Treaty of “Limits” 1828

The US and Mexico signed the Treaty of Limits on January 12, 1828, a few decades before the Mexican-American War.  As Mexican historians will attest, given that the US subsequently stole about a third of the Republic of Mexico, the name of the treaty was … well … very ironic.  The treaty was signed by Joel Poinsett, first US Minister to Mexico.  Poinsett was a botanist and physician, as well as a politician.  He named the beautiful plant, Euphorbia pulcherrima, which is indigenous to Mexico and Central America, after himself, in an embarrassing act of white male entitlement.  In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the plant is named Cuetlaxochitl, meaning “flower that grows in residues or soil”.  You may know the flowering plant that is a traditional Christmas ornament as the Poinsettia.
Los EE.UU. y México firmaron el Tratado de Límites el 12 de enero de 1828, unas décadas antes de la Guerra México-Americana. Como historiadores mexicanos se hará constar, dado que los EE.UU. luego robó alrededor de un tercio de la República de México, el nombre del tratado era … bueno … muy irónico. El tratado fue firmado por Joel Poinsett, primer ministro de EE.UU. a México. Poinsett fue botánico y médico, además de político. Llamó a la hermosa planta, Euphorbia pulcherrima, que es originaria de México y América Central, en su honor, en un vergonzoso acto de derecho masculino blanco. En náhuatl, el idioma de los aztecas, la planta se llama Cuetlaxochitl, que significa “flor que crece en los residuos o en el suelo”. Es posible que conozcas la planta con flores que es un adorno navideño tradicional como la Poinsettia.

 

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