Mexico Mexico is a Latin American country just south of the USA. Mexico is a country that has tremendous influence on the USA. This is mostly due to the fact that it is so close. Another reason is that a large number of Mexicans live in the USA, both legally and illegally. Many Mexicans come to the USA to find work and send money back to their family still living in Mexico. Because of this close relationship Mexican culture has made a great impact on the USA. In this brief paper about Mexico I will discuss its history, geography, cultural contribution to the USA, a few items about the negative side of the country, and end with a few concluding remarks. Mexico has a rich history. Its history includes several advanced civilizations. …show more content…
Much of the land in southwestern USA has been disputed by the USA and Mexico historically. Mexico is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on one side and by the Gulf of Mexico on the other. Beautiful beaches can be found on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico. It has areas of tall mountains, high plateaus, low coastal plains, and desert. Anyone that has seen a Western movie has probably seen some scenes from the Mexican countryside since some of those films feature bandits hiding out in remote Mexican hideouts. Mexico also has sizeable reserves of oil as well as silver and gold. Now I would like to discuss some of Mexico’s cultural contributions to the …show more content…
Some argue that it is not “real” Mexican food. Regardless of those arguments, the food is certainly uniquely Mexican since many of these restaurants are owned and run by people of Mexican ancestry. Americans love Mexican food and culture and Mexicans excel at providing their food and talents to oblige us. Mexican workers can be found in many important industries in the USA. They are important to construction, agriculture, the hospitality industry, and many others. Mexican actors have been very successful in the movie and music industry. They add their own special personalities and flair to everything they do. I will now cover a few negative things that Mexico is experiencing. Mexico suffers from much violence across the nation. Much of it is centered on the drug trade in the northern part of the country. Many Mexicans have been murdered because of the so called drug wars in Mexico. Drug lords seek to wipe out their competition and many people die because of it. Corruption is common in some areas because of low wages and the influence of illegal drug trafficking as well as human trafficking. These negative things have been one downside to Mexico’s closeness to the USA. I will now make a few concluding
Mexican Lives is a rare piece of literature that accounts for the human struggle of an underdeveloped nation, which is kept impoverished in order to create wealth for that of another nation, the United States. The reader is shown that the act of globalization and inclusion in the world’s economies, more directly the United States, is not always beneficial to all parties involved. The data and interviews, which Hellman has put forth for her readers, contain some aspect of negativity that has impacted their lives by their nation’s choice to intertwine their economy with that of the United States. Therefore it can only be concluded that the entering into world markets, that of Mexico into the United States, does not always bring on positive outcomes. Thus, one sees that Mexico has become this wasteland of economic excrement; as a result it has become inherently reliant on the United States.
Batlla argues that an “imaginary Mexico” exists, a minority culture within Mexico that represents Western, colonial interests. In opposition to this imaginary Mexico is the México profundo, or “deep” Mexico. México profundo underlies the imaginary Mexico and has its core in Mesoamerican culture, which reaches back into history for centuries upon centuries. According to Batalla, the relationship between these two cultures is fraught and, at times, violent, as “the imaginary Mexico tries to subordinate the rest of the population to its plans”. He argues a position different from that of the course’s themes, which emphasize the joining and mixing of Mesoamerican and colonial culture. According to Batalla, “[n]o room has been allowed for a convergence of civilizations through a slow fusion that gives rise to a new civilizational plan, different from the two original ones of arising from
Mexico, once home to ancient cultures like the Maya and Aztec which ruled vast territory expanding from present day South America all the way up north to present day western United States now reduced to roughly half its size. The cause of this dramatic loss of land was contributed to the expansion of the United States and secession of southern provinces, now Central America. The loss of land not only affected Mexico’s presence of power but also affected hundreds of thousands of native people. This was just the beginning of what would come to be known as the land struggle and the fight for land grants, something the United States government would not acknowledge nor recognize.
Mexican culture is perhaps the largest influence on the state of Arizona, affecting the cuisine of Arizona quite heavily. Mexican food is widely popular in Arizona, meaning that there are plenty of local Mexican restaurants, each giving a unique experience. Mexican culture also has strong ties to the history of Arizona, as it was once territory belonging to Mexico. Mexicans who inhabited the region over a century ago fought with tribes native to the land in order to wrest control from them. However, war erupted with America on April 25, 1846. The war, now known as the Mexican-American War, resulted in the Mexican Cession. The Cession effectively indoctrinated the states of California, Nevada, most of Arizona, and various sections of other current day states. The war’s start can be contributed to many things, one such reason being the acceptance of Texas as a recognized state by the U.S. This created a great deal of tension with Mexico, as Texas was once their territory, until Mexicans and Americans overthrew the governor of the region and appointed their own leader, Samuel Houston. Houston then brought Texas in as a state to the U.S. in order to assuage any aggressive acts by Mexico. However, tensions soon flared when several small incidents along the border of Mexico and Texas lead to the war. Many politicians in the northern states opposed the war, claiming that it was an attempt of the southern slave owners to gain influence in the new territory. While most of the territory of Arizona was obtained by the end of the war, it was the Gadsden Purchase that attained the rest of the state, along with the southwesternmost part of modern day New Mexico. The purchase gets it’s name from the United States ambassador to Mexico, James Gadsden, who signed the treaty approving the purchase of the territory in the year 1853, not all too long after the
On this land in the southwestern region of the United States of America, you will be fascinated by the cultural amalgamation of Native American, Hispanic, and Mexican culture. And here you do not learn cultures in just museums; you get the chance to explore the landscape and meet people and make the experience truly YOURS. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak Spanish.
