289 This is the legend of the Niños heroes, the boy 00:20:08.289 --> 00:20:11.660 heroes. As the U .S. forces overwhelmed the walls, 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:14.059 the legend states that rather than surrender 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:17.380 to the invaders, a cadet named Juan Escuthia 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:19.740 wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and leaped 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:21.819 to his death from the castle battlements. It's 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:25.450 incredibly tragic. To this day, those boys are 00:20:25.450 --> 00:20:28.809 revered across Mexico as the absolute ultimate 00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:32.049 symbols of patriotic sacrifice. What's fascinating 00:20:32.049 --> 00:20:34.190 here is how the American public was experiencing 00:20:34.190 --> 00:20:37.349 all of this drama and bloodshed. This was the 00:20:37.349 --> 00:20:40.670 very first U .S. conflict to be covered by mass 00:20:40.670 --> 00:20:43.329 media. Right. The invention of the telegraph 00:20:43.329 --> 00:20:46.150 completely changed the speed of reality. Exactly. 00:20:46.349 --> 00:20:48.910 Wires are being strung up alongside the new railroad 00:20:48.910 --> 00:20:51.630 tracks, meaning news didn't take months to arrive 00:20:51.630 --> 00:20:54.299 by ship anymore. The Penny Press was publishing 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:57.420 Dispatches from the Frontlines in days. The public 00:20:57.420 --> 00:20:59.480 was reading about the tactical brilliance of 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:02.119 Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor almost in real 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.259 time. It must have been wild for people back 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:07.039 home. It completely united the American public 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.279 emotionally and turned both of those generals 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:12.680 into massive instant political celebrities. Both 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:15.259 men would eventually leverage that battlefield 00:21:15.259 --> 00:21:17.900 fame to run for president of the United States. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:20.299 But capturing the Capitol and reading about it 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:23.279 in the papers didn't magically end the war. It 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.799 just forced a deeply uncomfortable reckoning 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:29.039 in Washington. The peace treaty and the domestic 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.480 fallout from it is just staggering. The peace 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.680 was negotiated by a U .S. diplomat named Nicholas 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:37.440 Trist. And the incredible part of this story 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.500 is that Trist was actually acting in direct defiance 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:42.799 of the president. Right. Polk wanted him back. 00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:45.220 Polk had lost patience with the negotiations 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:48.079 and explicitly ordered Trist to return to Washington. 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:51.539 Trist looked at the situation, completely ignored 00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:54.599 the president's orders, stayed in Mexico, and 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:56.579 hammered out the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.579 And look at the sheer scale of the terms he secured. 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.759 It's massive. The U .S. agreed to pay $15 million 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:07.200 and assumed $3 .25 million in debt. In exchange, 00:22:07.380 --> 00:22:10.200 the United States takes 55 % of Mexico's entire 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:12.720 territory. Over half the country. Half a country 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.190 gone with the stroke of a pen. We're talking 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:17.109 about the land that becomes California, Nevada, 00:22:17.349 --> 00:22:19.650 Utah, into Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. 00:22:19.890 --> 00:22:22.250 But for some politicians in Washington, even 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:24.490 half a country wasn't enough. Which is hard to 00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:26.789 believe. The sheer dominance of the military 00:22:26.789 --> 00:22:29.210 victory sparked what became known as the All 00:22:29.210 --> 00:22:32.809 Mexico Movement. There was a very real, very 00:22:32.809 --> 00:22:34.990 aggressive political push in the U .S. Congress 00:22:34.990 --> 00:22:37.930 to just annex the entirety of Mexico. Not just 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:41.569 the empty northern deserts, but the densely populated, 00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:45.009 culturally rich heartland as well. And the reason 00:22:45.009 --> 00:22:47.329 that movement was stopped is arguably one of 00:22:47.329 --> 00:22:50.089 the darkest, most profound ironies in American 00:22:50.089 --> 00:22:52.490 history. Oh, absolutely. The conquest of Mexico 00:22:52.490 --> 00:22:55.369 was stopped by extreme white supremacy. It's 00:22:55.369 --> 00:22:58.490 a massive historical paradox. Senator John C. 00:22:58.609 --> 00:23:01.859 Calhoun of South Carolina, one of the most ardent 00:23:01.859 --> 00:23:05.000 defenders of slavery fiercely protested the idea 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.559 of absorbing the rest of Mexico. On what grounds? 00:23:07.859 --> 00:23:10.119 He took to the Senate floor and argued against 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:13.519 annexation on explicitly racial grounds. He stated 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.900 that incorporating what he called an Indian race 00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.579 would completely destroy American institutions. 