Empire and Race Research Paper

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narrative analysis of historical content, themes, patterns, and events related to "race and empire in U.S. History. For this reason, six books have been considered. The paper will cover the narrative analysis of historical content related to race and empire in U.S. History, summary of the chronological themes, and the strengths and weaknesses for each book.

Manifest destinies: the making of the Mexican-American race

Narrative Analysis

The key to the approach of Gomez is the thought that Mexican-Americans do not from ethnicity, in fact a race. The difference lies in societal construction. Rather than having inborn worth, race is history reliant and given meaning by social processes, institutions, and persons. In the view of Gomez, the identity of Mexican-American is a result of social attitudes and legal definitions during the era, after the war between U.S. And Mexico. In fact, for Mexicans, there was no proper racial model[footnoteRef:1]. [1: Gomez, Laura E. Manifest destinies: the making of the Mexican-American race. (New York: New York University, 2007)]

Chronological Summary

In this book, Gomez has adopted a three-faced approach: she pores over history by means of law, history and sociology, using a case study of New Mexico. The main idea of Gomez in this book is that Manifest Destiny was not an unbiased political theory. To be more precise, it was a strong ideology that gave this sense to White Americans that they have right to racial superiority and land over its inhabitants.

In the Manifest Destinies, colonialism and other conquered/conqueror dynamics are at the heart of discussion. In this book, Gomezhas shared her views; she believes that the racism power is ideological, that gets at its peak when racially divided groups try to produce racism on their own.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Despite a fairly repetitive, flat narrative style; insights of Gomez regarding the struggles that were in play in the 19th century Southwest are very pertinent in today's society. In this book, Gomez has presented a clear picture of the forces that were there when this group was in its early stages.

The lack of knowledge about historical backgrounds (in the era of Spanish colonial) and regional differences (i-e. California and Texas) has limited Gomez's ability to create effective arguments. In this book, she fails to dig out the different interactive approaches of Indians with Spanish-colonial on the borderline of the empire. Gomez has rather assumed somewhat oversimplified and monolithic narrative of the Brutal behavior of Spanish Colonials for Indians.

Barbarian virtues: the United States encounters foreign peoples at home and abroad, 1876-1917

Narrative Analysis

In Barbarian virtues, Jacobson has tried to remind Americans the past national fascination with expansion and empire. According to Jacobson, a pledge to colonization at present forgotten that however procured territories like Philippines, Samoa, Guam, and Hawaii. The disband of the Soviet Union over years ago, a new order of the world, with the U.S. In charge looked impending, even though the shapes of the new world looked more disordered than ever. In this book, Jacobson demonstrates how there was a same kind of disorder in the previous century, and how a large number of American businessmen, social thinkers, military colonials, and politicians dreamed of implementing an American order on that disorderly world.

Chronological Summary

In Barbarian virtues, Jacobson has used many historical events to show how dreams of global markets and economic expansion for Americans products made a foreign policy to gear towards safeguarding access of America to China.

Jacobson has finely described how the efforts of these migrants welcomed them in a rapidly developing U.S., and how labor unions made around white sovereignty led to the fruitful efforts to disregard Chinese and workers from the other parts of the Asian regions. [footnoteRef:2] [2: Jacobson, Matthew Frye. Barbarian virtues: the United States encounters foreign peoples at home and abroad, 1876-1917. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2000).]

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Jacobson's book demonstrates significance of understanding previous manners in how Americans have misunderstood and understood their position in the world. This book is very well-written; undergraduates can easily access this book. The Barbarian virtues serves as a request to think more regarding what other individuals might think of Americans.

The only weakness of this book is that in this book Jacobson has selected quotes that seem out of context and biased.

Mexican-American colonization during the nineteenth century: a history of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

Narrative Analysis

In this book, Jose Angel Hernandez adopts different transactional approaches in finding out the reason of migration of Mexican-American to northern Mexico from south.