Mexico is a country rich in tradition, history and culture. Unfortunately, Mexico has not been talked about for any of those descriptions I mentioned above lately. Mexico has become a country full of death and violence. The Mexican government has been fighting a war with drug traffickers since December 2006. At the same time, drug cartels have fought each other for control of territory. More than 60,000 people have been killed (CNN). Despite the “war” launched at these multi-billion dollar organized crime groups, Mexico has not been able to stop its slide as a failed state. Almost every day there seems to be either dead bodies lying on the ground, a school closed due to vandalism, disappeared people, or bullet-riddled houses and cars. Sadly, there is not much the citizens of Mexico can do to ask for justice and change to the mess they are living in right now. So who is to blame for all of this? The Mexican drug cartels have completely taken over Mexico. They have become powerful through corruption and violence. The cartels use their power to intimidate and even murder anyone who tries to get in their way. They do not have a problem with decapitating heads in order to make a statement. The drug cartels also use their money to gain power. Given the amount of money they have, the cartels have millions of dollars invested in keeping authorities off their business. They can be very effective in bribing government officials at all levels, from border patrol just patrolling the border to state and high ranking federal officials. Given the resources they have, they can reach out and kill government officials at all levels. Since government officials are faced with bribes and or certain death, even the most unbreakable are caut...
In conclusion, for many, Mexico is simply a country on a map. Even becoming a place that they wish to keep from and forget. For others like me, however; it was a place that hasn’t only reconnected me with my culture, but a home where I had the good fortune of reuniting me with my loved ones. Also, having had helped me come to terms with myself, my trip allowed me to find myself and recover what I had left
Mexicans, as constructed by Menchaca, are a predominantly mestizo population whose mixed ancestry she traces to early Latin American civilizations. In 200 BC the largest city in the Americas, Teotihuacán, was founded. Teotihuacán would one day be the site of Mexico City, and by 650 AD there were between 120,000 and 250,000 inhabitants. (2) Groups that inhabited the region fro...
Mexico is boarded by the United States of America, Belize and Guatemala. Mexico has a very diverse landscape of mountains, plateaus, deserts, tropical jungles, and even beautiful Palm beaches. With its diverse climate, Mexico also has a diverse population of plants. In desert areas, the most common plants that are found include cac...
Firstly, one aspect that is both Mexican and American is the cuisine. The original food for Mexico is very spicy and most of the time very colorful as well. Mexicans use spices, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese in many of the native dishes. They use an assortment of meat: pork, beef, lamb, and chicken. When Mexican restaurants spring up in the United States the food is toned down to appeal to Americans. The Mexican Americans use less spices to make the dishes milder rather than the hot, spicy native food. The food, still Mexican, takes on the likeness of American food. This is shown in the United States by all of the Mexican American restaurants such as Taco Bell. Therefore Mexicans have Americanized their food. “For Hispanics live on this side of the border, where Kraft manufactures Mexican-style Velveeta, and where Jack in the Box serves Fajita Pita.” (Rodriguez 131). Americans complement the Mexican style and the inverse.
Stretching nearly 1,200 miles, the Santa Fe Trail was a monumental and influential trading route that spread from Franklin, Missouri, across the Great Plains to the mountainous town of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It opened up a gateway to the west for many traders who hoped to make a living by selling their goods to the previously isolated areas of the current American Southwest. Some of the most profound impacts that the Santa Fe Trail had on the history of New Mexico include the exposure of New Mexican’s to the goods and economy of the United States, the trail’s strategic military location, and the conflicts that arose due to a difference in ideals and culture between the travelers of the trail and Native Americans.
I will begin to examine the Mexican American ethnic group, probing the historical circumstances that impelled them to come to America, focusing on the structure and functioning of their family life to determine or, at least, to raise clues about how and why they have been able or unable to maintain an ethnic identification over the generations, and take a brief look ahead to being to speculate what the future endeavors are for this ethnic group and their constitutive families.
Mexican Americans are a key attribute to our economy by continuing to participate. In great numbers in the workforce in pursuit of their part of the American dream. Mexican Americans are excellent contributors to politics as well. Cesar Estrada Chavez
Numerous civilizations rose and fell over a period of nearly 3,000 years in Mexico, until the early 16th century when a group of explorers from Spain arrived at the southern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. After the fall of the Aztec Empire, Spanish gained rule over the land via Viceroyalties sent over from the mainland. In this, began a big part of Mexico’s history known as the Colonial Period. With this came many positives and negative aspects which both helped the country grow and, in some ways, led its citizens to perish. The Colonial Period in Mexico brought many new concepts and ideas, both positive and negative, however
The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress from the force of globalization. Globalization has followed the trends of conflict and contradiction forcing ethnic Mexicans to adjust their culture and combat this force. While Mexican Americans are in the struggle against globalization and the impact it has had on their lives, e.g., unemployment more common, wages below the poverty line, globalization has had a larger impact on their motherland having devastating affects unlike anything in history.