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:21.640 Unbelievable. He literally said, our sir is the 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:24.920 government of a white race. So the imperial movement 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:27.359 to annex all of Mexico essentially hit a brick 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:31.319 wall of racism. Calhoun inadvertently saved Mexican 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:33.559 sovereignty because he couldn't stomach the idea 00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:36.299 of millions of nonwhite citizens. So what does 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:38.539 this all mean? The U .S. expands its territory 00:23:38.539 --> 00:23:41.319 by a third, finally stretching from sea to shining 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:45.319 sea. Mexico is left traumatized, bankrupt and 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:48.099 fractured. But the fallout inside the United 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:51.450 States is immediate and totally toxic. If we 00:23:51.450 --> 00:23:54.029 connect this to the bigger picture, the massive 00:23:54.029 --> 00:23:56.890 territorial gains from Mexico acted as the direct 00:23:56.890 --> 00:23:59.849 catalyst for the American Civil War. Suddenly, 00:23:59.910 --> 00:24:03.329 the U .S. has this unimaginably large new frontier. 00:24:03.769 --> 00:24:06.750 And the immediate explosive question in Congress 00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:09.670 is, will slavery be allowed to expand into it? 00:24:09.809 --> 00:24:11.549 And that breaks the whole system. The northern 00:24:11.549 --> 00:24:14.190 states absolutely refuse to allow it. The southern 00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:16.569 states demand it as their economic right. The 00:24:16.569 --> 00:24:18.690 political compromises completely break down. 00:24:18.910 --> 00:24:21.170 And when the Civil War does break out, 15 years 00:24:21.170 --> 00:24:24.309 later, look at who was leading the armies. Ulysses 00:24:24.309 --> 00:24:26.730 S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, George 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:28.670 McClellan. They all served together. They all 00:24:28.670 --> 00:24:30.309 served together in Mexico. They learned how to 00:24:30.309 --> 00:24:33.130 manage vast supply lines, how to execute flanking 00:24:33.130 --> 00:24:35.730 maneuvers, and how to lead men under heavy fire 00:24:35.730 --> 00:24:38.369 in the Mexican deserts. They took those exact 00:24:38.369 --> 00:24:40.509 lessons and used them to slaughter each other 00:24:40.509 --> 00:24:43.210 in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Transcendentalist 00:24:43.210 --> 00:24:45.930 writer Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the catastrophe 00:24:45.930 --> 00:24:49.230 coming with terrifying clarity. During the war, 00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:51.849 he famously wrote, the United States will conquer 00:24:51.849 --> 00:24:54.589 Mexico, but it will be as the man swallows the 00:24:54.589 --> 00:24:57.430 arsenic, which brings him down in turn. Mexico 00:24:57.430 --> 00:25:01.250 will poison us. Such a powerful quote. And Ulysses 00:25:01.250 --> 00:25:03.690 S. Grant himself, writing his memoirs at the 00:25:03.690 --> 00:25:06.029 end of his life, looked back on his service in 00:25:06.029 --> 00:25:08.690 the Mexican -American war with profound regret. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:13.019 He bluntly called it one of the most unjust wars 00:25:13.019 --> 00:25:15.839 ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:18.940 He even went so far as to suggest a terrifying 00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:21.579 theological conclusion that the unimaginable 00:25:21.579 --> 00:25:23.539 bloodshed of the American Civil War was quite 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:26.259 literally America's divine punishment for the 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:28.200 transgressions committed against Mexico. It was 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:31.599 a war of calculated conquest. It yielded incredible 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:34.059 unprecedented geographical wealth for the United 00:25:34.059 --> 00:25:36.579 States, but it fundamentally fractured the political 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:39.119 soul of the nation. So to synthesize everything 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:41.700 we've uncovered today. This intense two -year 00:25:41.700 --> 00:25:44.559 conflict not only built the economic powerhouse 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:47.160 of the American West as we know it, but it deeply 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:49.720 scarred Mexico's national identity for generations. 00:25:50.259 --> 00:25:53.160 And it undeniably lit the fuse that blew the 00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:55.779 United States apart in the Civil War. It really 00:25:55.779 --> 00:25:58.240 is the turning point of the 19th century. But 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:00.220 I want to leave you with one final lingering 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:03.359 thought based on the historical record. The Treaty 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:06.640 of Guadalupe Hidalgo explicitly promised full 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:09.619 U .S. citizenship, liberty, and property rights 00:26:09.619 --> 00:26:12.240 to the tens of thousands of Mexicans who were 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:14.539 suddenly living in those newly acquired American 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:17.359 territories. That was the promise on paper. Exactly. 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:20.059 But the reality on the ground was entirely different. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.200 Almost immediately state legislatures in places 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:26.220 like California and Texas passed highly restrictive 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:28.960 laws that actively stripped non -white Mexicans 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:31.299 of their ancestral land, their right to vote, 00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:33.880 and their basic civil rights. It was a very swift 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:36.710 betrayal. We spent so much time today in our 00:26:36.710 --> 00:26:38.769 political discourse talking about people crossing 00:26:38.769 --> 00:26:42.009 borders. But looking at the painful, complex 00:26:42.009 --> 00:26:44.950 legacy of the Mexican -American war, you really 00:26:44.950 --> 00:26:47.230 have to ask yourself, what happens to a person's 00:26:47.230 --> 00:26:50.009 identity, their generational home, and their 00:26:50.009 --> 00:26:52.390 fundamental rights when the border violently 00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:55.390 crosses them? That is a lot to think about. Next 00:26:55.390 --> 00:26:57.349 time you look at that neat, permanent -looking 00:26:57.349 --> 00:27:00.170 map of North America, remember exactly how those 00:27:00.170 --> 00:27:02.450 lines were drawn. Thanks for joining us on this 00:27:02.450 --> 00:27:02.970 Deep Dive.