Click below to see the full transcription of the 1849 Constitution.
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The Concept of Citizenship and Borders
The concept of citizenship is fluid, making it contestable and contextable. The concept of border is not static, always changing due to events of war, colonial dispute, and federal laws. These two concepts intersect, influencing each other by either reinforcing or impeding the other. Borders are the parameters that define citizenship - what makes one a citizen and one an "alien." The California Constitutional Convention of 1849 The end of the Mexican-American War was marked by the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe. It granted that the Mexicans inhabitants would have the right to their culture and protection to their land and property. It also gave the Mexicans the options to become American citizens by declaration or remain Mexican citizens but face exclusion. Just about a year after the Treaty, the Constitutional Convention of the State of California was convened in 1849, gather forty-eight delegates. Of these forty-eight delegates, only eight were Californios, Mexican-American citizenship subjects. It was intended to create a new form of government to which all the delegates could agree on but it resulted in failure for the Californios to negotiate the borders of U.S. citizenship due the Californios way of "border thinking." This gave suffrage to only white male U.S. citizens. |
We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us.
This popular slogan expresses border and citizenship crossing of the Latina/o communities through historical events. Although its origin is uncertain, the slogan arose from wars, treaties, colonial expansion, and federal laws. It entails not only the physical crossing of borders but also the personal challenges that victims faced.
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We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us.Many Latinos continuously face the unjust discrimination about their culture with questions that reflect on their history. In this video, a Latino woman expresses her feelings towards society's remarks about Latinos and border crossing. She presents her own beliefs about the topic and states the famous slogan that the border crossed us.
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Debates over the 1879 Constitution
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Colton HallIn September of 1879, the California Constitutional Convention of 1879 was assembled at the Colton Hall in Monterey, California.
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