Term paper on Woodrow Wilson and the Mexican Crisis

Woodrow Wilson and the Mexican Crisis (1913–1917)

Events in revolutionary Mexico tested President Wilson’s policy of ‘‘missionary diplomacy,” which tried to infuse morality and idealism into foreign relations. When Mexican general Victoriano Huerta established a military dictatorship in 1913, Wilson refused to extend diplomatic recognition and supported the general’s rival, Venustiano Carranza. In April 1914, Mexican authorities briefly arrested some American sailors in Tampico and shortly thereafter U.S. forces seized Veracruz . Perhaps only the mediation of the ABC Powers ( Argentina , Brazil , and Chile ) prevented war. The United States recognized the new Carranza government in 1915. The bandit Pancho Villa created grave concern by killing Americans in Mexico and in New Mexico . Wilson sent General John J. Pershing into Mexico in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Villa.

Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Compare Wilson ‘s ‘‘missionary diplomacy” with Taft’s ‘‘dollar diplomacy.”

2. How significant was the ABC mediation?

3. Why did the Pershing expedition fail?

4. Did Wilson intervene in Mexico primarily to protect U.S. interests or to promote democracy?

5. Discuss the long-range consequences of the crisis on U.S.-Mexican relations.

Suggested Sources : See entries 11 and 14 for related items, especially Clements’s Presidency of Woodrow Wilson and Link’s edition of the Woodrow Wilson Papers .

GENERAL SOURCES

Calhoun, Frederick S. Uses of Force and Wilsonian Foreign Policy . Kent , Ohio : Kent State University Press, 1993. Places Mexican intervention in the broader context of Wilson ‘s diplomacy.

Cumberland , Charles C. Mexican Revolution: Genesis under Madero . (1952). Reprint. Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1969. Informative survey of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

Mexican Revolution: The Constitutionalist Years . Austin : University of Texas Press, 1972. Detailed account of the Mexican Revolution through the Carranza period.

Haley, P. Edward. Revolution and Intervention: The Diplomacy of Taft and Wilson with Mexico , 1910–1917 . Cambridge , MA : MIT Press, 1970. Thoughtful comparison of the two administrations.

Raat, W. Dirk. Mexico and the United States : Ambivalent Vistas . 2d ed. Athens : University of Georgia Press , 1996. Reliable survey with an excellent bibliography.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Clendenen, Clarence C. The United States and Pancho Villa: A Study in Unconventional Diplomacy . (1961). Reprint. Port Washington , NY : Kennikat, 1972. Informative examination of Mexican-American relations and the impact of Villa on the border region during this time.

Mason, Herbert M. The Great Pursuit . (1970). Reprint. New York : Smithmark, 1995. Fine study of Pershing’s expedition.

Teitelbaum, Louis M. Woodrow Wilson and the Mexican Revolution, 1913–1916: A History of United States–Mexican Relations from the Murder of Madero until Villa’s Provocation across the Border . New York : Exposition, 1967. Thorough coverage of the critical three-year period in which Carranza assumed control.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Harris, Larry A. Pancho Villa: Strong Man of the Revolution. Silver City, NM: High Lonesome Books, 1989. Concise survey with good coverage of the Columbus Raid.

Katz, Friedrich. The Life and Times of Pancho Villa . Stanford , CA : Stanford University Press, 1998. The most recent examination of Villa and his influence on the revolutionary movement in Mexico .

Meyer, Harold J. Hanging Sam: A Military Biography of General Samuel T. Williams from Pancho Villa to Vietnam . Denton : University of North Texas Press, 1990. Interesting biography of an army officer’s career that started with the Pershing expedition.

Smythe, Donald. Pershing, General of the Armies . Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1986. Excellent biography of Pershing.

Tuck, Jim. Pancho Villa and John Reed: Two Faces of Romantic Revolution . Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 1984. Interesting pairing of the lives of Villa and Reed, the American socialist writer, as ‘‘romantic” revolutionaries.

Vandiver, Frank E. Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing . College Station : Texas A&M University Press, 1977. Lengthy and detailed but readable and accurate. Considered a definitive biography.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

Espinosa, Paul. ‘‘The Hunt for Pancho Villa.” The American Experience . Santa Monica , CA : PBS Home Video, 1993. Videocassette. Television presentation; 56-minute documentary describing Pershing’s unsuccessful pursuit of Villa.

‘‘Pancho Villa, Mexican Revolutionary.” The Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Video Collection . Bala Cynwyd , PA : Schlessinger Library Video, 1995. Videocassette. One of a series of 30-minute biographies providing an informative survey of the lives and achievements of notable individuals.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Dean, Paul. ‘‘Woodrow Wilson’s Administration.” Presidents—Home Outlines, Essays, Texts, Biographies . June 1997. wysiwyg://59/http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/ww28/about/wilsonxx.htm Excellent narrative overview of Wilson ‘s political career with relevant links. Click on Part 2 ‘‘From New Freedom to World War I,” which deals with the Mexican turmoil, among other things.