The Specter of Statehood: Inventing Arizona in Charles D. Poston’s Building a State in Apache Land and Marie Clara Zander’s “The Life of an Arizona Pioneer”
2017; Oxford University Press; Volume: 42; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/melus/mlx029
ISSN1946-3170
Autores Tópico(s)Cuban History and Society
ResumoIn large part, then, the quest for statehood led to the development of a clearer definition of the ideal Arizona citizen in cultural, historical, and racial terms. Racial inequality was not simply an unfortunate corollary to full statehood; it was built into the very identity of Arizona from its inception. —Eric V. Meeks (37) In his 1902 classic Western novel, The Virginian: A Horseman on the Plains, Owen Wister’s famous Virginian pronounces, “Well, Arizona’s no place for amatures [sic]” (23). Over one hundred years later, his words still ring true, as the state has become the beleaguered battleground of national debates about the physical and cultural borders of the United States. Although some have characterized the state as exceptional, the widespread popularity of its legislation demonstrates that Arizona’s contentious political atmosphere registers much broader anxieties about the malleability of national borders of inclusion and exclusion.1 Arizona has been a flashpoint for national debates about citizenship and belonging since its incorporation into the United States at the end of the US-Mexican War. Unlike neighboring gold-rich California, which was swiftly granted statehood, Arizona languished in territorial status for sixty-four years from 1848 to 1912. During this long waiting period, Arizona territorial leaders from both political parties, including Democratic Governor C. Meyer Zulick, Republican Pinal County Councilman Richard E. Sloan, and Democratic Congressional Delegate Marcus A. Smith, actively lobbied federal lawmakers who remained suspicious of granting statehood to the southwestern territory (Pry, “Statehood” 399-400). These national policymakers’ hesitation stemmed from anxieties about the territory’s demographics, namely its Mexican and Mexican American population.2
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