The history of the conquest and colonization of the Americas is very complex. The social, economic, and political issues and circumstances that took place many years ago are the foundation of who America is today. Most Americans do not realize how many people were affected by immigration, or understand the real struggles and sacrifices that the indigenous people and the colonists made for the freedoms we have today. During these historical events, many cultural, social, and economical events were impacted. Historical Contributions or Achievements The first American inhabitants are believed to have migrated from Asia about 18,000 years ago. Many societies were built, and civilizations were formed by the Aztec, Olmec, Mayan, Teotihuacan, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Toltec peoples around the Mexico territories. These peoples were very organized and skillful in agriculture, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, and art. The Aztec empire was one of most powerful empires before being conquered by Spanish explorers in the 1500’s (Englekirk & MarÃn, 2011). Also during the late 1500’s, the Spanish people arrived in Florida, establishing the first permanent colony in San Agustin, Florida. The Spanish also explored areas in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. Santa Fe, New Mexico was established in 1605, the Spanish purchased the Greater Louisiana from the French in 1763. San Diego was also founded in 1749 in the settlement of Alta California. In the early 1800’s, American immigrants were settling in to the territory we call Texas. In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain. Shortly after, the American settlers were offered land to raise cattle. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as a result of the Texas Revolution, but in 1846, ... ... middle of paper ... ...icans still do not accept others because of their race, color, or religion, etc. Although, when America goes to war against other countries, or when tragedy happens, the people unite together as one nation and become the proud “United States of America”. Works Cited Carter, P. M. (2005). Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . AmericanVarieties . Spanglish . USA . PBS. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved September 6, 2011, from http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/spanglish/usa/ Englekirk, A., & MarÃn, M. (2011). Mexican Americans - History. Countries and Their Cultures. Retrieved September 6, 2011, from http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Mexican-Americans.html Noriega, C. A. (2010). The Chicano studies reader: an anthology of Aztlán, 1970-2010 (Second ed.). Los Angeles: UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Publications.
Ramos, Raul A. Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861. The University of North Carolina Press. 2008.
8. Meyer, Michael C., et al. The Course of Mexican History, 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
The focus of analysis will consist of Southern Chicago Mexicans and the way by which they established themselves as important features of US civilization. Within the late 1910s and early 1920s the first major waves of Mexican immigrants ventured into the Southside of Chicago. Members of the community overcame the discrimination against them while organizing themselves in way that introduced Mexican pride and community building across their
In the years following the Spanish conquests, the southwest region of the United States developed into Spanish colonial territory. Indians, Spaniards, and blacks occupied this territory in which the shortage of Spanish women led to the miscegenation of these cultures. The result of mixing these races was a homogenization of the people of various cultures that came to be called mestizos and mulattos who, like present day Mexican Americans, inherited two distinct cultures that would make their culture rich, yet somewhat confusi...
Weber, David J. Foreigners in Their Native Land: The Historical Roots of Mexican Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973.
Martinez, Oscar. Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1994), 232.
Torres, Hector Avalos. 2007. Conversations with Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Writers. U.S.: University of New Mexico press, 315-324.
Of these 31.8 million are Mexican origin. Despite the large presence as Rodolfo Jacobo, professor and Department chair, Multicultural Studies at Palomar College recounts in his article Chicano Cultural Space: It’s Roots, “there exist a vast lack of knowledge of the political, economic and cultural significance of the Chicano cultural nationalism” (Jacobo 4). In the search of acceptance Mexican decedents had look and still looking for spaces that they could encounter a sense of home, but through the entire search Mexican Americans find themselves in a territory and a society that denies and discredit their experience and contribution. However, through all the different situations and experiences that Mexican Americans had faced and still face help them to take a step forward, and become leaders of the communities in order to speak out and proclaim their
Monroy, Douglas. Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California . 1990.
Through all stages, a conflict existed between the Indigenous peoples and the United States. Under the illusion of forging a new democracy, free of hierarchies and European monarchies, the United States used the plantation labor of enslaved Africans and dispossessed massive numbers of Native peoples from their lands and cultures to conquer this land.15 Many Americans continue to experience the social, political, cultural and economic inequalities that remain in our Nation
The Effects of Colonization on the Native Americans Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worse. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture. Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them.
With the advancements in technology today, the process of learning has become easier. Instead of just reading, one can look at video documentaries or web sites to acquire information they need or want. In my Latinos in the U.S. class, we have access to all types of information in our quest to learn about Mexican-American history. By reading Zaragosa Vargas= Problems in Mexican-American History, looking at the Chicano Park web site and viewing part one of the Chicano! video documentary, I have encountered a variety of representations of Mexican-American history. However they are not all of the same quality for the video and web site do not give as much information as the readings in Vargas= book or the class lectures and discussions do. Both the video and web site touch on a very small portion Mexican-American history, however, they only refer to the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo established in 1848 and that Mexicans are of Aztlan heritage.
Bibliography:.. Becoming Mexican-American by George Sanchez, Oxford University Press, Inc. 1993.
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.
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.