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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Gadsden Purchase is an interesting thing...
Lately I've taken to pushing back at Trump/Wall people on Facebook by pushing the idea "Why don't we just buy Mexico?"
I don't know if this really a good idea or is feasible - but I think it's important to put some alternative notion or idea out there for these people. I like to suggest to Trump-ers that this is a "more American" idea.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/gadsden-purchase
Gadsden met with Santa Anna on September 25, 1853. President Pierce sent verbal instructions for Gadsden through Christopher Ward, an agent for U.S. investors in the Garay project, giving Gadsden negotiating options ranging from $50 million for lower California and a large portion of northern Mexico to $15 million for a smaller land deal that would still provide for a southern railroad. Ward also lied to Gadsden, stating the President wanted the claims of the Garay party addressed in any treaty concluded with the Mexican Government; however, President Pierce never gave Ward these instructions because he did not believe in government involvement in affairs between private companies and foreign governments. Santa Anna refused to sell a large portion of Mexico, but he needed money to fund an army to put down ongoing rebellions, so on December 30, 1853 he and Gadsden signed a treaty stipulating that the United States would pay $15 million for 45,000 square miles south of the New Mexico territory and assume private American claims, including those related to the Garay deal.
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underpants
(182,945 posts)How interesting
hexola
(4,835 posts)Took me awhile to reconcile this - The Gadsden Flag is a late colonial era symbol.
The Gadsden that did the deal is a another guy altogether.
Christopher Gadsden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Gadsden
James Gadsden
https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/gadsden-james
2naSalit
(86,831 posts)hexola
(4,835 posts)I've been using this article in conjunction with the Buy Mexico/No Wall argument...
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article222722325.html
On Thursday, Maduro said that Russia had agreed to invest more than $5 billion in boosting Venezuelan oil production and an additional $1 billion in mining — principally for gold.
After meeting with President Vladimir Putin this week, Maduro said the Russian government and private sector would also invest in Venezuela’s diamond sector, bring in new satellite technology and provide some 600 tons of wheat in 2019. In addition, Russia will continue to supply and maintain Venezuela’s military arsenal.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves and is thought to have one of the world’s largest gold reserves, but it has been mired in an economic crisis that has led to food and medicine shortages, and the migration of more than three million people in recent years.
hexola
(4,835 posts)I think this article is also in the spirit of my argument.
"It is a very important project for winning investment, creating jobs and taking advantage of the economic strength of the United States," Lopez Obrador said on his visit to Monterrey in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/mexico-creates-special-zone-on-us-border-to-win-investments-cut-migration-118123000065_1.html?fbclid=IwAR1yY8kbVwF7g8Z338eFaKMp_wlvzBkkxGRAT2EklnQmd16xJZ3cBER2AV4
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)American farming companies that now rely on undocumented immigrants can set up operations in a warmer climate, extend their growing seasons and crop diversity. If Trump was smart, he would jump into this and work with the Mexican president to insure that administrative and research functions for those companies stay in the US, but Trump is a moron, so ten years from now, those enterprise zones will be massive and Mexico will be getting the lion's share of the benefit.
hexola
(4,835 posts)I had no idea of this recent Mexican legislation.
In a sense this still "Buy Mexico" - but in a slower way.
And, I still feel it's a counter-WALL maneuver.
This Mexican president is called a Leftist...
Wounded Bear
(58,732 posts)yeah, we won the Mexican-American War, but after the conflict we actually reimbursed Mexico for the areas we conquered, and after gold and silver was discovered in several western states, it ended up being a pretty good bargain.
Following the defeat of the Mexican army and the fall of Mexico City, in September 1847, the Mexican government surrendered and peace negotiations began. The war officially ended with the February 2, 1848, signing in Mexico of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America’s southern boundary. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and agreed to settle all claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico.
https://www.history.com/topics/mexican-american-war/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo
Volaris
(10,274 posts)And see what they would do with it.
But that's just me .
hexola
(4,835 posts)Once we have sufficient investment in the Mexican Northern Border States - we can start offering statehood.
