The Museum of the Interventions

In my previous post, I mentioned the Battle of Churubusco, one of the last battles of the war between Mexico and the United States.  The battle was fought at an old monastery located on the outskirts of Mexico City.  Here the Mexican army unsuccessfully attempted to halt the march of the U.S. army into the capital.

Today the monastery is a museum, "El Museo de las Intervenciones", which chronicles foreign invasions of Mexico throughout the nation's history.  In January of 2013 I visited the museum, and I found it much more interesting than I expected.  Few foreign tourists make it here, which is a shame.  I think it would be a very educational experience, especially for American travelers.  Unfortunately all of the descriptions are written in Spanish, so a knowledge of the language is necessary to get the most out of the exhibits.

The lower floor of the museum showcases the restored Franciscan monastery as it appeared in colonial times.  The full name of the monastery was "Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Churusbusco" (Our Lady of the Angels of Churubusco).   Churusbusco was in those days a rural village to the south of Mexico City. (Today it is very much within the urban sprawl of the city.)  The monastery was built in 1678 to replace a smaller Franciscan establishment which in turn had been built upon the site of an Aztec temple.  Here you can see the monastery kitchen, the gardens, and the courtyard with its well which was used by both the monks and the villagers. 

 

 

The upper floor relates the history of foreign interventions in Mexico by the Spanish, French and Americans. One large hall deals with the 1846-1848 war with the United States.  I must say that the Mexican War was an episode that does not exemplify our country's ideals at their best.  Many Americans, fueled by the principle of Manifest Destiny, were eager to take Mexico's northern territories, and some southerners were hoping to extend slavery farther west.  However, not all Americans were in favor of the war.  Some viewed it as an unjust land-grab.  Among the opponents voting against the war were John Quincy Adams and a young congressman by the name of Abraham Lincoln.  The writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau spent time in jail rather than pay taxes to support the war.

 

Mexico actually had a larger army than the U.S., and with better leadership the outcome of the war might have been different.  But Mexico was led by the despot Antonio López de Santa Ana.  Santa Ana was a vain, unscrupulous, incompetent dictator.  He had delusions of grandeur yet more than once sold out his country to save his own neck.  The Mexican people today, although they view the war as an example of United States imperialism, have very little regard for Santa Ana.

 



 



Portrait of Santa Ana in the museum

 

 

 

 A map in the museum showing the campaigns of the Mexican War.

 

 

The war ended with the U.S. army landing in the port city of Veracruz and marching inland to Mexico City (following the same route taken by the Spanish conquistador Cortez).  The Americans took control of the capital and the war came to an end.



 

 

As a result of the war, Mexico lost one half of its land, and the United States gained the territory that eventually would become the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.