Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies: Women and the Mexican-American War by John M. Belohlavek

Abstract

Reviewed by: Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies: Women and the Mexican-American War by John M. Belohlavek Mark Bernhardt (bio) Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies: Women and the Mexican-American War. By John M. Belohlavek. (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017. Pp. 320. $45.00 cloth; $45.00 ebook) John M. Belohlavek sets out to examine how American and Mexican women served their families and countries during the Mexican-American War and responded to the military conflict. He rightly asserts that there is a growing body of scholarship on women's lives during the American Revolutionary and Civil War eras, but women's experiences during the Mexican-American War remain understudied and his objective is to bring "the lives of those who lived in anonymity together with those of the few celebrities" in one volume (p. 18). Alongside the stories of well-known women from the period, such as Susan Magoffin and Jane Storm Cazneau, he also includes those of midwestern mothers fearing for their sons' safety on the frontlines, New Mexico wives trying to keep family businesses operating, and [End Page 534] American and Mexican women who travelled with the armies. The book is divided into eight themed chapters, which provide a diverse range of perspectives. The first discusses American women's opinions of the war. Chapter two describes how Mexican women interacted with Americans and aided the Mexican army. In chapter three, Belohlavek details the experiences of American women who traveled through northern Mexico. Chapter four tells about American women living and working in Mexico, providing services to the American army or having taken jobs in Mexican factories before the war. What female newspaper reporters and editors wrote about the war is the subject of chapter five. Chapter six examines the views American soldiers had of the Mexican women they encountered. Belohlavek analyzes American war-themed literature written by women or about women in chapter seven. He follows this with a similar analysis of poetry and songs produced both in the United States and Mexico in the final chapter. Belohlavek located an impressive array of sources through his research, including diaries, letters, newspaper articles, memoirs, songs, poems, serials, and novels to document how the war impacted women's lives on both sides of the border and the opinions some women expressed about it. However, though he makes the effort to include Mexican women's voices, Mexican women are more often viewed through the eyes of American men, and overall the book provides much more information about American women's views and experiences. There are some minor problems. The author delves into a number of topics that are irrelevant to the book's subject matter. For example, in the introduction he states that "by briefly exploring the political, economic, and social nature of the two countries, we can obtain a clearer picture of how they [Mexico and the United States] came to clash and determine whether a realistic alternative presented itself" (p. 3). Considering that Belohlavek provides only a short summary of the scholarship on the causes of the war and its inevitability with no new insights of his own or explanation of the connection to his [End Page 535] research, it seems unnecessary to address this issue at all. Similarly, while his brief discussion of the quality of Mexican army bands is interesting, he does not demonstrate how this information meaningfully contributes to his study. Such asides at times disrupt the flow of the narrative. There is also a notable contradiction to one of the chapter's arguments. Belohlavek states that most women endorsed the war with Mexico (p. 21). However, he also accepts Peggy Cashion's well-researched findings that indicate most women opposed the war while still supporting the well-being and safety of American soldiers (p. 42). Overall, the book provides much needed research on an understudied topic. There is room for a lot more work in this field, especially concerning the experiences of Mexican women, but Belohlavek's contribution here helps serve as a solid foundation for future studies. Mark Bernhardt MARK BERNHARDT teaches history at Jackson State University. He is the author of several articles about the press coverage of the Mexican-American War. Copyright...