Mexican immigration in the early 1900's was a huge issue that impacted the United States in areas such as urban population, employment and many other ways. The mass number of Mexican immigrant's that migrated to the United States from Mexico was at nearly half million in between the years of 1920 and 1929. Mexicans left their native land and moved to the United States not only to achieve financial prosperity, but to get out of the chaotic environment that Mexico was in at the time due to the Mexican revolution which began in 1910. Many Mexicans that were seeking work found jobs in farming, mining, and railroad construction work this help them in their pursuit of financial prosperity. But did Mexican immigration affect the United States in a positive or negative way? While Mexican migrant workers did have a major impact on Americas agricultural and railroad system, American's were not thrilled at the idea of having foreign immigrants migrate to their country and take away jobs. This resulted in nationalism. “Nearly a half-million Mexican’s entered the United States between 1920 and 1929, compromising over 15 percent of total immigration during that period” ( Chapter 8, The Mexican Immigrant Experience) Many Americans were distraught over the fact that foreigner’s from another country were coming into the United States of America not only to take away their jobs, but to use up valuable resource’s.What was so disturbing to them is that they were coming over at such a staggering rate. At this time Americans resorted to nationalism which is as Merton E. Hill stated in 1931 in a program that he outlined for Americanizing the Mexicans “Americanization is hereby defined as the ... ... middle of paper ... ..., "Major Problems In Mexican American History" The Mexican Immigrant Experience, 1917-1928, Zaragosa Vargas (233) 2.Merton E. Hill, " The Development of an Americanization Program" The Survey 66, no.3 (May 1931). In Carlos E. Cortes, ed., Aspects of the Mexican- American Experience(New York:Arno Press, 1976), pp. 10, 102-111. 3. Anita Edgar Jones, "Mexican Colonies in Chicago," Social Service Review 2 ( December 1928): 39-54. 4. Ernesto Galarza, "Life in the United States for Mexican People: Out of the Experience of a Mexican" from Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work, 56th Annual Session, University of Chicago Press, 1929. 5. Ernesto Galarza, "Life in the United States for Mexican People: Out of the Experience of a Mexican" from Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work, 56th Annual Session, University of Chicago Press, 1929.
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This book as mentioned before is a great addition to academia; Dr., García’s thorough research, and vast amount of statistics, give new light to the Mexican immigration into the United States in the nineteenth century, As well as the many contributions of the Mexican people in this country. Which has many times been overlooked by scholars, who choose to focus on immigration from the other side of the Atlantic, as the greater contributor of talent and greatness in this country. García’s book not only includes the struggle of men but also the struggle of the many women who sacrificed much, and had to endure even more while working as domestics for many racist patronas. Dr., Mario García obtained a PhD. At the University of California in San Diego, and is currently a professor of Chicano/Chicana studies at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
Weber, David J. Foreigners in Their Native Land: The Historical Roots of Mexican Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973.
Danzer, Gerald, J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Larry Krieger, Louis Wilson, and Nancy Woloch. The Americans. 1. 1. McDougal Little, 2005. 1121. Print.
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).
Williams, Norma. (2009). The Mexican American family: tradition and change. New York: General Hall. (Primary)
Moving from the unpleasant life in the old country to America is a glorious moment for an immigrant family that is highlighted and told by many personal accounts over the course of history. Many people write about the long boat ride, seeing The Statue of Liberty and the “golden” lined streets of New York City and how it brought them hope and comfort that they too could be successful in American and make it their home. Few authors tend to highlight the social and political developments that they encountered in the new world and how it affected people’s identity and the community that they lived in. Authors from the literature that we read in class highlight these developments in the world around them, more particularly the struggles of assimilating
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Fanslow, Robin A. “The Migrant Experience.” LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, American Folklife Center Library of Congres, 6 Apr. 1998, www.loc.gov/collections/todd-and-sonkin-migrant-workers-from-1940-to-1941/articles-and-essays/the-migrant-experience/.
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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.