jeudi, mars 24, 2005
up before the dawn
When I wrote my essay proposal for NA-1860, I was all, "I'm going to examine X; I'm going to compare Y; I'm going to study Z" (I had not done enough research to know for sure which subjects I would be writing about). And when Professor Manore handed it back, her comments recommended paring down my number of subject areas in order to give "depth of analysis" on just a few.
Now that I'm reviewing my research, I see how crucial it is to do what she suggested. Since Mexico didn't have much of an active combat role (other than sending some pilots to train and fly with the U.S. military), and since a re-hashing of the fighting has been done extensively, I think I might take a different approach and focus on what was happening at home in each of Canada and Mexico during those war years.
For example, the role of Canadian women changed significantly during the war; they stepped up and began working in factories and were a major factor in the impressive industrial production at the time. In Mexico, a unique arrangement was negotiated with the United States, who needed temporary workers to fill a gap in their workforce (the "bracero" program).
One of my favourite tidbits learned so far is this:
"Many Mexican intellectuals were less shocked at being at war than they were embarrassed at being formally allied with the United States."
It took some pretty fancy sweet-talk by the Americans to persuade the Mexicans to trust them back then. The fact that the Germans had just blown up two Mexican oil tankers helped a bit; they didn't really have any where else to turn. | ¶ 8:15 a.m.
Now that I'm reviewing my research, I see how crucial it is to do what she suggested. Since Mexico didn't have much of an active combat role (other than sending some pilots to train and fly with the U.S. military), and since a re-hashing of the fighting has been done extensively, I think I might take a different approach and focus on what was happening at home in each of Canada and Mexico during those war years.
For example, the role of Canadian women changed significantly during the war; they stepped up and began working in factories and were a major factor in the impressive industrial production at the time. In Mexico, a unique arrangement was negotiated with the United States, who needed temporary workers to fill a gap in their workforce (the "bracero" program).
One of my favourite tidbits learned so far is this:
"Many Mexican intellectuals were less shocked at being at war than they were embarrassed at being formally allied with the United States."
It took some pretty fancy sweet-talk by the Americans to persuade the Mexicans to trust them back then. The fact that the Germans had just blown up two Mexican oil tankers helped a bit; they didn't really have any where else to turn. | ¶ 8:15 a.m.
