The history of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora - Book Report/Review Example

The history of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora are two sides of a same city. Nogales, Arizona is controlled by the US government while the other side of the city belongs to Mexico. The standard of living on both the side of the city are quite different showing enormous prosperity on the US side and immense poverty on the other side. The reasons for such disparity in the north and south are due to the politics, history and the nature of the two different governments in both the countries. The average income of the northern side is nearly $30000 a year and the citizens enjoy good sanitation, health and road facilities. Most of them have basic education and live in a safe environment. The situation is entirely different in the south with very poor sanitation conditions, soaring population, crime filled environment and very low average income. We have to understand the history of the both the countries in a better way to understand why one country soars while the other one keeps degrading constantly. The history of both the nations citizens are more or less the same. But, the colonization histories of both the countries are very different. South America, Mexico and many other Latino countries were invaded by Spain much before the British established their colony in North America. The regions occupied by the Spain were very fertile in terms of agriculture as well as minerals. The Spaniards set up numerous mines and tortured various natives to hand over ample wealth to them. In addition to pondering the natural resources of the area, they created very distinct class oriented rule which divided the country into the rich and the poor which prevails still. On the other hand, the British people who colonized North America were not able to create such distinct differences. The Spanish people started invading the South American countries as early as 1516. Juan Diaz de Solis was the first known navigator to visit the region. He was the one to name the Rio de la Plata region the "River of Silver". However, conquering the South American areas like Buenos Aires was no easy task. The indigenous people of Uruguay and Querandi were not that easy to conquer. They did not get any major victory till 1534. The Spaniards were short of food, labour and all resources. Further, the natives attacked them constantly in defence. In 1537 Spaniards captures Guarani under Juan de Ayolas. The mostly agricultural town put up little resistance to the mighty Spaniard army. They used the wealth looted from Guarani and the forced labour from the region to strengthen themselves. They captured Buenos Aires in 1580 defeating the mighty Charruas. Hernan Cortes was the first to capture Mexico in 1519. It was from there the Spanish people spread themselves to the other parts of the South America within a century. They conquered most of the countries except Brazil which was controlled by the Portuguese. The Spanish people followed Corte's strategy to target and conquer the indigenous leader first and attack the unorganized tribes next to capture most of the South American colonies. They would then establish themselves as the elite and start accumulating all the wealth gained through forced labour and looting. Cortes arrived in Aztec, the Tenochtitlan capital on November 8, 1519. Moctezuma, the emperor of the area welcomed them with warmth only to be conquered easily by the mighty Spain army. Florentine Codices written by Bernardino de Sahagun in 1545 describes the incident as "they took all, all that they saw which they saw to be good" from indigenous storages called Totocalco. They introduced the encomienda system in the country where the religious priests should be given labour and money in exchange of which they will help the natives transform into Christianity. The cruel way the indigenous people were treated is explained in the book 'A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies' written by De Jas Casas in 1542. The book says the Spanish people made the natives work day and night mercilessly without any rest in their houses and plantations. The natives were made slaves in their own land. The book states the Spanish people captured modern day Columbia by capturing the kings and tribal heads first and torturing them. They demanded them to fill houses and rooms full of gold. When their loyal tribes paid the sum given, they murdered the leader and took their tribe as prisoners. Pizarro conquered Cajamarca and the other regions in 1532 following the same strategy. King Atahualpa, was invited to the Spanish camp in a friendly way and attacked unexpectedly. They killed him after he filled a room with gold and two other with silver. In November 1533, they captured Inca capital Cusco in the same manner. Diego Gualpa, a local found "the Rich Hill" full of silver in the year 1545. The city of Potosi was built around it. The Spaniards needed miners to dig out the silver. Francisco de Toledo, a Spanish chief came to Peru in 1569. He took a five year long tour around the region and captured as many miners as possible. He revived old exploitation methods like mita and reducciones to practically force the indigenous people to work only in Spanish settlements, by only the goods they sell and pay very high taxes. Such activities created a wide gap between the poor and the rich in the area. Repartimiento and trajin were two other methods used to suppress the indigenous people further by making them buy goods sold by the Spanish people at very high costs and making them carry very heavy loads like wine and textiles for business across the steep mountains. Centuries of training the indigenous people in such suppressive ways and keeping them ignorant paved way for a very large group of the continents population being poor. Only a handful of the colonised rulers and their descendants were rich and prosperous. Whole continents money transacted between them. The same elite class continued to rule the country even after they gained freedom. The rulers, who followed them, led revolutions but did not aim in changing the system established during the Spanish times. Power passed from one group of people to another leaving the poor still poorer. On the other hand the colonization of Northern America was a totally different story. The English were late beginners and they had left to conquer in the new world discovered by Columbus was North America. The fertile regions were already taken by other invaders. British people first tried to set up a colony in North Carolina around 1585. The Virginia Company wanted to set up a colony based on Cortes, Pizarro and Toledo's model. But, they were unsuccessful due to various reasons. Wahunsunacock, a mighty king was ruling the Jamestown area when the British people came to the area in three vessels Constant, Godspeed and Discovery on May 14, 1607. Wahunsunacock has already heard about the many atrocities committed by the Spaniards in the South. He was well prepared for the British people. He was not ready to appreciate any of their friendships moves. Further, the population in the area was very low. There were scarcely any mines, gold or silver. Only harsh winters and severe summers welcomed the British people. John Smith, a mighty hero who fought in various wars, came to the US soil. His life is like a thriller movie. Born in an aristocrat family, he chose to become a soldier. He was captured as a war prisoner and sold as a slave in Romania. He managed to escape from there and joined the Virginia company vessels travelling to the US. He was arrested on the way for a mutiny. But, the sealed orders actually enlisted him as the commander of the