At times during the cruel, onerous War of Reform, U. S. economic and military support for the liberals was a decisive factor in their victory. . .
Enrique Krauze, 20065
The decade 1857 to 1867 proved to be the most complicated period for U. S.—Mexican relations since the independence of the two nations. For most of that period, Mexico had two governments, one liberal and one conservative. Then, during the early 1860s, the U. S. Civil War raged.
In 1857, Ambassador Forsyth received instructions to offer President Comonfort $12 million for Baja California and part of Sonora and Chihuahua. Mexico rejected the offer.6
Forsyth recognized Zuloaga immediately after he had seized power, feeling that Mexico’s new leader would facilitate the territorial acquisition that Comonfort had resisted. The rest of the diplomatic corps in Mexico also recognized Zuloaga on the grounds that he controlled the capital city.7
In 1858, Forsyth proposed to Zuloaga’s Foreign Relations Minister Luis G. Cuevas that Mexico transfer territory to the United States for a cash payment and that it cede perpetual transit rights across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Invoking Manifest Destiny, Forsyth stated that Mexico should sell the land, since the “inscrutable” designs of the Creator included U. S. acquisition of that territory. Cuevas rejected the offer, noting that indeed the designs of the Lord might be inscrutable, but that in order for countries to live harmoniously together, they should respect each other’s territorial rights.8
After Cuevas rejected his offer to purchase territory, Forsyth broke diplomatic relations with the conservative government, which had levied a 1 percent property tax on all residents of Mexico, including foreigners. An American citizen refused to pay the tax, leading the conservatives to expel him from the country. Forsyth used this expulsion to justify breaking relations.9
Forsyth’s departure left the United States without diplomatic representation in Mexico. Since this interrupted the flow of information to Washington, President James Buchanan sent William Churchwell to Mexico as a special agent to report on conditions there. Churchwell reported that the Juarez government claimed to be recognized by sixteen of the twenty-one Mexican states and that it enjoyed the support of 70 percent of the population. The liberals indicated to Churchwell that they would “negotiate affirmatively” the cession of Baja California, the granting of transit rights, claims adjustment, and reciprocal trade.10
Buchanan, upon receiving Churchwell’s report, sent Robert McLane to Mexico as U. S. ambassador and instructed him to recognize whichever of the two governments in Mexico that he felt offered the best prospects for acquiring Baja California and transit rights across Mexican territory. McLane landed in Veracruz, and, since the liberal government there appeared willing to negotiate, McLane recognized it in April 1859.11
The positive liberal responses to Churchwell and McLane reflected Juarez’s realization that support from Washington could be advantageous. Juarez felt that obtaining U. S. recognition would not only allow his beleaguered government to receive economic aid but would also guarantee maritime security in the Veracruz area.12
McLane and liberal Foreign Relations Minister Melchor Ocampo then began negotiating a treaty on transit rights and territorial cession. Since the sale of Baja California was most strongly opposed in northern Mexico, where Juarez enjoyed his firmest support, that sale was not included in the resulting treaty, known as the McLane—Ocampo Treaty. The transit rights enumerated in the treaty reflected not the liberals’ desire to open Mexico’s doors to unregulated crossings of its territory but the financial and military pressures they felt at the time of McLane’s arrival and their hope that signing the treaty would be the key to obtaining U. S. aid.13
The McLane—Ocampo Treaty granted the United States perpetual transit rights: 1) across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 2) from the lower Rio Grande to Mexico’s west coast, and 3) from Guaymas to Nogales, Arizona. Americans not only viewed these transit rights as desirable but also felt they would pave the way for the formal incorporation of these areas into the United States. The treaty granted the United States the right to intervene militarily to protect people and goods in transit along the routes included in the treaty. In exchange for these rights, the United States was to pay the liberal government $4 million, of which $2 million was to be retained to settle damage claims against Mexico filed by U. S. citizens.14
Fortunately for Mexico, and Juarez’s historical reputation, the U. S. Senate rejected the McLane— Ocampo Treaty. Senators from northern states felt slave interests would benefit if U. S. influence extended into Mexico. Twenty-seven senators opposed the treaty, while eighteen favored it. Northern senators cast twenty-three of the negative votes. Southern senators cast fourteen of the votes in favor.15
Since the U. S. Senate rejected the treaty, the liberal government did not receive the desperately needed cash that the treaty would have provided. The liberals’ willingness to negotiate with the
United States did provide some crucial military support. In early 1860, conservative General Miguel Miramon surrounded Veracruz with an army of 7,000. To prevent the liberals from being supplied by sea and thus force their surrender, the conservatives bought two ships and ammunition in Cuba, then still a Spanish colony. The two ships, the General Miramon and the Marques de la Habana, sailed to Mexico and anchored at the small port of Anton Lizardo, fourteen miles south of Veracruz.
Juarez, lacking either naval or land forces to attack Anton Lizardo, declared the boats to be “pirate ships” and then sought U. S. aid in subduing the “pirates.” The claim that the conservative boats were pirate ships was obviously a sham. Nevertheless, U. S. navy ships proceeded to the port and captured the two vessels with the loss of one American and fifteen Mexican lives. The ships were then taken to New Orleans where an admiralty court ruled that they were not pirate ships. By that time, the conservative ground forces threatening Veracruz had been withdrawn, so the ships could not force the surrender of the city.16
Late in 1860, Juarez’s army took Mexico City. In January 1861, John Weller, the new U. S. ambassador presented his credentials and a long list of damage claims filed by U. S. citizens.17
World History
