Hispanic/Latino American History Part One

Preambulo

October is Hispanic/Latino-American Heritage Month and I wanted to give a brief summary of the history and culture of Hispanics/Latinos in America. This will be far from a complete rendering of their history or culture --- how could one sum up a total history of a people in two articles? I do hope, however, that it sparks an interest in our Hispanic/Latino-American brothers and sisters and how we can begin to talk about how we can, more fully, learn American history.

The Spanish Empire in the Americas

Following Columbus's voyage, other Spanish explorers -called conquistadores (conquerors)-came to the New World. They destroyed Native American societies, garnered fortunes and fame, and made Spain the most powerful nation on earth.

In 1521, Hernan Cortes used Native American allies and better weapons to conquer the Aztecs. The Aztecs had been weakened by disease. The Spaniards burned the Aztec capital and quickly built a new Spanish-style city as capital of the colony they named New Spain.

Many Spaniards married Native American women, creating a large mestizo -or mixed Spanish and Native American-population. Con quistadores received large estates called encomien-das. They forced Native Americans to farm, ranch, or mine the land, often treating them cruelly. Priests protested this harsh system.

After the Spanish crown ended the system in 1542, Spanish landowners used African slaves. As conquistadores spread from Mexico, the Spanish empire in the New World grew. It included the Caribbean islands, Central America, and most of South America. Gold and silver from the New World made Spain wealthy.

The Spanish also moved into the present-day United States. In 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles established a small settlement at St. Augustine, the oldest European-founded city in the present United States. Other explorers traveled through the Southwest and southern Plains. They found no gold, but they were soon followed by missionaries who hoped to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism. In the winter of 1609-1610, Pedro de Peralta established a settlement he called Santa Fe.

Native Americans, led by Pope (pronounced poh-pay), rose to resist the growing Spanish presence. In 1680 they killed priests, burned churches, and drove the Spaniards back to New Spain. Just over a decade later, though, the Spanish regained control of the area.

Expansion Into Texas

Texas, which was part of Mexico, had few set tlers. Although the land was good for farming, people feared attacks by Native Americans. Hoping to improve its economy, Mexico loosened trade restrictions between its northernmost areas -present-day California, New Mexico, and Texas-and the United States. It also encouraged Americans to settle in Texas.

In the early 1820s, many Americans settled in Texas. Called Anglos, they soon outnumbered the Tejanos, or Mexican settlers. Stephen F. Austin was a leader of the Anglo community. As the number of Anglos grew and the community thrived, many in the United States considered making Texas part of their country.

Anglos had disagreements with the Mexican government. Mexico had banned slavery, but the Anglo settlers -many from the South-wanted to keep their slaves. In 1830, Mexico banned Anglo immigration to Texas. When Austin convinced Mexican leaders to drop the ban, large numbers of Americans again streamed in. While Austin tried to obtain greater self-government for Texas, the Mexican leader, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, overthrew the Mexican constitution.

Austin returned to Texas and called for Texans to arm themselves. Santa Anna led an army north and defeated a small garrison of Texans at the Alamo. Meanwhile, Texans met and declared independence. After winning the Battle of San Jacinto, Texans forced Santa Anna to sign a treaty granting them independence.

Texans wanted to join the United States, but New Englanders opposed the addition of another slave state to the Union. In 1845, Texas finally was annexed, or incorporated, into the United States. This infuriated the Mexican government.

War With Mexico

President James K. Polk was determined to end the Texas dispute and obtain even more land from Mexico. He offered to buy Texas, California, and New Mexico, but Mexico did not accept. Polk decided to provoke a war. He ordered soldiers to march from Texas to block the Rio Grande -an area that Mexico claimed as its own.

The debate in Congress was fierce. Many Northerners disliked Polk's actions, seeing them as an excuse to extend slavery. Southerners who opposed obtaining more Mexican land became supporters of Polk once extending slavery became part of the debate. Meanwhile, the Mexicans attacked American soldiers in Texas. Polk asked Congress to declare war, which it did.

A United States force marched to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and seized the area without a shot. The troops then moved to California. American set tlers there had already proclaimed their indepen dence, declaring the Bear Flag Republic. When the U.S. troops and a naval force arrived, Mexican troops yielded.

The main fighting took place in Mexico. General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey and won a victory against Santa Anna at Buena Vista. At the same time, General Winfield Scott captured the port of Veracruz and then took Mexico City, the capital.

Mexico lost almost four times as many soldiers as the United States. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which ended the war in 1848, also cost the country its northern provinces. By adding to Texas the territories of present-day California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming, and Texas, the United States grew by one-third.

The new territory quickly brought wealth to the United States. In January 1848, gold was discovered in California. Soon thousands of prospectors -called "forty-niners"-came to California in a great Gold Rush. San Francisco became a booming city, and the next year California applied for statehood as a state that banned slavery.

According to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States had promised to protect the rights of Mexican Americans in the newly won territories. Most of the treaty's provisions, unfortunately, were not honored by the United States. Huge tracts of land belonging to Mexicans were taken from them by the most dubious legal means or by outright theft.

Violence was perpetrated against them, and there was a great deal of economic exploitation. This anti-Mexican exploitation covers the period from 1849 until 1910, an era of Anglo-American assimilation of the new territory. The Mexican Americans of the Southwest were gradually overwhelmed in numbers by Anglo newcomers from the East. (Anglo is a term used by Hispanics to describe all white non-Hispanic Americans).

Discrimination in the Southwest

Mexicans in the Southwest often faced difficult conditions because of racial discrimination. In the 1880's and 1890's, the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads hired more Mexicans than any other ethnic group to construct rail lines in Arizona, southern California, Nevada and New Mexico. Railroad managers hired Mexicans not only because they were accustomed to the Southwest's hot, dry climate but also because they were forced to work for less money than other ethnic groups.

Mexican workers were also vital to the development of mining and agriculture in the Southwest. When the 1902 Reclamation Act (also called the Newlands Act) provided government assistance for irrigation projects, many desert areas in the Southwest bloomed. Raising grapes, lettuce, citrus fruit, and cotton required manual labor and many companies looked to Mexicans, who had worked so well for the railroads, provided a major source of agricultural labor.

These Mexican workers sometimes found themselves reduced to debt peonage, a system of involuntary servitude in which the laborer was forced to work off a debt --- debts usually incurred by discriminatory and dubious lending practices. After slavery was abolished, some Mexicans, as well as African-Americans in the territories of New Mexico and Arizona, were forced into debt peonage. Not until 1911 did the U.S. Supreme Court declare involuntary peonage to be a violation of the 13th Amendment.

In part two of Hispanic/Latino-American History, I will be covering the diversity of ethnic backgrounds that make-up Hispanic/Latino-American culture in the United States as well as some of the contemporary issues, concerns and challenges they face.