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Name: __________________________________________________ Period: __________________________Read this article about the history of Mexican emigration to the U.S. Write a 20-word summary at the end. This is due Friday, 11/20/17.Becoming Part of the United StatesThe first Mexicans to become part of the United States never crossed any border. Instead, the border crossed them. Spanish-speaking people have lived in North America since the Spaniards colonized Mexico in the sixteenth century, and Mexicans have always played a crucial role in the continent's culture and history. Mexican culture brought many firsts to North America: The first Thanksgiving took place in either New Mexico or El Paso; the first university in North America was founded in Mexico City; the first printing press on the continent arrived in Mexico in 1538, more than a century before printing came to New England. Mexicans first arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598 and founded the city of Santa Fe in 1610. By 1800, Spain had governed Mexico as a colony for almost 300 years. Although Spaniards held positions of power, the people of Mexico were primarily mestizos--people of both Spanish and indigenous heritage. The northern sections of Mexico, especially the lands north of the Rio Grande, were lightly populated well into the 19th century. Mexican government officials, merchants, and a few trappers and hunters from the U.S. lived in small settlements, mostly around a series of mission churches. This arrangement remained largely undisturbed after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821.The Land Changes HandsIn 1846, everything changed. War broke out between the U.S. and Mexico over the U.S. annexation of Texas. Mexico was defeated, and in 1848 the two nations signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty gave the victorious nation an enormous amount of land, including what would later become the states of California and Texas, as well as parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada, in exchange for a token payment of $15 million. One more important piece of land changed hands in 1854, when the U.S. bought what is now southern Arizona and New Mexico from the Mexican government for $10 million. This land deal, known as the Gadsden Purchase, brought the U.S. a much-coveted railroad route, and helped open the West to further expansion. With two strokes of a pen, the larger nation had expanded its size by one-third. And almost overnight, tens of thousands of Mexican citizens had become residents of the United States. Expansion and ExpulsionThe 1940s saw yet another reversal of U.S. policies--and attitudes--toward Mexican immigration. As wartime industries absorbed U.S. workers, farmers became desperate for low-cost labor and urged the government to take action. In 1942, the U.S. and Mexico jointly created the bracero, or laborer, program, which encouraged Mexicans to come to the U.S. as contract workers. Braceros were generally paid very low wages, and often worked under conditions that most U.S. citizens were unwilling to accept. Braceros were treated so poorly in Texas, for example, that for a period the Mexican government refused to send any workers to that state. The program was very popular with U.S. farmers, and was extended well past the end of World War II, not ending until 1964. More than 5 million Mexicans came to the U.S. as braceros, and hundreds of thousands stayed.Ironically, just as one government program was pulling Mexican immigrants into the U.S., another was pushing them out. After the war, the U.S. began a new campaign of deportation, on a much larger scale than during the Depression. The expulsions lasted well into the 1950s, and sent more than 4 million immigrants, as well as many Mexican Americans, to Mexico.Taking the Public Stage After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Mexican Americans enlisted in the military in significant numbers. In an on-the-street interview from December 9, 1941, a Texas man explained that "I was born in Mexico myself too, but I raised my kids and I have to fight for my country with my kids…." Mexican Americans were awarded more than 30 Congressional Medals of Honor during the war, and Second World War veterans went on to form political organizations on their return from service.Many Mexican American civic organizations became prominent in the postwar years, including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Perhaps the best-known Mexican American movement of the postwar years was the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the 1960s and '70s. The UFW organized farmworkers nationwide and pressured employers through boycotts of non-union produce. These campaigns received widespread publicity, and the UFW's leader, César Chávez, became a well-known representative of the Mexican American community nationwide. Other activists fought for greater recognition of Mexican Americans and began to describe themselves as Chicanos and Chicanas.Shaping a New CenturyThe third great surge in Mexican immigration is taking place as you read this. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently more than twenty million people of Mexican origin in the U.S. In the 1990s, more legal immigrants came from Mexico than from all the European countries combined. In addition, immigration has become more permanent, as a greater percentage of Mexican immigrants have chosen to stay in their new home. Mexican immigrants and their descendants occupy a more significant place in American cultural life than ever before. Mexican Americans often serve as high government officials, as well as local mayors, sheriffs, and school board members. Mexican Americans now live in all regions of the country and can be found in most professions and trades. The greatest impact of Mexican immigration, though, may be its contribution to the growing Latin American influence on the everyday life of all Americans. Government projections show that, by the next two generations, more than 25 percent of the U.S. population will be of Latin American origin. The nation's clothing, music, architecture, literature, and food have all been influenced by our growing Latin and Mexican American populations.SUMMARY: Write a 20-word summary that includes ideas from throughout the article._________________ _________________ _________________ __________________ __________________________________ _________________ _________________ __________________ __________________________________ _________________ _________________ __________________ __________________________________ _________________ _________________ __________________ _________________ ................
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