Pancho Villa’s War With the United States
Dana Lewisohn, Joanne Mariani, Maryann Savino, Star Smith, Sandi Wodakow
East Brunswick, NJ
Grade Levels: 4th and 5th
New Jersey Social Studies Content Standards: 6.1:A, 6.3:F, 6.4:I
Lesson Summary: In this lesson students will use character traits to compare and
contrast positive and negative attributes of Pancho Villa and Robin Hood.
Suggested Timeframe: 40 minute period
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Identify positive and negative attributes of Pancho Villa.
Identify positive and negative attributes of Robin Hood.
Compare the positive and negative attributes using the character traits of
Pancho Villa and Robin Hood.
The Era of Pancho Villa, early 20th century
Historical Contrasts
Pancho Villa Essential Historical Robin Hood
Questions
What major social events
Mexican Revolution were occurring at time? The Crusades
US Expansion The Middle Ages
What is the structure of the Monarchy
Haciendas and Viceroys government? Serfdoms
Rich were powerful and What beliefs and attitudes Royalty was all-powerful and
abusive to poor. were prevalent at the time? abusive to poor.
Poor had few rights Poor had no rights
Historical Background:
Pancho Villa
Francisco Villa(June 5, 1878 – July 23, 1923) better known as Pancho Villa — was one
of the foremost leaders and best known generals of the Mexican Revolution, between
1911 and 1920, and provisional governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua in 1913 and
1914.[1] Villa mostly operated in the northern theatre of the war, centering on Chihuahua,
in the north of Mexico. Villa is often referred to as El Centauro del Norte (The Centaur of
the North), due to his celebrated cavalry attacks as a general. Numerous streets and
neighborhoods in Mexico are named for Villa. In the United States, Villa is principally
remembered for his 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, that provoked the Punitive
Expedition commanded by General John J. Pershing, although the raid itself was a fairly
minor event in Villa's military campaign history.
Villa and Villa's ardent supporters, known as Villistas, employed tactics such as
propaganda and firing squads against enemies, expropriated hacienda land for
distribution to peasants and villista soldiers, and robbed trains and printed fiat money to
finance Villa's cause. Villa's generalship was noted for its speed of movement of his
forces by railroad, use of cavalry and artillery attacks, and recruitment of enlisted soldiers
of enemy units he defeated. Many of Villa's tactics and strategies were adopted by later
20th century revolutionaries.
Villa's troops were collectively known as the División del Norte (Division Of The North).
His elite cavalry troops and bodyguards were known as Los Dorados (The Golden Ones).
As one of the major (and most colorful) figures of the first successful popular revolution
of the 20th century, Villa's notoriety attracted journalists, photographers, and military
freebooters of both idealistic and opportunistic stripe, from far and wide.
Split with the United States and the Punitive Expedition
The United States, following the diplomatic policies of Woodrow Wilson, who believed
that supporting Carranza was the best way to expedite establishment of a stable Mexican
government, refused to allow more arms to be supplied to Villa, and allowed Mexican
constitutionalist troops to be relocated via US railroads. Villa felt betrayed by these
actions and began to attack Americans. He was further enraged by Obregon's use of
searchlights, powered by American electricity, to help repel a Villista night attack on the
border town of Agua Prieta, Sonora on November 1, 1915. In January 1916, a group of
villistas attacked a train on the Mexico North Western Railway, near Santa Isabel,
Chihuahua, and massacred 18 American employees of the ASARCO company.
Cross-border attack on New Mexico
On March 9, 1916, Villa ordered 1,500 (disputed, one official US Army report stated
"500 to 700") Mexican raiders, reportedly led by villista General Ramon Banda Quesada,
to make a cross-border attack against Columbus, New Mexico, in response to the U.S.
government's official recognition of the Carranza regime [8]. They attacked a detachment
of the 13th US Cavalry, seized 100 horses and mules, burned the town, killed 10 soldiers
and 8 of its residents, and took much ammunition and weaponry. Villa's forces suffered
the loss of 80 dead or mortally wounded and 5 captured [9], mostly from US machine gun
emplacements [10].
The Hunt for Pancho Villa (The Punitive Expedition)
Main article: Pancho Villa Expedition
United States' President Woodrow Wilson responded to the Columbus raid by sending
6,000 troops under General John J. Pershing to Mexico to pursue Villa. (Wilson also
dispatched several divisions of Army and National Guard troops to protect the southern
US border against further raids and counterattacks.) In the U.S., this was known as the
Punitive or Pancho Villa Expedition. During the search, the United States launched its
first air combat mission with eight airplanes. [11] [12] At the same time Villa was also
being sought by Carranza's army. The U.S. expedition was eventually called off after
failing to find Villa, and Villa successfully escaped from both armies.