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When closing the gap between outdated studies related to Latin America or United States, methodology adopted by Hernandez empirically tests the hypothesized motivations related to Mexican repatriates contrary to documentary record, closing with a more indirect interpretation.

Hernandez explores the complete exile of Mexican-Americans in the northern Mexico's colonization. He argues that these policies had much more to do with safeguarding settlements against the pressures of Apache and Anglo American attacks as compared to the often-cited conceptual notions of sentimental nationalism or racial whitening.

Chronological Summary

This book is a reinterpretation of the 19th century history of Mexican-American. In this book, Hernandez examines the struggle of Mexico to safeguard its northern borders with U.S. exiles, in the outcome of a war that was resulting in the loss of almost half of its land. Responding to the explanations of the past, Jose Angel Hernandez proposes that these schemes of resettlement were based on the establishment of the frontier region, the rejuvenation of the country with devoted Mexican-Americans colonists, and blocking the flow of migrants to the U.S. To stop the depopulation of its cracked northern border. With the analysis of Mexico's colonization and immigration policies like they developed throughout the 19th century, Jose Angel Hernandez focuses mainly on the Mexican nation that were lost after the 1846 -- 1848 war between Mexicans and Americans, until the end of the century[footnoteRef:3]. [3: Jose Angel Hernandez. Mexican-American colonization during the nineteenth century: a history of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).]

Strengths and Weaknesses

This book covers the history of Mexican repatriations after the War between Mexico and U.S., which is not known by many individuals. Hernandez's work is famous for well-researched and specific cases, covering the whole border from Texas-California to the far-reaching matters of migration, the establishment of local spaces, and memories which have been so important in forming the region.

The enlightening bi-local work of Hernandez opens major questions that are considered closed by many scholars.

Unspeakable violence: remapping U.S. And Mexican national imaginaries

Narrative Analysis

Of course, this is impossible to argument such an intelligent and wide-ranging study into a few easy puns, and to attempt to do so would go against the idea that Hernandez's illustrations of frontier violence discloses a complexity in Mexico's and Arizona's history and culture, for which a large number of historians do not always like to take into consideration.

However, more work might be done in order to identify the interdisciplinary issues of investigating related oppressions of nationality, gender, class and race. Unspeakable violence is an important departure point for this significant work. This book of Hernandez's is an outstanding examination of violence in the borders between U.S. And Mexico.

Chronological Summary

There are two main sections in this book. The first section is related to three incidents of unspoken borderland violence via use of close analysis of text, historiography, cultural and feminist theory. The other section of the book is related to the Yaqui Indian wars of 1880 to 1910[footnoteRef:4]. [4: Guidotti- Hernandez, Nicole Marie. Unspeakable violence: remapping U.S. And Mexican national imaginaries. (Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press, 2011).]

Strengths and Weaknesses

In this wonderful book, Hernandez has tried to explore the significant violence episodes. This book calls for a feminist, new approach to citizenship, race, sexuality and gender in the borders. The book also provides detailed records and strong historical analyses of the events that are described.

However, readers who are not aware of this fact can find directional shifts and different focuses of the book to be a major challenge in engaging with this learning.

Border Dilemmas: Racial and National Uncertainties in New Mexico, 1848-1912

Narrative Analysis

Besides following new paths towards the matter of southern New Mexico and border-side religion, Border Dilemmas provides a well written and sophisticated use of cultural philosophy and means of Spanish-language resources to strengthen its major arguments related to the preservation of Mexican affiliation and identity.

This book deserves high praise for going beyond a large number of current studies, which focus on the identity's deconstruction, toward an insight of how ethnic nations and groups have idealistically formed optimistic identities to make people unite on a more democratic basis[footnoteRef:5]. [5: Anthony Mora. Border Dilemmas: Racial and National Uncertainties in New Mexico, 1848-1912. (Duke University Press Books, 2011)]

Chronological Summary

This book is divided into six chapters that are organized in a thematic manner. The first chapter of the book considers how various concepts of nation and….....

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