The Image of Mexico in Letters from Mexico: Hegemonic Relations between the U.S. and Mexico in the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Positioning itself as a guardian of the Western Hemisphere from European powers, the United States recognized and claimed its power and superiority over newly independent Latin American nations. This political agenda was based on perceived U.S. superiority and was justification for declaring war on Mexico in 1846. With the development of railroads, telegraph, and print during the mid-nineteenth century, the common misperceptions about Mexico disseminated nationwide. Griffin's Mexico of Today (1886) helped create this discriminatory position. Using postcolonial theory, this research analyzes texts and images in Mexico of Today , reviewing the comparative contemporary literature and images to argue how the cultural and political hegemony of the United States over Mexico during the late nineteenth century was represented in texts like Griffin's.