Damir White

10/24/22

Hist 201

Document Analysis

When we began shadows at war, we also looked at certain documents involving the United

States and its former holdings. One of these documents was about the Philippines asking for its

independence and the other was the article on the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. In this paper I

will be giving an analysis of the document but more specifically Article XI.

The ones who produced the treaty was the United States of America but more specifically the

White settlers who had most of the power at the time. The reason was that the United States

wanted a legal way to divide the law between how it affects “whites'' and the “savage” native

tribes. It was produced on February 2,1848 at the end of the war between Mexico and America

when Mexico ceded fifty-five percent of its territory to America. The resources I used to build

this essay is the Immigration.org website for the context it gives to Article X and Article XI. I am

also going to use the National archives for accurate information on the document as well as the

Hispanic reading room so that I have more information.

To elaborate on the first sentence of my introduction, the original purpose of the Treaty beyond

dividing the Mexican territory into what is now California,Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of

Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming was to also settle peace on

America’s terms. The treaty was written by Non native Americans and used the term savage

tribes when referring to the tribes native to the area. Article XI was sure to differentiate them

from the Mexican settlers who they were just at war with and even ensured the human rights of
the Mexican people in the treaty. This is shown in Article XI where it states that no Mexican

citizen may be purchased by any American citizens from the “savage” tribes. The article also

states that Mexican citizens in the territory can’t buy any livestock stolen by the Native tribes

which is more than likely discrimination by the Americans.The article also makes it so if a

Mexican citizen was captured and carried over the territorial line the American government will

use its influence and power to return the citizen to their home. This Article had also stated that

the American government would not evict the Natie tribes from their territory. This Article was

clearly made to favor non Natives while giving them very little concessions.

The other purpose of this article beyond the promise of protection to Mexican settlers was also to

legally create a divide between the settlers and the Natives. It’s not only in the wording when the

document refers to them as savage tribes but also in the things that Article XI promises. Such as

the prohibition of buying any type of property from the Native Americans and assuming that the

property was stolen. The document also gives Mexican citizens every bit of protection afforded

by the American government if they were to be taken by Native tribes but offers no protection to

the tribes viewing them as savages. The entire Article of the document treats the Native people

as nothing more than savage raiders and only allows them to not be evicted from their land.

In conclusion, The Document is a reflection of the times it was written in, a time where the

Native tribes were viewed as lesser than the European and Hispanic settlers. They were treated as

a threat in a treaty that had nothing to do with them and only given the decency to keep their

homes. This tells us that the outcome of the war was in America’s favor and now they control a

majority of the region and dictate the terms of the Agreement. The American government takes

on the responsibility as the protector in exchange for the land they gained during the war. This

document shows that the American government paid the Natives mind only as a threat while
showing the Mexican government respect as equals in the treaty. Thank you for reading, I hope I

was able to inform and analyze the document properly

 Citation

“Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).” Immigration History, January 31, 2020.

https://immigrationhistory.org/item/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo/.

“Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).” National Archives and Records Administration.

National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 26, 2022.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo#:~:text=This

%20treaty%2C%20signed%20on%20February,Oklahoma%2C%20Kansas%2C%20and

%20Wyoming.

“The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.” The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Hispanic Reading

Room, Hispanic Division). Accessed October 26, 2022.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/ghtreaty/.