History of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
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The history of Hispanics and Latinos in the United States is wide-ranging, spanning more than four hundred years of American colonial and post-colonial history. Hispanics (whether criollo, mulatto, afro-mestizo or mestizo) became the first American citizens in the newly acquired Southwest territory after the Mexican–American War, and remained a majority in several states until the 20th century.
As late as 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War, Spain[1] held claim to roughly half of today's continental United States. In the Treaty of Paris France ceded Louisiana (New France) to Spain from 1763 until it was returned in 1800 by the Treaty of San Ildefonso. In 1775, Spanish ships reached Alaska.[2] From 1819 to 1848, the United States and its army increased the nation's area by roughly a third at Spanish and Mexican expense, gaining among others three of today's four most populous states: California, Texas and Florida.
Spanish expeditions
Spanish expeditions that took place in the South and East of North America
The first confirmed landing in the continental United States was by a Spaniard,
From 1528 to 1536, four castaways from a Spanish expedition, including a "black" Moor, Estevanico, journeyed all the way from Florida to the Gulf of California, 267 years before Lewis and Clark embarked on their much more renowned and far less arduous trek.
In 1540
The Spanish settled within the area, creating the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at
As a result of the persistent contributions made by Latinos to American culture, essential changes have resulted in the development of a complex national minority group that is now an important part of US society. [4]
Two iconic American stories have Spanish antecedents, too. Almost 80 years before
Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest
Spanish claims to
Hispanic American presence in the former British colonies of the United States at the end of the eighteenth century
1790 U.S Ancestry Based on Evaluated census figures[6] | ||
---|---|---|
Ancestry group | Number (1790 estimate) |
% of total |
English | 1,900,000 | 47.5 |
African |
750,000 | 19.0 |
Scotch-Irish | 320,000 | 8.0 |
German |
280,000 | 7.0 |
Irish |
200,000 | 5.0 |
Scottish |
160,000 | 4.0 |
Welsh |
120,000 | 3.0 |
Dutch |
100,000 | 2.5 |
French |
80,000 | 2.0 |
Native American | 50,000 | 1.0 |
Spanish |
20,000 | 0.5[Note 1] |
Swedish and other |
20,000 | 0.5 |
Total | 4,000,000[7] | 100 |
Some Hispanics emigrated to some of the future British colonies of North America in the early of the 17th century. Among these immigrants was the Dominican
Using comparative approaches developed for urban areas, researchers compare and statistically model changes in the family income established Hispanic, rapidly growing Hispanic, rapidly growing non-Hispanic, and slow-growth or declining counties. The findings support perspectives that emphasize growing social heterogeneity in understanding how minority population growth contributes to inequality, including changes in human capital and industrial restructuring.[10]
According to the
On the other hand, between 1779 and 1783 several Spanish troops provided aid to the Americans in their fight against the British Crown's troops in the
Florida
Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. In 1559, Spanish
The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. The English weakened Spanish power in the area by supplying their
Louisiana
In 1763, France ceded Louisiana to Spain to compensate for the loss of Florida, which had been ceded to the British in 1763 after losing the war of the 7 years (Spain and France were allies). The Government of Louisiana lived in
California (1530–1765)
The first European explorers, flying the flags of Spain, sailed along the coast of California from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries, but no European settlements were established. The most important colonial power, Spain, focused attention on its imperial centers in Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines. Confident of Spanish claims to all lands touching the Pacific Ocean (including California), Spain simply sent an occasional exploring party sailing along the California coast. The California seen by these ship-bound explorers was one of hilly grasslands and forests, with few apparent resources or natural ports to attract colonists.
The other colonial states of the era, with their interest on more densely populated areas, paid limited attention to this distant part of the world. It was not until the middle of the 18th century, that both Russian and British explorers and fur-traders began encroaching on the margins of the area.
Hernán Cortés
About 1530,
An expedition in 1533 discovered a bay, most likely that of La Paz, before experiencing difficulties and returning. Cortés accompanied expeditions in 1534 and 1535 without finding the sought-after city.
On May 3, 1535, Cortés claimed "Santa Cruz Island" (now known as the peninsula of Baja California), and laid out and founded the city that was to become La Paz later that spring.
