This index to the Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the United States and Mexico, 1910-1929, collection provides the dates each reel covers. Government Information MAY NOT hold all of these reels. The record in the library catalog describes the extent of our holdings. For help, or to make an appointment to view a reel, email rad@colorado.edu
On the 29 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced records from the decimal file of the Department of State, 1910-29, that concern political relations between the United States and Mexico. They are mostly instructions to and despatches from diplomatic and consular officials and the correspondence, reports, and journals of various boundary commissions. Also included in these records are notes between the Department of State and foreign diplomatic representatives in the United States, memoranda prepared by officials of the Department, and correspondence with officials of other Government departments and with private firms and individuals. The Lists of Documents or "purport sheets" reproduced on Roll 1 give brief abstracts of the documents reproduced in this microcopy and serve as a finding aid to the documents themselves. The arrangement of the entries on these lists corresponds to the arrangement of the documents in the file.
Since 1910 the central files of the Department of State have been grouped and arranged by a decimal system of subject classification. This decimal file initially consisted of nine primary classes numbered 0 through 8, each covering a broad subject area. Under Class 7, Political Relations of States, the documents are arranged according to the countries concerned. Each country has been assigned a 2-digit number and the numbers for the United States and for Mexico are 11 and 12, respectively. Thus the documents reproduced in this microcopy bear the file number 711.12 and concern political relations between the United States and Mexico. The digits that follow the second country number represent a specific subject. This number, in turn, may be followed by a slant mark (/). The numbers that follow the slant mark are assigned to individual documents as they are accumulated on a specific subject. For example, a decimal file number taken from a document reproduced in this microcopy is 711.125/13. The digit 5 following the country number for Mexico (12) signifies that the subject is the negotiation of an immigration treaty between the United States and Mexico, and the number following the slant mark indicates that this is the 13th paper received on this subtopic.
The documents under one subject classification are generally in chronological order, coinciding with the document number assigned (which follows the slant mark). There are instances, however, when a document file number was not assigned until a date considerably later than the one on which the document was received.
Cross-reference sheets that refer to related records under other subject classifications in the decimal file have been reproduced as they occur and appropriate cross-reference notations appear in the Lists of Documents. Other cross-reference notations are to documents in the "numerical file," a system used for the central files of the Department of State for the period 1906-10. This numerical system of assigning consecutive numbers to subject case files was replaced by the decimal system of subject classification in 1910.
Before filming the records a search was made by the National Archives and the Department of State for missing documents. The checkmarks that appear by most entries in the left-hand column of the Lists of Documents indicate that the papers are in the file. The absence of checkmarks denotes that the documents were not found; it is believed that they were not among the records when they were received from the Department.
This file contains communications received from and classified by foreign governments and Federal agencies other than the Department of State. Those documents that have not been declassified are not available as part of this microcopy. The National Archives and Records Service does not have authority to make reproductions of such documents available to searchers.
Most of the records reproduced in this microcopy relate to the adjustment of boundaries between the United States and Mexico, the maintenance of friendly relations, and treaty negotiations. There also is considerable discussion of the "forged correspondence" of 1926, which allegedly gave information on State Department policy to President Calles of Mexico.
Under the general heading, Relations Between the United States and Mexico (on Rolls 2-7), are discussed such subjects as the extent of "anti-American" attitudes as expressed by Mexican officials and in the press; Mexican reaction to the American punitive expedition to capture Villa; Carranza's feeling towards the United States, German propaganda during World War I and the rise of pro-German sentiment; protests by the Mexican Government against alleged violations of its territorial sovereignty; official Mexican reaction to President Wilson's 1918 speech to Mexican editors and his protest against Mexican oil-tax decrees; Carranza's doctrine of 1919 and his opposition to the Monroe Doctrine; activities of Senator Fall's Subcommittee to investigate Mexican Affairs; alleged secret treaty of the United States, Great Britain, and France on extending the control of the United States to include Mexico and Central America; and recognition of the Obregon government.
A list of the rolls of this microfilm publication, indicating the document number range and the subjects covered by the documents on each roll, is filmed after the information on related record groups given below.
The spreadsheet attached below contains a reel-by-reel description of the complete collection.