Mexican American History
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Transcript of Mexican American History
Mexican-American War, 1846-1848• Causes:
-disputes over border -American settlement of Mexican territory
• Result: -U.S. Army seized Mexico City-Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo signed to end war
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1848
• Mexico gave nearly half its land to USA(Entire Southwest U.S.--Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado)
• U.S. promise to Mexicans living in new terr.:1) to respect their right to the land2) U.S. citizenship (nearly 80,000 stayed)
Transformation to Second-Class Citizens, late 1800s
• Loss of Land: Mexican land owners had to prove right to their land in U.S. court -U.S. gov’t did not recognize Mexican or Spanish land grants
-Landowners often had to sell their land to pay legal fees
• No land to ranch or farm work for whites • Barrios: segregated Mexican American
neighborhoods, U.S. cities often built around Mexican settlements
Immigration to U.S., 1900s
• 1920s: Over 500,000 Mexicans came to U.S. on permanent visas (work permits)
• Benefits: Higher pay, more safety in U.S.• Segregation: Schools, restaurants, theaters,
other public places “whites only” until 1940s
•1910 Revolution in Mexico caused wave of immigration to U.S.
Great Depression=Deportation
• Dust Bowl: major drought in Midwest; 2.5 million farmers migrated west to find work
• Repatriation Program: U.S. gov’t pressured Mexican farm workers to return to Mexico-Search for “illegal aliens” began, those without legal residency permits deported
World War II: Bracero Program• WWII: Chicano farm workers
got jobs in factories• Bracero Program (1942-1964):
U.S. gov’t shipped in more Mexicans, under contract to U.S. growers and ranchers-Temporary workers: expected to return to Mexico
• Operation Wetback (1953): INS swept Mexican American communities, deporting over 1 million illegal immigrants
Farm Workers’ Movement, 1960s• Cesar Chavez led push to
unionize farm workers (strike/better conditions)
• UFW founded 1962 (United Farm Workers union)
• 1966: 340-mile march from Delano, CA to Sacramento, CA
• 1966: Grape Boycott• 1968: Hunger Strike • 1970: grape growers accepted
contract with UFW