We have one of the nation's finest collections of archival materials as well as printed texts on the Borderlands of the Southwest and Northwest of Mexico, from Baja, California to Tamaulipas, Mexico. These collections document the region's culture and history, from the colonial period to the present. Accounts of Native Americans and their ancestors, the impact of Spanish and Mexican settlement and the influx of people into the region during the 19th century are also included.

Regional and local history will always be a focus of our collections. Special Collections is the repository for printed texts and manuscripts on Arizona and its Borderlands. These collections document the region’s culture and history, including accounts of Native Americans, the impact of Spanish and Mexican settlement, and the influx of other groups into the region starting in the 19th century.

Americans think of the North American colonies’ War for Independence from Great Britain as a struggle for freedom by a people subjected to colonial domination. Without denying the colonies’ grievances, this paper argues that the principal victims of injustice in North America were not European Americans but Americans of color. The freedom to exterminate Indians and take their land was one of the main objectives of the colonists’ drive for independence. The British government for its own reasons sought to slow down the colonies’ westward expansion. With territorial expansion would come the spread of slavery. Such effects were intended and accomplished and had been reasonably predictable at the time. It follows that one must question whether the War for Independence was morally justifiable.