Just posted my initial thoughts on Borderlands Curanderos for #Hist416. Focusing on Seman’s sources, methods, and the role of curanderos in shaping borderland culture. Can’t wait to see what everyone else noticed.

Trying to unpack Seman’s methodology. How does she use sources to support her argument? How does her microhistory approach illuminate both normal and exceptional experiences in the borderlands? #hist416

Diving into Borderlands Curanderos this week. Seman’s microhistory approach makes me think differently about how Santa Teresa and Don Pedrito shaped borderland culture. Not just healers, but social and political figures too. #hist416

Ask yourself: Why do both authors close their studies in the 1930s?
Think about what was changing politically, socially, and economically in the borderlands during that period. #Hist416

St. John doesn’t just tell a story she digs into archival evidence, surveying reports, and historical records to reconstruct the desert border. How do her methods compare to previous readings? #Hist416

Fun fact: The Rio Grande changed courses with the seasons, which made the border from the Gulf of Mexico to El Paso del Norte… tricky to define. St. John shows how surveying teams struggled with this! #Hist416

ust started reading Rachel St. John's Line in the Sand!
Her work digs into how the U.S.-Mexico border was physically marked in the desert after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Not as straightforward as you'd think… rivers move, maps were wrong, and human error was everywhere. #Hist416

Posting reading comments as I go has helped me track my reactions and questions instead of trying to remember everything at the end. It’s also helpful to see how others are responding to the same material. #hist416

I’m still thinking about whether South to Freedom should be considered a borderlands history. It clearly deals with borders, movement, and power, but it also feels like it’s pushing beyond traditional borderlands frameworks. #hist416

The book is organized around three big threads: U.S. slavery expansion, Mexican abolition, and the experiences of enslaved people who escaped across the border. #hist416