Mexican Americans in Texas History: Selected Essays Page: 103

                                
The Tejano Revolt of 1915
RODOLFO ROCHA*
The Mexican Revolution of 1910 brought change for Mexico
and hope for Mexican Americans. When the fighting ceased, a
new Mexican elite had replaced the Cientifico ruling class and the
country began a process of reconstruction that promised a better
life for its citizens. Mexican Americans living in the South Texas
region of the Rio Grande Valley, on the other hand, were briefly
encouraged to hope for better days when local Mexicano revolu-
tionists, influenced by the ideology and armed action of the revo-
lution, sought to redress the suffering they had experienced for
generations. The Tejano revolt of 1915, which was concentrated
in the Valley as part of a larger South Texas armed movement
known as the San Diego revolt, did not produce the dramatic
results evident in Mexico. It nevertheless underscored the notion
that discrimination, inequality, and deep-seated dissatisfaction in
South Texas could also generate support for a social movement
that promised fundamental changes.'
* Rodolfo Rocha is a former chair of the Department of History currently
serving as dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Texas-
Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. He has taught U.S., Texas, and Mexican
American history courses and has published numerous articles and chapters on
Mexican Americans in Texas history. He is completing a book-length study on the
Mexican Revolution along the Texas border.
I use the terms Mexican and Tejano interchangeably when referring to
Mexican-origin people. When the discussion warrants it and the data at hand
allows it, I underscore the nativity of persons with the use of Mexican Nationals