Book Review: Exceptionalism in Crisis: Faction, Anarchy, and Mexico in the US Imagination during the Civil War Era
Exceptionalism in Crisis: Faction, Anarchy, and Mexico in the US Imagination during the Civil War Era. By Alys D. Beverton. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Paperback, 308 pp. $29.95.
Reviewed by Aaron Stoyack
In Exceptionalism in Crisis: Faction, Anarchy, and Mexico in the US Imagination during the Civil War Era, Alys D. Beverton discusses how, through political turmoil culminating in the Civil War, Americans’ belief in their nation’s exceptionalism was challenged. United States exceptionalism in the early Republic was rooted in the idea that the Founding Fathers created a near-perfect system of government that would be beneficial to any country adopting it. Not long after, many took pride in the fact that Mexico’s experience with democracy failed, proving that Americans were uniquely qualified to enjoy a peaceful democratic union. The Civil War proved them wrong.
Beverton concisely summarizes how the U.S. view of Mexico evolved from 1861 to 1883 in five chapters. The chapters themselves are not particularly short, ranging from thirty-four to forty-one pages, yet they offer several subheadings to break up the text. These are arranged categorically, so the chronology can occasionally jump around, but the quick pace makes everything easy to follow. In this work, more than most others, the introduction is essential reading. Beverton covers the history of Mexico from its independence in 1821 to the time of the Civil War and how its presence in the U.S. imagination shifted.
This introduction elucidates her methodology, revealing that newspapers are the greatest barometers of white public opinion. Pulling from 211 publications spanning different regions and political leanings, Beverton shines in letting the papers speak for themselves and provides context using an extensive list of secondary sources. These events support Beverton’s argument that the Civil War and subsequent chaos raised significant doubts about the future of the American republic. However, by the 1880s, the nation was seen as worthy of supporting and guiding Mexico through its development.
The Mexican perspective, though given a backseat, is not overlooked. Their citizens remained conscious that Americans looked down upon their country. They could not ask for a better change of tone when the French invaded and installed a monarchy in 1862. Northerners rallied behind the deposed democratic government, while Confederates reluctantly and slowly supported the French. Both sides used the struggle in Mexico to show their citizens the larger stakes of the Civil War, as victory would mean fresh North American alliances aligning with their ideals. Apart from rebel forces fleeing to Mexico and the Union arming Mexican patriots, this is the approximate extent of direct Civil War discussion. If political history is not your style, Exceptionalism in Crisis is not for you.
Indeed, by chapter three the Civil War has passed. Reconstruction and presidential assassinations brought fears of “Mexicanization,” as writers North and South feared their country would fall into the perceived chaos in which Mexico inhabited. In the mid-1870s, Americans’ investment and trade in their southern neighbor shifted the conversation to the Americanization of Mexico. As such, this book fares well as a brief comparative history of the two nations.
Exceptionalism in Crisis joins a long list of works analyzing Mexico in the U.S. imagination and the political history of the borderlands. The last book I reviewed, One National Family by Sarah K. M. Rodriguez, offers a similar account of the overlapping political histories of Texas and Mexico. Beverton carves her niche with her well-researched engagement with the public understanding of Mexico. For this perspective, readers will find this to be the quintessential study. It will also serve well as a quick comparative history of the two countries during the 1800s.
