Limits of Liberty

The Limits of Liberty chronicles the formation of the U.S.-Mexico border from the perspective of the “mobile peoples” who assisted in determining the international boundary from both sides in the mid-nineteenth century. In this historic and timely study, James David Nichols argues against the many top-down connotations that borders carry, noting that the state cannot entirely dominate the process of boundary marking. Even though there were many efforts on the part of the United States and Mexico to define the new international border as a limit, mobile peoples continued to transgress the border and cross it with impunity. Transborder migrants reimagined the dividing line as a gateway to opportunity rather than as a fence limiting their movement. Runaway slaves, Mexican debt peones, and seminomadic Native Americans saw liberty on the other side of the line and crossed in search of greater opportunity. In doing so they devised their own border epistemology that clashed with official understandings of the boundary. These divergent understandings resulted in violence with the crossing of vigilantes, soldiers, and militias in search of fugitives and runaways.The Limits of Liberty explores how the border attracted migrants from both sides and considers border-crossers together, whereas most treatments thus far have considered discrete social groups along the border. Mining Mexican archival sources, Nichols is one of the first scholars to explore the nuance of negotiation that took place between the state and mobile peoples in the formation of borders.  

"The Limits of Liberty provides an excellent outline of the historical roots of today's US-Mexico border conflict. Anyone interested in replacing rhetoric with research would benefit from reading it."—John Dzwonczyk, Historical Geography, "Limits of Liberty is an important contribution to multiple historiographies . . . and [it] should be required reading for anyone interested in the region, the people, and their histories."—Jose Angel Hernandez, New Mexico Historical Review, "The Limits of Liberty stands as a well-researched and deeply informative study of borderlands and transcultural studies. Throughout the nine chapters, it weaves together poignant, human stories in original, compelling, and accessible ways. Students new to borderlands history as well as seasoned readers will find much to consider in this work."—Claire Wolnisty, H-Nationalism, "The Limits of Liberty makes significant historiographical interventions and is an outstanding contribution to border studies, Texas history, and the history of the American West and northern Mexico."—Mark A. Goldberg, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, "In this excellent and timely work of transnational history, James David Nichols assesses the multidirectional nature of human migration between South Texas and northeastern Mexico during the period 1821–1861, with an emphasis on independent Indians, chattel slaves, and debt peons."—William S. Kiser, Journal of Arizona History

James David Nichols is an assistant professor of history at City University of New York, Queensborough Community College.