British colonies in Jamestown. While the other commanders like Newport and Wingfield were uncertain about the handling the situation, Smith met the Wahunsunacock king directly risking his life. He analyzed the situation carefully and send recommendations to the Virginia company regarding what should be done further. He clearly mentioned there was no way to exploit the natives then. If the Virginia company wanted gold, they have to dig it out. Since, the indigenous people were not ready to comply with them, he started using the men who came along with him for work. Exploiting the colonists instead of indigenous people was his strategy. At this stage, it was often considered escaping the colony establishments and settling with the natives a luxuriant opportunities. Strict laws were enforced to give ration only to people who work and men and women who tried to escape to the native lands were punished severely to keep the labour force in control. But the situation changed very soon. The commanders found giving incentives to their own men bough much more progress than forcing them to work for cheap labour. Granting them lands and allowing them to work peacefully with good facilities enabled them to gain more profit than the previous technique. The pay more, earn more mentality was installed in the minds of the early Americans by John Smith. Once the Virginia Company found out which model will work in the new land, they did everything to encourage the workers work more. Land was divided into portions and shared between groups of people. Indigenous people living the area were very less. Only four to five people lived in a square kilometre where 400 people lived in Spanish colonies. Hence, declaring the land as their own was not a major issue. The Virginia Company gave all the adult males with land a chance to vote and take part in political activities. They simply bought in slaves from various other colonies to work for them in the land. However, the English tried again and again to establish a model similar to the Spanish colonies in the US but failed every time. In 1632 nearly ten million acres of land was given to Lord Baltimore. He created a full government joining hands with various other proprietors of the area like Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper. The document known as the Charter of Maryland created a model Constitution which classified the low class workers into 'leet-men'. The people above them were the landgraves and then caziques. The son of leet-men would be the same forever. But, such measures failed abruptly due to inter caste marriages, arrival of immigrants and mixing of the natives. Areas like South Carolina and Baltimore were colonies of the Royal crown. But, the system they planned to implement failed miserably. The arrival of industrialization put a huge end to such practices in the North America. Industrialization first started with using machineries for the manufacturing cotton. Very soon, it spread to several areas. The US made use of the Industrial revolution unlike any other country. More and more labours were needed and the company which paid more was preferred by them. Companies which gave more pleasant atmosphere to work became instant success. While the Spanish colonies concentrated on threatening people and making their life harder than ever, the rulers of the US colony concentrated on making life easier for the settlers and luring them to work more. This basic change in attitude is responsible for the massive development of the US as a nation and the struggles of the people in the South America. Wealth got accumulated to one elite community in the US too. But that wealth was used to make the workers lifer easier, just to make more money. The US labourers who were given more income started to demand equal rights in legislation and education very soon. Every adult men having a land was a given the right to vote, select their leader and have as say on the political issues even though Maryland was under the England crown. But, as time progressed, these men joined together and started fighting against the England crown winning their freedom much earlier than the Southern countries without much loss or fight. This was mainly because the majority knew their power and tacked the minority with wit. On the other hand, the revolutions in the South American Countries and Mexico were bloody. The natural resource of the country was constantly depleted in several wars. The attack of the Napoleon on the Spain had drastic efforts on the Southern American colonies. The first independence movement with Augustin de Iturbide with the leader started in 1821. He wanted a free Mexico, but did not have enough power to achieve the same. He replaced the ruling elites with his own junta who continued to plunder the poor, leading to several revolutions in the country. On the other hand, democracy in America was well established by the late 18th century. There were several banks, funding the new business men. The industrial revolution paved way for widespread education. Many people like Edison came out with numerous patents. Usually people with a patent started a company or a business and the banks funded and backed them up with very low interest rates. The business owners kept their workers comfortable following the same strategy of giving incentives to make them work harder. The country did not see any major war other than the Civil War which came much later. This stable political system also paved way for peaceful life in the country. Santa Ana, the eleven time President of Mexico lead the country during the Mexican-American War and paved way for the US to capture Texas. Mexico did not have a clear constitution, a vision or an organized government ever. The government kept raising the taxes to meet the war expenses. The people were left with little work opportunities and heavy taxes. Many migrated into the North America for the sake of a better life. Education was scare and people did not have any knowledge about their rights. After Santa Ana, Emperor Maxmillan ruled Mexico, followed by Benito Juarez and Sebastian Lerdo. Porfirio Diaz revolted against them in 1876 and became the President. He created a corrupt government with high power officials who were mainly his kith and kin. While the US people had the power to throw out whomever they considered bad for society from their power, Mexico never gave a chance for commoners to do that. Change of power occurred there only through revolution for a very long time. The Mexican Revolution which took place in 1910 spread to various places like Bolivia and Cuba. In the modern times millionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet emerged from the US economy. At the same time Mexico saw its share of millionaires like Carlos Slim. But, it is said he largely corrupted the systems and exploited many other companies to gain the status. Though this was the case with the former two also to a certain extent, they were kept in check by the strict rule and ensured they did justice to those who worked under them. The underlying reason for the difference in the two sides of a same city is the difference in the institutions that rule them. The institutions framed itself from long history and the social factors. We could not imagine what would have been the England’s strategy if North America was also well populated and fertile like the South America. But, somehow the people living here showed their grid not to succumb to the very early rulers paving way for a better institution which realized cajoling them would me much easier than conquering them. References Acemoglu, D & Robinson J. 2012. The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty: Why Nations Fail. Read More