In Revolution in Texas Benjamin Johnson tells the little-known story of one of the most intense and protracted episodes of racial violence in United States history. In 1915, against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the uprising that would become known as the Plan de San Diego began with a series of raids by ethnic Mexicans on ranches and railroads. Local violence quickly erupted into a regional rebellion. In response, vigilante groups and the Texas Rangers staged an even bloodier counterinsurgency, culminating in forcible relocations and mass executions.
Faced with the overwhelming forces arrayed against it, the uprising eventually collapsed. But, as Johnson demonstrates, the rebellion resonated for decades in American history. Convinced of the futility of using force to protect themselves against racial discrimination and economic oppression, many Mexican Americans elected to seek protection as American citizens with equal access to rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution.
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Land, Violence, and Power The events surrounding the Plan of San Diego are well described and analyzed by Johnson. This is one of the best histories published regarding Latinos in Texas. He does an excellent job of joining the available archival information with previously published research. A must read for anyone who wants to know more about Texas history. This is not just a story about ethnic differences, its a story about land, violence, and power.I first heard about the Plan of San Diego at a Hispanic genealogy conference in Texas about 20 years ago. A now famous academic had given a talk at the conference — we had a long conversation afterwards and he told me about the event in South Texas. I was shocked, thinking I knew so much about Texas history and did not know about the Plan, Luis de la Rosa and of course the 5,000 or so that were killed in retaliation for the insurrection.Johnson did a great job of presenting this part of lost history.
Sad, Sad Story Where to begin? What a sad, depressing tale. So it took the lynching of 5000 Mexican-Americans down below the Nueces River in Texas in 1915 to turn Mexicans into Americans? Somehow seems like there could have been a better way. It’s easy to forget, reading history, that these were real people, with real lives, with real families, real loved ones who mourned them. It’s easy to forget from the vantage of our secure, modern cocoons just how cheap life can be where the lust for money and power is involved. Human history is a tale of blood and carnage and American history is no exception. A must read for those who seek insight into important issues facing our nation today.
Blowback, the early years Benjamin Johnson’s treatise on the troubles in South Texas during the time of the Mexican Revolution is a well-written tome of 211 pages that traces the origins of the Plan of San Diego and the consequences of the actions of Mexican and Tejano radicals to take portions of the United States and create an independent republic for Mexicans, African-Americans and Native Americans. The plan was created in some part was due to the frustration of Tejanos having their lands taken away by economic necessity or more ominously, fraud and intimidation. Neither side won in this conflict for with the killing of some anglos in the area around Brownsville and McAllen, vigilantes and some elements of the Texas Rangers launched retalitory raids on innocent Tejanos that were suspected of being in sympathy with the raiders that has led to bitterness among these peoples to this very day. However, out of this conflict, Johnson contends that men such as J.T. Canales sought to obtain rights for Tejanos via peaceful means and the founding of LULAC was the result. The book ended with Johnson criticizing Pat Buchanan for his worries about the growth of latino population in America.I wrote the title for this review because the theme of this book was the sorrow of launching of violence, no matter how justified, led to viscious retaliation from the vanquished which is the defintion of blowback. We saw this in the post Civil War-south, Germany after World War I, bitterness among colonial peoples being oppressed and the Islamic retaliations on America for their occupation of areas of the Middle East and South Asia. The conflict in South Texas during the 1910s was no different. One thing for sure. Wanton killing of innocent people via means of violence does not win many friends and influences people for the worse. Johnson seemed to let his partiality loose for portions of the book, but a good effort nonetheless. Four stars.