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3/26/08
PADRE MARTINEZ and POLITICAL PARTIES
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
4:52:00 PM EDT
“Now is the time for all good men (people) to come to the aid of their party!” Democrats credit Thomas Jefferson as their founding spirit, and Republicans look to Alexander Hamilton and his Federalist ideals as one of their main patrons. Both Founding Fathers are giants of this democracy, of this republic. The Federalist Party was no longer around in the mid nineteenth century when New Mexico became a Territory of the United States and Padre Martinez together with may others became citizens of the US.
The 1877 Biography of Padre Martinez by Santiago Valdez states that he “embraced the Democratic or anti-slavery party, and as such was elected Senator of the first Senatorial District of Taos and Rio Arriba.” This “Democratic or anti-slavery” party existed in opposition to the Whigs. However, within a few years that single Democratic-Republican Party would also disappear, but then re-emerge as the two separate major political parties with which today we are familiar. The “Democratic or anti-slavery party” of 1846-1851 was, then, not synonymous with today’s Democratic Party.
The Federalist Party was disappearing, and—in an “era of good feeling” with its political rivals—the Whig party would replace it by 1815. The Democratic Party began in opposition to the Federalists, and the principle of states’ rights was a key plank in their platform. However, in its early years, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Democratic Party became known by the confusing name of Democratic-Republican Party. Although this political party favored France in the wars between Brittan and France, its hyphenated name indicates that the core concepts defining the identity of political parties were fluctuating. One thing that the members of the Democratic-Republican Party were clear about was that they were against the Whigs, successors to the Federalists, who advocated a strong central government, a more relaxed interpretation of the Constitution, and a republic run by a more professional educated class. By the 1860s, the Whigs would also fade away completely.
In the 1820s, the Democratic-Republican Party began to morph into what would eventually become two distinct political parties--the Democratic and Republican parties that we know today. This process culminated in the mid-nineteenth century with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that came into existence in 1848, and the Republican Party that was conceived in 1850. However, it took some years for party identity and loyalty to develop. In fact, by 1860, the Republican Party became the “anti-slavery” party in which Abraham Lincoln ran and won as its first presidential candidate.
Antonio José Martinez was born a citizen of Spain in an America that that was still part of the Kingdom of Spain. During his young manhood, he lived through and embraced Mexican Independence and became a fervent Mexican nationalist, imbibing and promoting principles of freedom and democracy. Over a period of years, and after a process of mature political thinking, he deliberately chose to become an American citizen on the occasion that General Stephen Watts Kearney invited him to do so in the late summer of 1846. “General Kearny invited all the prominent men of the Territory to visit him at the capital, and Padre Martinez was tendered a special invitation…Padre Martinez, accompanied by his brothers…left for Santa Fe, [and] during this visit, all three were sworn in as American citizens.” [Santiago Valdez Manuscript, p. 111-320/88]
General Kearny appointed Governor Donaciano Vigil in early 1847 to succeed assassinated Governor Charles Bent, and Vigil selected Padre Martinez to preside over a Convention held in Santa Fe in October 1847. One of the principal tasks of this convention was to facilitate transition from a military government to one purely civil in character. The U.S.-Mexican War was formally concluded with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and a whole swath of land north of Mexico—including the vast territory of New Mexico-- became “the American Southwest.” On October 12 of that year, Padre Martinez presided over the second General Convention in Santa Fe, and that assembly requested the U.S. Congress to abolish military rule and establish Civil Government in New Mexico. It was the anniversary-day. two and a half centuries after the arrival of Columbus to the new world.
In 1851, there was a third Convention of New Mexico, now a Territory of the United States that was no longer under Military Rule. In preparation for elections, New Mexicans were choosing the political party to which they wanted to belong as citizens of the United States. However, the choices were still largely limited to Democratic-Republican or Whigs. Although the national Democratic Party and theRepublican Party were each in their infancy, neither party was quite formed in its present state nor yet very well known.
Some twenty years earlier, after 1830, the Democratic Party had become a coalition of farmers, city dwelling laborers, and Irish Catholics. The Cura de Taos might have been attracted to a political party that welcomed Irish Catholics, but he would not have favored unlawful expansion of settlers who squatted on land owned by him or anyone in his extended family, or other New Mexican long-time settlers. He also would have initially opposed the Democrats’ embrace of the War with Mexico, the expulsion of eastern American Indians, and the acquisition of vast amounts of new land in the West. However, he would have been in deep sympathy with the Democratic Party’s opposition to anti-immigrant nativists who held strongly negative views about all foreigners, or native-born Catholics, Jews and Negroes.
