Mexico has a lot in common with Canada. Each country shares a long border with the United States, and they are America’s top two trading partners, with Canada edging out Mexico for the lead. Donald Trump recently made comments about making Canada the 51st State, getting rid of the invisible border that divides us.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like … it would also be much better for national security,” said Trump
There is a similar border between Mexico and the United States. One America tries to block with walls, fences, and guns. Trump talks about absorbing Canada into America, not using the military but by “economic force.” No such desire to take over Mexico has been expressed, even though Mexico is America’s largest agricultural trading partner. The next time you visit your grocery store, go to the produce section. Each fruit and vegetable is marked with the country of origin, and you can see how many of them come from Mexico, especially in winter. Mexico is the 7th largest automobile manufacturer, with 76% of its cars headed to the United States.
To understand why Trump wants Canada and not Mexico, we must first understand how those artificial borders were drawn. The Canadian border was mostly determined by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the American Revolutionary War. Britain agreed to recognize the Thirteen Colonies, and the border between Canada and the continental United States was established.
America’s Northern border at the time barely extended into what is now North Dakota. The Treaty of Paris gave land west of that to Spain, while the land to the North belonged to Britain. It would take decades for America to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean using Manifest Destiny as its justification. Americans believed God wanted them to have the land occupied at the time by Native Americans and Mexicans.
The Louisiana Purchase accounted for a massive chunk of land for America. Thomas Jefferson purchased the land from France, which had recently reacquired it from Spain. The acquisition of the Oregon Country was finalized in 1846. The entire length of the Canadian border was ultimately determined by American and European negotiators deciding what to do with lands inhabited mainly by indigenous people who had no say.
The expansion West of what is now the State of Louisiana was more complicated. Ten of the current fifty states were wholly or partially part of Mexico. America annexed Texas after kidnapping President Antonio López de Santa Anna after the Texian Army captured him during the 1836 Texas Revolution. Santa Anna was forced to sign the Treaties of Velasco (one public and one private) under threat of being hanged. Santa Anna agreed to return to Mexico and present the case for the independence of Texas. Mexico rejected the treaties, partially because Santa Anna was under duress at the time the treaties were signed. Mexico never relinquished its rights to Texas but didn’t have the military might to reestablish control.
Ten years later, under President James K. Polk, America invaded Mexico, using the illegally obtained Treaties of Velasco as a pretext. Polk campaigned on a platform to expand U.S. territory to Oregon, California (also a Mexican territory), and Texas. Polk sent a diplomatic mission to Mexico to buy the land they decided to have, but Mexico declined. Polk then sent a group of 80 soldiers across the disputed territory to the Rio Grande, ignoring Mexican demands to withdraw. Mexican forces interpreted this as an attack and repelled the U.S. forces on April 25, 1846, a move that Polk used to convince the Congress of the United States to declare war.
The Mexican-American War lasted from 1846–1848, ending with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It ended the war, and Mexico recognized the cession of present-day Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of present-day Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million for the physical damage of the war and assumed $3.25 million of debt already owed by the Mexican government to U.S. citizens. Mexico relinquished its claims on Texas and accepted the Rio Grande as its northern border with the United States.
Near the war's end, negotiators were determining how much territory would be ceded to the United States. There was a sentiment that the United States should take over the whole country, known as the “All Mexico Movement.” The U.S. Army had already taken Mexico City but was encountering guerilla resistance from Mexican citizens. In Congress, there was open debate about whether America could maintain its “racial integrity” by absorbing so many Mexicans.
Senator John C. Calhoun, on the floor of the Senate, gave a speech summarizing the views of those who wanted to limit expansion into Mexico because the area contained too many Mexicans.
“We have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race the free white race," said Calhoun. "To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race. The great misfortunes of Spanish America are to be traced to the fatal error of placing these colored races on an equality with the white race….
"Are we to associate with ourselves as equals, companions, and fellow-citizens, the Indians and mixed race of Mexico? I would consider such a thing fatal to our institutions….
'We make a great mistake, sir, when we suppose that all people are capable of self-government. We are anxious to force free government on all; and I see that it has been urged in a very respectable quarter, that it is the mission of this country to spread civil and religious liberty over all the world, and especially over this continent. It is a great mistake. None but people advanced to a very high state of moral and intellectual improvement are capable, in a civilized state, of maintaining free government.”
Trump has no interest in absorbing Mexico for the same reasons as John C. Calhoun. He views immigrants from Mexico as rapists, drug mules, and criminals.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best," said Trump. "They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems [to] us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
Trump doesn’t want Mexico because it has too many Mexicans. He wants the Panama Canal but not the surrounding country of Panama because they have too many Panamanians. Trump will willingly accept Canada (which isn’t nearly as white as he believes), Greenland, and Denmark if need be because his vision of making America greater is to make it more white, fending off the day when white people are no longer a majority.
Part I, the History of Panama and the Panama Canal
This article originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium.