This document provides a summary of the history of Mexicans in the United States from prehistory to 1965. It describes how Native Americans originally came from Asia, and that there were an estimated 6 million people living in what is now Mexico before European contact. It then summarizes the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in the 1500s, and the influences of both Native American and Spanish culture on Mexican identity. Subsequent chapters discuss the Spanish colonization of northern Mexico and Texas, Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican-American War of 1847 and the territories acquired by the US, discrimination faced by Mexicans in the new American Southwest, the Mexican Revolution of 1910 which drove immigration to the US, life for Mexican immigrants

1. MEXICANOS
A HISTORY OF MEXICANS IN THE
UNITED STATES
BY MANUEL G. GONZALES
Emily Ortega
Assignment 9

2. CHAPTER 1 PREHISTORY- 1521
SPANIARDS AND NATIVE AMERICANS

3. BEFORE CONQUEST
 It is believed that Native Americans
originally came from an Asian tribe that
crossed over to the American continent
and then traveled downward. There is
much evidence to support this through
artifacts, studies on blood types, and
linguistic analysis
 It is believed that the Native Americans
were more diverse in cultures that
Europe.
 There was an estimated 6 million people
throughout South Mexico alone before
Columbus reached it. These people lived
in a more advanced society than earlier
historians gave them credit for.

4. THE CONQUEST
 Cortez arrived at the same time the Aztecs
prophesied their Messiah figure would return.
 Suspecting them of being gods, the native let
them into their village, where Cortez gained
the leader’s, Moctezuma, trust and used him
as a hostage to extort treasure from the
natives.
 Moctezuma was fatally injured and the
Spaniards fled in the night.
 The Spaniards are able to defeat the natives
with help from rivals of the Aztecs, as well as
their superior technology and use of the

5. INFLUENCES ON THE MEXICAN CULTURE
 Mexicans are predominately mestizos, or a
product of mixed race. They are of both Native
American and European decent and their
culture has been influenced by both.
 “… the Mexicans’ entire life is steeped in Indian
culture- the family, love, friendship, attitudes,
toward one’s father and mother, popular
legends, the form of civility and life in common,
the vision of death and sex, work and festivity”-
Octavio Paz
 The Spanish imprint on Mexican culture is not
just race, but also language and Religion.

6. Chapter 2 1521-1821
THE SPANISH FRONTIER

7. NORTHERN SETTLEMENTS
 Through the 16th century there were many
attempts the find the legendary gold of the new
world. These failed explorations laid the trails to
what would become the northern colonies.
 New Mexico was the first area Spanish settlers
(pobladores) occupied. There was a perceived
threat of western expansion by the British.
 Texas was settled as a response the French
colony of New Orleans and their pelt trade.
 California was explored for it’s coastal ports and
potential trade with China. Many Catholic
missions were also established to minister to

8. LIFE ON THE FRONTIER
 The family, always  A democratic ideal was
near the core of developed on the frontier
Spanish life, became as a result of the
even more important in common, rough
the hostile, isolated existence. There wasn’t
north. much difference between
 Women played an the rich and poor.
important role on the
frontier because the  Aggressive Indians also
necessity or their labor many the cooperation of
as well as their normal the family and community
domestic duties. units absolutely
necessary.

9. THE NATIVES
 The first category of
natives were the
Pueblos, who were
more
peaceful, allowing
trade, conversion and
intermarriage possible.
 The second group
were indios barbaros
consisting of
nomadic, pillaging
tribes who were often

10. 1821-1848 Chapter 3
THE MEXICAN FAR NORTH
Mexican Independance
to The Mexican War

11. MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE
 Independence was gained in 1821 by
conservatives in Mexico who feared being
under a new “atheist” regime in New Spain.
 It came after more than 10 years of political
turmoil, and decades of discontent based on
social inequities.

12. NORTHERN MEXICO
 The period before and after Independence
was politically confusing for the whole nation,
but there was not much violence in the
northern areas.
 California and Texas were areas Anglos
emigrated to, mostly for economic reasons
like ranching and gold mining.
 The racism shown toward Mexicans by
Anglos would echo their relationship for
years.

13. THE WAR OF 1847
 Racism and Manifest  The war lasted from May
Destiny, the idea that to November but there
America was fated to be were some tough battles
a continental in the northern cities
nation, were main Monterrey and Buena
reasons the U.S. stated Vista.
the war.
 President Polk wanted  The final battle was led
California and Texas so by General Scott who
he inaccurately said arrived by sea and
Mexican troops had fired followed the same path
on American troops in as Cortez himself
Texas.

14. 1848-1900 Chapter 3
THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

15. MISTREATMENT OF NEW CITIZENS
 Mexicans in the areas won by American in
the war were discriminated against,
exploited, and had their rights denied, which
was in violation of the Treaty of Hidalgo.
 Land ownership was the worst abuse. The
Land Act of 1851 required Spanish and
Mexican land grantees to provide a deed
with almost perfect boundaries.
 The fact that most couldn’t speak English
and were poor, except for their land, didn’t
help out their situation at all.

16. ANGLO-MEXICAN RELATIONS
 Racial Tensions were high in California and
Texas, where most of the Anglos has moved
from the east. Initial Mexican fortune in the gold
mines accounts for Anglos’ racism and
exclusion
 New Mexico didn’t see much Anglo
immigration, so the social order and cultural ties
to the Old Country remained the same.
 Arizona saw the best Mexican-Anglo relations.
They lived peacefully, with business cooperation
and intermarriage being more common.

17. MEXICAN REACTIONS
 Bandits, the first and Mutualistas (mutual-aid
most popular being societies) gave general
Joaquin Marietta, were social services to, and
inspiring figures in protected the rights
Mexican-American of, Mexicans living in the
southwest.
Culture.

18. 1900-1930 Chapter 5
THE GREAT MIGRATION

19. REASONS FOR MIGRATION
 There were many reasons why Mexicans
started and continued to emigrate.
 Financial motives tend to be the most
pervasive over time.
 The southwest had many opportunities for
immigrants, especially in the mining, railroad
maintenance and agriculture businesses.
 The Revolution of 1910 is a major reason for
Mexican immigration during this period.

20. THE REVOLUTION OF 1910
 Began as a political Many people left to
revolt, but soon escape the rising
turned into a full violence and political
social turmoil in
revolt, affecting Mexico, most were
politics, economics, liberals.
and culture.

21. THE IMMIGRANT
 They came because even though there would be
discrimination, they wouldn’t be as oppressed.
 They got in by hiring guides, coyotes, and then
got jobs through contratistas, intermediaries for
the Mexican laborers and their employers.
 The urban Mexican had more contact with whites
and therefore more discrimination.
 Rural Mexicans tended to live together in small
communities, so they were safer from outside
factors.

22. 1930-1940 Chapter 6
THE DEPRESSION

23. BARRIOS
 Mexicans entering the cities usually moved
to neighborhoods with a Mexican culture and
other Mexicans.
 Chain migration is when a person first
immigrates to an area to secure a job and
home, then another person from their family
comes, then another and so on.
 The existence of minority communities
allowed people to make the journey with
more ease.

24. THE ECONOMY
 Many poor immigrants who were barely
getting by before the economic crash were
forced to repatriate back to Mexico.
 Anglos were now competing with Mexicans
for low-paying jobs, driving their pay down
farther.
 Both mining and railroads, Mexicans’ second
and third most important industries were
forced to make major cut backs.

25. AGITATION
 Agriculture was hit by the depression as well.
 Labor strikes were used in the decades
preceding the depression but during this era
is when union striking became common.
 In 1933, 37 strikes involving 45,000 people
occurred in California.