The so-called “Democratic Party,” to which the biographer of Padre Martinez claims the Padre belonged, was more accurately the Democratic-Republican Party that identified itself in opposition to the Whigs. The issue of slavery helped bring political identity into focus. Democrats and Whigs were divided on the issue of slavery. Democrats in Congress, especially those of the so-called “solid south,” passed the hugely controversial pro-slavery Compromise of 1850, while the Territorial Government of New Mexico was taking shape. Under the leadership of Padre Martinez, New Mexico insisted that it be admitted into the Union as a Free State. Nevertheless, in state after state, the Democrats gained small but permanent advantages over the Whig Party that finally collapsed in 1852. Division over slavery and its nativist leanings against immigrants and “foreigners,” especially those of Jewish or Catholic heritage, had fatally weakened it.
Democratic leader Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois--the future debate-rival of Abraham Lincoln—pushed through the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 that repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. According to the principle of “popular sovereignty,” the Act opened the Midwest territories to slavery. In reaction to this, anti-slavery activists and individuals conceived the Republican Party in the early 1850's, and the first official Republican meeting took place in 1854. The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party. They believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge.
In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President, and four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House. Against the backdrop of the slavery issue, a major re-alignment took place among voters and politicians, with new issues, new parties, and new rules. While the Democrats survived, many northern Democrats joined the newly established Republican Party. Was Padre Martinez among them? How about members of the Penitentes whom the Padre influenced so much in spiritual maters, and somewhat in political matters as well?
[Information taken mostly from <http://en.wikipedia.org/>.]
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4:52:00 PM EDT
PADRE MARTINEZ and POLITICAL PARTIES
“Now is the time for all good men (people) to come to the aid of their party!” Democrats credit Thomas Jefferson as their founding spirit, and Republicans look to Alexander Hamilton and his Federalist ideals as one of their main patrons. Both Founding Fathers are giants of this democracy, of this republic. The Federalist Party was no longer around in the mid nineteenth century when New Mexico became a Territory of the United States and Padre Martinez together with may others became citizens of the US.
The 1877 Biography of Padre Martinez by Santiago Valdez states that he “embraced the Democratic or anti-slavery party, and as such was elected Senator of the first Senatorial District of Taos and Rio Arriba.” This “Democratic or anti-slavery” party existed in opposition to the Whigs. However, within a few years that single Democratic-Republican Party would also disappear, but then re-emerge as the two separate major political parties with which today we are familiar. The “Democratic or anti-slavery party” of 1846-1851 was, then, not synonymous with today’s Democratic Party.
The Federalist Party was disappearing, and—in an “era of good feeling” with its political rivals—the Whig party would replace it by 1815. The Democratic Party began in opposition to the Federalists, and the principle of states’ rights was a key plank in their platform. However, in its early years, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Democratic Party became known by the confusing name of Democratic-Republican Party. Although this political party favored France in the wars between Brittan and France, its hyphenated name indicates that the core concepts defining the identity of political parties were fluctuating. One thing that the members of the Democratic-Republican Party were clear about was that they were against the Whigs, successors to the Federalists, who advocated a strong central government, a more relaxed interpretation of the Constitution, and a republic run by a more professional educated class. By the 1860s, the Whigs would also fade away completely.
In the 1820s, the Democratic-Republican Party began to morph into what would eventually become two distinct political parties--the Democratic and Republican parties that we know today. This process culminated in the mid-nineteenth century with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that came into existence in 1848, and the Republican Party that was conceived in 1850. However, it took some years for party identity and loyalty to develop. In fact, by 1860, the Republican Party became the “anti-slavery” party in which Abraham Lincoln ran and won as its first presidential candidate.
