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U.S.-Mexico Relations

The U.S. and Mexico have had a very long, and lopsided, relationship, stretching back to James Monroe’s articulation of a linkage between U.S. interests and the interests of its southern neighbors. The articles below trace some of the ways that linkage has been asserted by Americans on the northern side of the Rio Grande, going all the way back to the years before that river was even fixed as a national border in 1848, and continuing through Nixon's declaration of a War on Drugs in 1971, to NAFTA and Trump’s “big, beautiful wall.”

This collection was featured in Continuum, the joint newsletter of Bunk and HNN, on February 26, 2026: https://tinyurl.com/Continuum2-26-26
Created by Continuum on April 23, 2026.
Mexican people swatting away giant mosquitos.
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There’s No Business Like Coup Business

In 1876, Porfirio Díaz successfully deposed the Mexican government. He couldn’t have done it without the help of powerful Americans.
by Barney Hagan via HNN on February 26, 2026 
In 1876, Porfirio Díaz successfully deposed the Mexican government. He couldn’t have done it without the help of powerful Americans.
A photograph of Henry A. Crabb.

Henry A. Crabb, Filibuster, and the San Diego Herald

A Californian politician's disastrous expedition to seize Mexican land, and how newspapers spun the story.
by Diana Lindsay via The Journal of San Diego History on January 1, 1973 
A Californian politician‘s disastrous expedition to seize Mexican land, and how newspapers spun the story.
Joel Roberts Poinsett (left). The poinsettia, which takes its name from Poinsett (right).

Poinsettia Day, the Monroe Doctrine, and U.S.-Mexican Relations

The troubled history of the famous poinsettia plant.
by Lindsay Schakenbach Regele via Origins on December 9, 2023 
The troubled history of the famous poinsettia plant.
'Hanging of the San Patricios following the Battle of Chapultepec' by Samuel E. Chamberlain

During the Mexican-American War Irish-Americans Fought for Mexico in the 'Saint Patrick's Battalion'

Anti-Catholic sentiment in the States gave men like John Riley little reason to continue to pay allegiance to the stars and stripes.
by Francine Uenuma via Smithsonian Magazine on March 15, 2019 
Anti-Catholic sentiment in the States gave men like John Riley little reason to continue to pay allegiance to the stars and stripes.
Afghan children standing in rubble
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Invading Other Countries to ‘Help’ People Has Long Had Devastating Consequences

For more than a century, U.S. wars of invasion have claimed a humanitarian mantle.
by Joel Zapata via Made By History on September 10, 2021 
For more than a century, U.S. wars of invasion have claimed a humanitarian mantle.
Painting of the US army entering the city of Guadalupe Hildaglo
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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Annotated

Signed February 2, 1848, the treaty compelled Mexico to cede 55 percent of its territory, bringing more than 525,000 square miles under US sovereignty.
by Liz Tracey via JSTOR Daily on February 2, 2023 
Signed February 2, 1848, the treaty compelled Mexico to cede 55 percent of its territory, bringing more than 525,000 square miles under U.S. sovereignty.
Mexican president José López Portillo at a press conference on May 19, 1980.

Declassified Documents Uncover Yet Another Mexican President’s CIA Ties

Recently declassified documents have exposed former Mexican president José López Portillo as a CIA asset.
by Fernando Herrera Calderón via Jacobin
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on June 13, 2023 
Recently declassified documents have exposed former Mexican president José López Portillo as a CIA asset.
Richard Nixon speaking to the press in 1971

New Documents Reveal the Bloody Origins of America's Long War On Drugs

When President Nixon launched the war on drugs in 1971, it set off a bloody chain reaction in Mexico as new documents reveal.
by Benjamin T. Smith via TIME on August 24, 2021 
When President Nixon launched the war on drugs in 1971, it set off a bloody chain reaction in Mexico as new documents reveal.
President Bill Clinton signing NAFTA

The Long Shadow of NAFTA

Neither side of the border has seen the benefits it was promised.
by Helen Andrews via The American Conservative on February 12, 2024 
Neither side of the border has seen the benefits it was promised.
Trump looks at border wall construction prototypes.
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The Hole in Donald Trump’s Wall

As long as Americans continue to flood into Mexico, the wall will do little to deter crossings.
by Tore C. Olsson via Made By History on January 9, 2019 
As long as Americans continue to flood into Mexico, the wall will do little to deter crossings.
A private security guard throws a soccer ball back inside the Tornillo detention camp for migrant teens in Tornillo, Texas, Dec. 13, 2018.

A Historian on How Trump’s Wall Rhetoric Changes Lives in Mexico

The U.S. did not always find it necessary to lock up people seeking asylum.
by Ana Raquel Minian, Isaac Chotiner via The New Yorker
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on February 15, 2019 
The U.S. did not always find it necessary to lock up people seeking asylum.
Police and bystanders at night.

Do Cartels Exist?

A revisionist view of the drug wars.
by Rachel Nolan via Harper’s
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on June 20, 2023 
A revisionist view of the drug wars.
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