Line Of The Western U.s. -mexico Border - 996 Words

In her book, Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border, Rachel St. John provides a dynamic argument that focuses not just on the physical border itself or merely how border policy came to be, but looks at the borderlands as an entire region and how Mexico too played a part in creating both the border and border enforcement. St. John describes in her various chapters the development of border towns and how both the U.S. and Mexico created not just a physical barrier, but also a symbolic barrier that resulted in the division of races and cultures. The creation of national identities, argues St. John, is just as much a result of border policy as is the actual physical border. Additionally, St. John discusses the varied†¦show more content†¦John follows the formation of the borderline throughout the 1850s, highlighting the struggles between the two governments that arose during its creation, such as with the Gadsden Treaty which re-drew the boundaries set jus t years before. Here, St. John not only relates the involvement of various actors in the formation of the border, but relates how the Gadsden Treaty â€Å"had done very little to reshape the landscape of power along the border,† (St. John 37). This supports her claim that although both change throughout time, the physical border and the symbolic border are not the same thing and hold their own meanings. In the second chapter, â€Å"Holding the Line,† St. John looks at the permeability of the border in its early years, discussing the effects of Apache raiders and filibusters on the region of the borderlands. On both sides, border defenses were left to local governments and a variety of people were brought into the battle for border control. St. John discusses the development and role of national identity in places like Sonora in these early years and how the conflict and confusion in the region challenged the newly formed line of the border as power shifted between grou ps in the area. The third chapter, â€Å"Landscape of Profits,† looks at the effects of new industry in the borderlands in the late 1800s with the arrival of the railroad and more capitalist ideals. In this era, real changes took place as more people began to