Antonio José Martinez was born a citizen of Spain in an America that that was still part of the Kingdom of Spain. During his young manhood, he lived through and embraced Mexican Independence and became a fervent Mexican nationalist, imbibing and promoting principles of freedom and democracy. Over a period of years, and after a process of mature political thinking, he deliberately chose to become an American citizen on the occasion that General Stephen Watts Kearney invited him to do so in the late summer of 1846. “General Kearny invited all the prominent men of the Territory to visit him at the capital, and Padre Martinez was tendered a special invitation…Padre Martinez, accompanied by his brothers…left for Santa Fe, [and] during this visit, all three were sworn in as American citizens.” [Santiago Valdez Manuscript, p. 111-320/88]
General Kearny appointed Governor Donaciano Vigil in early 1847 to succeed assassinated Governor Charles Bent, and Vigil selected Padre Martinez to preside over a Convention held in Santa Fe in October 1847. One of the principal tasks of this convention was to facilitate transition from a military government to one purely civil in character. The U.S.-Mexican War was formally concluded with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and a whole swath of land north of Mexico—including the vast territory of New Mexico-- became “the American Southwest.” On October 12 of that year, Padre Martinez presided over the second General Convention in Santa Fe, and that assembly requested the U.S. Congress to abolish military rule and establish Civil Government in New Mexico. It was the anniversary-day. two and a half centuries after the arrival of Columbus to the new world.
In 1851, there was a third Convention of New Mexico, now a Territory of the United States that was no longer under Military Rule. In preparation for elections, New Mexicans were choosing the political party to which they wanted to belong as citizens of the United States. However, the choices were still largely limited to Democratic-Republican or Whigs. Although the national Democratic Party and theRepublican Party were each in their infancy, neither party was quite formed in its present state nor yet very well known.
Some twenty years earlier, after 1830, the Democratic Party had become a coalition of farmers, city dwelling laborers, and Irish Catholics. The Cura de Taos might have been attracted to a political party that welcomed Irish Catholics, but he would not have favored unlawful expansion of settlers who squatted on land owned by him or anyone in his extended family, or other New Mexican long-time settlers. He also would have initially opposed the Democrats’ embrace of the War with Mexico, the expulsion of eastern American Indians, and the acquisition of vast amounts of new land in the West. However, he would have been in deep sympathy with the Democratic Party’s opposition to anti-immigrant nativists who held strongly negative views about all foreigners, or native-born Catholics, Jews and Negroes.
The so-called “Democratic Party,” to which the biographer of Padre Martinez claims the Padre belonged, was more accurately the Democratic-Republican Party that identified itself in opposition to the Whigs. The issue of slavery helped bring political identity into focus. Democrats and Whigs were divided on the issue of slavery. Democrats in Congress, especially those of the so-called “solid south,” passed the hugely controversial pro-slavery Compromise of 1850, while the Territorial Government of New Mexico was taking shape. Under the leadership of Padre Martinez, New Mexico insisted that it be admitted into the Union as a Free State. Nevertheless, in state after state, the Democrats gained small but permanent advantages over the Whig Party that finally collapsed in 1852. Division over slavery and its nativist leanings against immigrants and “foreigners,” especially those of Jewish or Catholic heritage, had fatally weakened it.
Democratic leader Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois--the future debate-rival of Abraham Lincoln—pushed through the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 that repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. According to the principle of “popular sovereignty,” the Act opened the Midwest territories to slavery. In reaction to this, anti-slavery activists and individuals conceived the Republican Party in the early 1850's, and the first official Republican meeting took place in 1854. The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party. They believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge.
In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President, and four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House. Against the backdrop of the slavery issue, a major re-alignment took place among voters and politicians, with new issues, new parties, and new rules. While the Democrats survived, many northern Democrats joined the newly established Republican Party. Was Padre Martinez among them? How about members of the Penitentes whom the Padre influenced so much in spiritual maters, and somewhat in political matters as well?
[Information taken mostly from <http://en.wikipedia.org/>.]
Written by juanrvi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
6/26/08 2:51 PM
the statehood party (which included anglo-americans and even some anglo slavery advocates-- maj. weightman being the most famous) was largely hispanic and wanted the state controlled by its residents, as promised by kearney, polk, and taylor. originally it had some items in common with the whigs and ole ruff and ready (who prevented another texan invasion in 1850, tho we would have spanked them again). later the statehood folks had some ties to the national republicans, but it was never simple, and it never got us statehood.
the territorial party was based on national patronage and access to government contracts for the army, territorial government, and native rations. members just had it too good, and they came from both national parties, tho they were largely from the democratic party.
speaking another language, being darker and mostly catholic kept new mexico from becoming a state until 1912, when it was deemed to have enough "americans" to allow participation in national government.