Plan of San Diego facts for kids
"South of A is the district most wrought-up at this time (November 1915). South of B is the scene of the de la Rosa and Pizano bandit operations. South of C is what is included in the Plan of San Diego." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 7, 1915).
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| Date | January 6, 1915 |
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| Location | San Diego, Texas |
| Participants | Carrancistas and Huertistas |
The Plan of San Diego (Spanish: Plan de San Diego) was a secret document created in San Diego, Texas, in 1915. It was written by a group of Mexican and Tejano (Texans of Mexican heritage) rebels whose names are not fully known.
The plan aimed to separate parts of the United States, including Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas, from the rest of the country. The goal was to create a new society where African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans would live together. The plan also called for extreme actions against white men over the age of sixteen.
People still debate the true goal of the plan. It claimed to want to "overthrow the government in the Southern United States." However, some historians believe the real goal was to make the U.S. choose a side in the Mexican Revolution. This is what eventually happened.
The plan was discovered before it could be fully carried out. Even though there wasn't a large uprising, raids into Texas started in July 1915. These raids were stopped by the Texas Rangers, the U.S. Army, and local groups. In total, 30 raids in Texas caused a lot of damage and led to the deaths of 21 Americans. It's not clear who wrote the Plan of San Diego, but some think Mexican revolutionary leaders helped support it.
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Why Did the Plan of San Diego Happen?
The Mexican Revolution began in 1910, with the government of Porfirio Díaz fighting against rebel groups. Many rebels fled from Mexico to the U.S., especially to Texas. These Mexican rebels caused problems in South Texas. The Texas government worried about the large number of Mexican people in the area. The Plan of San Diego came about because of this unrest.
What Was in the Plan of San Diego?
The Plan of San Diego announced the creation of a "Liberating Army of Races and Peoples." It called for people from Mexico, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans to join together and fight against the United States.
The main goal was to "free Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Colorado from U.S. control." These states would then become an independent country. Later, this new country might join with Mexico. The rebels also hoped to take over other states to create a safe zone between the U.S. and Mexico.
The plan originally said that on February 20, 1915, "North American" men over 16 years old would be targeted. Only older people, women, and children would be spared. Mexican Americans who refused to join the plan would also be targeted. A key part of the plan was to protect Native Americans and return their land to them.
The plan was written in San Diego, Texas. But it was actually signed by rebels in a jail cell in Monterrey, Mexico. We still don't know for sure who wrote it or why, but there are many ideas.
On February 20, 1915, the day the plan was supposed to start, the rebel leaders changed it. They decided to focus only on freeing Texas. Texas would then become a base to spread the revolution across the Southwestern United States.
Who Was Behind the Plan of San Diego?
There are different ideas about who was truly behind the Plan of San Diego.
Was Victoriano Huerta Involved?
One idea is that Victoriano Huerta was the mastermind. He was a leader of a Mexican group fighting for control during the Mexican Revolution. This idea comes from the capture of Huertista Basilio Ramos in Brownsville, Texas, in January 1915. He had a copy of the Plan of San Diego with him.
When questioned in jail in Monterrey, Ramos admitted signing the plan. He said eight other Huertista cellmates also signed it. A jail guard supposedly smuggled the plan to the prisoners. Ramos said another unnamed Huertista created the plan. This person hoped to take back the Southwestern United States to gain support for Huerta in Mexico.
Did Venustiano Carranza Support It?
Another idea is that the Mexican government under Venustiano Carranza supported the plan. Carranza became president of Mexico in 1914. Some believe he wanted to use the plan to increase tension between Tejanos and white Americans in South Texas.
Even though the plan said it would not get help from the Mexican government, Carranza's government was important in keeping the plan going. Some think Carranza wanted to create conflict. This would force the United States to recognize him as the true leader of Mexico, which eventually happened.
Raids and Attacks
The first attacks under the Plan of San Diego happened in July 1915. This was five months after the plan was supposed to start. The first raids targeted Mexican Americans who were important in farming and local politics in Texas. On July 11, in Brownsville, attackers shot and killed Tejano deputy Pablo Falcon. He was the first victim of the Plan of San Diego. One of the attackers was Ignacio Cantu, a Mexican man Falcon had arrested a week earlier.
The number of raids grew, and the peak of the Plan of San Diego was in August and September 1915. These raids were led by cousins Aniceto Pizana and Luis de la Rosa. They were well-known people from South Texas. Luis de la Rosa was born in Brownsville and used to be a deputy sheriff. The raids used a style of fighting called guerrilla warfare. Their main goal was to destroy U.S. public and private property.
De la Rosa and Pizana formed small groups of 25 to 100 men. The Rio Grande Valley was the main target of the raids. They attacked trains and cut down telegraph wires and poles. On August 8, nearly 60 raiders attacked the Norias Ranch. Five men died when American forces chased them. U.S. authorities learned that the Mexican Carranza government was helping the raiders. About half of the men were Mexican citizens.
Support from Mexico was very important for keeping the attacks going. Mexico supplied half of the men for these missions. They even used Mexican newspapers to spread messages in border towns. These papers made the success of Mexicans against white Americans seem bigger and encouraged more people to join.
How the U.S. Reacted
The raids, the messages, and the general fear among white Texans made authorities send federal troops and Texas Rangers. They had a hard time stopping the raids. Finally, on October 19, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson officially recognized Carranza as the true leader of Mexico. His staff had urged him to do this to calm Carranza.
After this, Carranza used his armies to help the Americans capture and imprison the raiders. This brought an end to the main period of the Plan of San Diego attacks.
During and after the Plan of San Diego raids, white Americans became more hostile towards Mexican Americans. Small arguments between Mexican Americans and white Americans led to many Mexican Americans being killed by Texas Rangers, local police, and regular citizens. Local white people started a group called the Law and Order League in 1915. This group was fueled by suspicions of Mexican and Tejano uprisings.
Federal officials estimated that from late 1915 to 1916, more than 300 Mexican Americans were killed in Texas. A 1919 investigation into the Texas Rangers estimated that between 300 and 5,000 ethnic Mexicans were killed by American law enforcement trying to stop the raids from 1914 to 1919.
About 400 Anglo-Texans were killed in total during raids from Mexico along the border in the 1910s. A lot of property was also destroyed.
Americans also thought that German agents might have been involved, but no proof was found. However, ideas about Mexico taking back U.S. land, similar to the Plan of San Diego, appeared again in Germany's Zimmermann Telegram of 1917. This telegram helped push the United States into World War I against Germany.
What Happened Next?
In March 1916, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico. In response, the American government sent the Pancho Villa Expedition deep into Mexico to catch him. They didn't succeed. However, the Mexican government reacted to U.S. forces entering Mexico by starting raids northward again. This situation almost led to a full war but was solved through talks. Carranza was the main reason for these new raids.
Images for kids
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"South of A is the district most wrought-up at this time (November 1915). South of B is the scene of the de la Rosa and Pizano bandit operations. South of C is what is included in the Plan of San Diego." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 7, 1915).
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Venustiano Carranza, who became president of Mexico in 1914.
See also
In Spanish: Plan de San Diego para niños
