Neighboring nations usually become involved in the political events of the lands close by, and the United States during the Mexican Revolution was no exception. For example, during the American Revolution, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez, opened a second front to fight the British in the south. His support was instrumental to the U.S. victory. In the Mexican case, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was instrumental in the downfall of Victoriano Huerta and he promoted Carranza against Villa.

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), we highlight the Mexican Revolution. The Mexican Revolution finds its roots in the development of Mexico from 1800 to 1910. Its government ranged from empire to many types of republic, be they centralist or federal. During that time Mexico won its independence from Spain and endured four invasions from four foreign powers – Spain (1829), France (1838), the United States (1846-1848), and one from an alliance of Spain, France, and Great Britain (1862). Ultimately, it became a federal republic governed almost completely from Mexico City with a capitalist economy heavily influenced by foreigners.

The Library of Congress archives and holds materials relevant to the history of the United States. Collections connected to the Mexican Revolution include print and multimedia materials. Check them out on their website, including this really cool interactive map.

Learn more about the Mexican Revolution with the above Library of Congress resources as well as some of these resources available through Ames.

On Theme Thursdays this year we’ll reflect on and consider revolutions everywhere we can find them. Today we consider the Protestant Reformation, which was a major religious revolution.

The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural revolution that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. The disruption triggered wars, persecutions and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed but forceful response to the Protestants.

Want to learn more? Check out any one of these resources available through Ames Library.

The Protestant Reformation, 1517-1559 by Lewis W. Spitz

John Donne and the Protestant Reformation: New perspectives edited by Mary Arshagouni Papazian

The boy king: Edward VI and the protestant reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch

The Renaissance, the Protestant revolution and the Catholic reformation in continental Europe by Edward Maslin Hulme

The Protestant Reformation translated from the French by Audrey Butler

The annual theme of the 2017-2018 academic year is The Evolution of Revolution. A shared intellectual theme encourages classes to come together to explore a nuanced, intersectional concept. The Ames Library is happy to support faculty and students with diverse collections and access to materials from across the globe. Each Thursday, we’ll feature titles from our collection, which can be checked out by anyone from IWU. Think there’s something we should have, but don’t? Let your librarian know and we’ll work with you to make our collection as representative as possible.

Read the full description of the IWU annual theme here.

Our first featured book was read by all incoming first year, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

From Amazon: In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.