Latino Immigration

Early European settlers to the United States immigrated to establish a new nation free from the tyranny of monarch rulers in order to find new freedom on the continent of North America. These settlers came to establish a new society, on that was free from religious persecution, over taxation, and ruling kingdom that limited personal freedoms. These pilgrims soon to be known as Americans found the new opportunities that were not attainable to them in England, opputunities such as freedom, land, and resources. Throughout history, immigrants from every contry in the world have come to the United States to find these same opportunities. “While European immigration generally had a beginning and and end, Mexican immigration has been virtually continuous

for the past century”. The Mexican American social establishment in the United States has been rooted in the early history of this contry. Early and present day Mexican Americans have endured racisim and stereotyping amougst the whole Latino population in the United States. These issues have created gaps between Latinos and Mexican Americans with the social identification of one’s national heritage. Moreover, Mexican Americans have always had to contend with the presens of unassimilated new comers as well as waves of anti-Mexican sentiment. Although Mexican-Amerians and Latinos represent the largest ethnic minority in the United States presently, these waves have anti-sentiment have lead to present day gaps in politics, the media, and education.

In the early history of the United States, most of the western region of the the country belong to Mexico. With the expansion of new settlers to the west and the idealogical believe of manifest desitany, the Untied States went to war with Mexico over political dominace and dispute over at annexation of Texas and the desire to acquire

California from Mexico. As a result of the war Mexican-American war, “the United States take-over of the Mexican northern territiories due to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The northern territory included California, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado. Mexico also recognized the annexation of Texas to the United States”. Shortly after the Mexican-American war, the Mexican revolution started in 1910 and Mexico was in a state of civil unrest for several years. The result of the revolution had a profound population effect on the United States. “Although statics were not kept, it is estimated that nearly 10% of the Mexican population, mostly peasent and unskilled farm workers immigrated to the United States, particularly to the southwest regions of the country”. United States investments in Mexico made the country an economic colony of the United States, “and by the early twentieth century theat economic domination began upsetting population in Mexico’s country side and forcing people to relocated to the Southwest, where they sought their livelihood as cheap laborers”.

The social characteristic of this immigrant group was mainly lower class farmers or peasent labors. They had little or education and came from generation of low economic backrounds. Mostly in the catholic religion, they depended on areas with other Mexicans to gain a sense social balance and started to form “barrios”. The idea of familial loyalty and support was a central beliefe in day to day living. Their strengths were making a living out of agriculture and farming techniques, durable work habits, and learning new skills rapidly.

For different motivations Latino Americans that immigrated to the United States began to establish themselves in the other regions of the country that had a lower population of Mexican immigrants at the time. Regions such as the Northeast and southeast were social focal points to Latinos from central and south America, including island nations such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. “Latinos settled in areas that had a elevated population of their country men. The idea of communal living was key to where most Latino immigrants felt that they had the best odds to obtain employment, housing, and social welfare”. However, over the decades following the early 1900’s, Latinos and Mexican Americans in particular began to loose their national