26. 1940-1965 Chapter 7
THE SECOND WAR AND
ITS AFTERMATH

27. MAINSTREAM AMERICANOS
 Mexicans were quick to volunteer for World
War II. In the military, Latinos were simply
counted as whites, which seems like a good
thing, yet doesn’t allow for accurate
numbers.
 It was seen as one of their only opportunities
to climb the socioeconomic ladder.
 Mexicans were also overrepresented during
the war because of their innate cultural
machoism.
 War was seen as a great way for a man to

28. PROBLEMS AT HOME
 Working mothers were not
uncommon among immigrants.
During the war years many
women also got jobs because
the men were overseas.
 This trend, urbanization and
gangs broke down the
idealized social unit of the
Mexican family.
 Zoot Suiters, or
pachucos, were young men in
gangs, alienated in and out of

29. THE WORKERS
 The Bracero Program brought Mexicans into
the United States to do work, while most men
were fighting overseas. It ran from 1942 to
1964.
 Undocumented workers also came to the
U.S. in huge numbers as the economy
picked up.
 Both groups of workers were treated and
paid poorly, but as it was still an improvement
on their usual conditions and wages they
kept competing.

30. 1965-1975 Chapter 8
THE CHICANO MOVEMENT

31. CHICANOISM
 The Chicano movement prided themselves
on their ethnic roots and deemphasized
assimilation.
 Indigenismo was the glorification of the
motherland and their Indian heritage, a trend
more popular among students.
 Some activists went as far as to call for
separation of the Chicanos and the creation
for their own homeland here in the
Southwest.

32. TRIPLE MINORITIES
 Woman in the Chicano movement were
commonly disregarded, like in other civil
rights movements.
 They formed their own groups which dealt
with Chicano issues as well as their unique
issues as women.
 Because they were women, usually poor and
Mexican they experienced discrimination on
three different fronts.

33. WORKER AND STUDENT MOVEMENTS
 Cesar Chavez became the most famous
Chicano activist after leading effective strikes
and boycotts in California for field workers.
 Students in California achieved bi-lingual
education as well as Chicano studies
departments and making the nation more
aware of their plight.

34. 1975-1994 Chapter 9
GOODBYE TO AZTLAN

35. NAFTA
 The North American Free Trade Agreement was
suppose to bolster up the Mexican economy by
providing jobs manufacturing for Americans.
 It was suppose to give alleviate immigration,
which had been increasing dramatically, by
giving Mexicans jobs and reasons to stay in
their own homeland.
 It did the opposite, making the poor poorer and
the rich richer. This causes much more social
strife and encourages more immigration.

36. UNFULFILLED PROMISE
 The Chicano movement made them think
their political power would continue to grow.
 However, the enthusiasm of the movement
burned out, leaving minimal gains in politics
and society.
 Economically, a small middle-class began to
emerge and families began to move to the
suburbs.
 The resistance to change had been to great
and the movement why have overestimated
its ability.

37. THE CHICANO RENAISSANCE
 This period of negligible socioeconomic
changes do stand out as a period of great
cultural and artistic achievement.
 Literature is the most important of these
advances, a popular poem being I am
Joaquin/Yo soy Joaquin, by Corky Gonzalez.

38. 1994-Present Chapter 10
THE HISPANIC CHALLENGE

39. NEW IMMIGRANTS
 Like older immigrants they come to escape
violence in Mexico, recently from drug
cartels.
 There are about 12 million Mexican
immigrants in the country and another 12
million Mexicans counted as undocumented
immigrants.

40. AMERICAN RESPONSE
 Americans, especially since 9/11 have
responded to the huge influx of immigrants
with racism and scapegoating.
 Republicans have passed laws at both the
state and federal levels which make it hard to
exist.
 Both parties say they want to reform
immigration policy but neither want to upset big
business
 Racists groups have also cropped up,
including the Minutemen and Riders USA, with

41. A GROWING ELECTORATE
 Grassroots movements have erupted do to the
racist legislation dealing with immigration.
 Hundreds of thousands of people take to the
street every May to demonstrate for immigrant
rights.
 George Bush was able to appeal to the Latino
community’s socially conservative side, helping
him win in Texas and the presidency.
 Renewed Latino support of
Democrats, including Barack Obama, show that
the Latino vote is becoming ever more important