Robin Hood
Many of us are familiar with the story of Robin Hood. Though there are different
versions, most of them are a variation of the following. In the time of Richard the
Lionheart, a minor noble of Nottinghamshire named Robin of Loxley, was outlawed for
poaching deer in the king’s forest. During this time, any deer in a royal forest belonged to
the king, and killing one of the king's deer was therefore treason, and punishable by
death. To escape punishment, Robin hid in Sherwood Forest, and made a living by
stealing from rich travelers and distributing the goods among the poor of the area. In the
process, he gained a band of followers and a spouse, Maid Marian. Despite the best
efforts of the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, he was not capture until the return of King
Richard from the Crusades. The King pardoned Robin and restored Robin's lands to him.
In some versions of the tale, he dies at the hands the Abbess of Kirklees Priory.
Historical documents demonstrate the existence of someone named Robin Hood existing
at different times. In York, there are records referring to a fugitive named "Robert Hod"
from1226. Other records referred to the same man as "Robinhud" in 1227. More
historical research finds evidence of at least 8 people called Robinhood, with at least 5 of
them being fugitives from the law. In 1266, the Sheriff of Nottingham, William de Grey,
was in active conflict with outlaws in Sherwood Forest. It seems most likely that a
number of different outlaws built upon the reputation of a fugitive in the forest, and over
time, the legend grew.
A major difference in legends is that in earlier versions Robin Hood was not an aristocrat.
The later and most popular version portrays Robin Hood as an aristocrat who acquires
distaste for the harsh rule of the law of the rich. This is a reason that this version of the
story soon became a favorite folk tale among the poor.
Key Terms:
Villain
Outlaw
Ballad
Constitutionalist
Antipathy
Attribute
Key Places:
Chihuahua
Durango
Key People:
Carranza
Zapata
President Wilson
General Pershing
Do Now:
Students will identify one positive and negative attribute of themselves.
Example:
o Positive: I come home and check my agenda for homework assignments
after school. Then I complete the assignments.
o Negative: I fight with my brothers and sisters even though my parents tell
me not to fight.
Critical Thinking Questions:
I. Why do you think Pancho Villa was seen as a hero by the Mexican people?
II. Why do you think Pancho Villa was seen as a villain by the American
government?
III. Do you think Pancho Villa was a villain or a hero, and why?
Anticipatory Set:
Have students think about their ―Do Now‖ responses.
Discuss how people are a combination of their character traits, positive
and negative.
Procedures:
Day 1:
I. In groups, students will bedivided into four groups and given excerpts on
Pancho Villa and Robin Hood.
a. Groups 1 and 2- view excerpts on Robin Hood
i. Group 1- identify character traits displaying positive attributes of
Robin Hood
ii. Group 2- identify character traits displaying negative attributes of
Robin Hood
II. Group 3 and 4- view excerpts on Pancho Villa
i. Group 3- identify character traits displaying positive attributes of
Pancho Villa
ii. Group 4- identify character traits displaying negative attributes of
Pancho Villa
III. Students will write the character traits on sentence strips and post them on a
classroom T-chart comparing Pancho Villa and Robin Hood.
IV. Discuss students’ findings, highlighting similarities and differences between
the two historical figures.
V. Using critical thinking questions, students will evaluate the personalities of
the two historical figures.
Closure:
As a class, take a vote: How many people think Pancho Villa was a hero? How
many people think Pancho Villa was a villain?
Extension:
Create a poem or song about Pancho Villa, supporting your belief as to whether
Pancho Villa was a hero or a villain.
Evaluation:
Students will be assessed on their participation in their cooperative group activity
and identification of character traits.
Resources:
1. Pancho Villa - teacher excerpt:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa#Split_with_the_United_States_and_th
e_Punitive_Expedition
2. Robin Hood - teacher excerpt:
http://www.britainexpress.com/Myths/robin-hood.htm
3. Robin Hood – student excerpts:
http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robbeg/robbeg1.html
http://www.robinhood.ltd.uk/robinhood/legend.html
selection: ―Who was Robin Hood?‖
4. Pancho Villa – student excerpts:
http://www.calnative.com/stories/n_villa.htm
http://print.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0850888.html