Spanish settlement of the west
Spanish settlement of the westInternational borders have always been centers of conflict, and the
U.S.-Mexican border is no exception. With the European colonizing the New
World, it was a matter of time before the powers collided. The Spanish
settled what is today Mexico, while the English settled what is to day the
United States. When the two colonial powers did meet what is today the
United States’ Southwest, it was not England and Spain. Rather the two
powers were the United States and Mexico. Both Counties had broken off from
their mother countries. The conflict that erupted between the two countries
where a direct result of different nation policies. The United States had a
policy of westward expansion, while Mexico had a policy of self protection.
The Americans never had a written policy of expansion. What they had was
the idea of “Manifest Destiny.” Manifest Destiny was the belief that the
United States had the right to expand westward to the Pacific ocean. On the
other hand, Mexico was a new country wanting to protect itself from outside
powers. Evidence of U.S. expansion is seen with the independence of Texas
from Mexico. The strongest evidence of U.S. expansion goals is with the
Mexican-American War. From the beginning, the war was conceived as an
opportunity for land expansion. Mexico feared the United States expansion
goals.
During the 16th century, the Spanish began to settle the region. The
Spanish had all ready conquered and settled Central Mexico. Now they wanted
to expand their land holdings north. The first expedition into the region,
that is today the United States Southwest, was with Corando. Corando
reported a region rich in resources, soon after people started to settle the
region. The driving force behind the settlement was silver in the region.
The Spanish settled the region through three major corridors; central,
western and eastern. The first settlements were mainly through the central
corridor. The Spanish went thorough what is now the modern Mexican state of
Chihuahua into the U.S. state of New Mexico. Eventually the Spanish
established the city of Santa Fe in 1689. The eastern corridor was through
modern day Texas and led to the establishment of San Antonio. The eastern
expansion was caused by the French expansion into modern day Louisiana. The
Spanish crown wanted a buffer between the French in Louisiana and central
Mexico. The last corridor of expansion was in the west, through the sea,
which led to the establishment of San Diego in 1769 and Los Angles in 1781.
The Spanish were not the only European power to colonize the new world;
French, English and the Dutch also settled North and South America. The
Spanish and the French settled what is present day U.S.-Mexico border region....
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