Francisco de Ulloa
Also: Island of California
In July 1539, moved by the renewal of those stories, Cortés sent Francisco de Ulloa out with three small vessels. He made it to the mouth of the Colorado, then sailed around the peninsula as far as Cedros Island.
The account of this voyage marks the first recorded application of the name "California". It can be traced to the fifth volume of a chivalric romance, Amadis de Gallia, arranged by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo and first printed around 1510, in which a character traveled through an island called "California".
João Rodrigues Cabrilho
The first European to explore the coast was João Rodrigues Cabrilho, a Portuguese navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown. In June, 1542 Cabrillo led an expedition in two ships from the west coast of what is now Mexico. He landed on September 28 at San Diego Bay, claiming what he thought was the Island of California for Spain.
Cabrillo and his crew landed on
Sebastián Vizcaíno
In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored California's coastline as far north as
Spanish colonization and governance (1765–1821)
During the last quarter of the 18th century, the first European settlements were established in California. Reacting to interest by Russia and possibly Great Britain in the fur-bearing animals of the Pacific coast, Spain created a series of Catholic missions, accompanied by troops and ranches, along the southern and central coast of California. These missions were intended to demonstrate the claim of the Spanish Crown to modern-day California.
The first quarter of the 19th century continued the slow colonization of the southern and central California coast by Spanish missionaries, ranchers, and troops. By 1820, Spanish influence was marked by the chain of missions reaching from San Diego to just north of today's San Francisco Bay area, and extended inland approximately 25 to 50 miles from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans were continuing to lead traditional lives. The Adams–Onís Treaty, signed in 1819 set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of California.
First Spanish colonies
Spain had maintained a number of missions and presidios in its richer lands (not including California) since 1493. The Spanish claims to the Northern provinces of
Gaspar de Portolà
In May 1768, the Spanish Visitor General,
The Portolà land expedition arrived at the site of present-day
On October 31, de Portolà's explorers became the first Europeans known to view
Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra was a
Serra founded
Alta California missions
The California Missions comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish
Most missions were small, with normally two Franciscans and six to eight soldiers in residence. All of these buildings were built largely with unpaid native labor under Franciscan supervision. In addition to the presidio (royal fort) and pueblo (town), the misión was one of the three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown in an attempt to consolidate its colonial territories. None of these missions were completely self-supporting, requiring continued (albeit modest) financial support. Starting with the onset of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810, this support largely disappeared and the missions and their converts were left on their own.
In order to facilitate overland travel, the mission settlements were situated approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) apart, so that they were separated by one day's long ride on horseback along the 600-mile (966-kilometer) long El Camino Real (Spanish for "The Royal Highway", though often referred to as "The King's Highway"), and also known as the California Mission Trail. Heavy freight movement was practical only via water. Tradition has it that the priests sprinkled mustard seeds along the trail in order to mark it with bright yellow flowers.
Four presidios, strategically placed along the California coast and organized into separate military districts, served to protect the missions and other Spanish settlements in Upper California.
A number of mission structures survive today or have been rebuilt, and many have congregations established since the beginning of the 20th century. The highway and missions have become for many a romantic symbol of an idyllic and peaceful past. The "
Ranchos
The Spanish (and later the Mexicans) encouraged settlement with large land grants which were turned into ranchos, where cattle and sheep were raised. Cow hides (at roughly $1 each) and fat (known as tallow, used to make candles as well as soaps) were the primary exports of California until the mid-19th century. The owners of these ranchos styled themselves after the landed gentry in Spain. Their workers included some Native Americans who had learned to speak Spanish and ride horses.
Mexican era (1821–1846)
General
Substantial changes occurred during the second quarter of the 19th century. Mexican independence from Spain in 1821 marked the end of European rule in California; the missions faded in importance under Mexican control while ranching and trade increased. By the mid-1840s, the increased presence of White Americans made the northern part of the state diverge from southern California, where the Spanish-speaking "Californios" dominated.
By 1846, California had a Spanish-speaking population of under 10,000, tiny even compared to the sparse population of states in Mexico proper. The "Californios", as they were known, consisted of about 800 families, mostly concentrated on a few large ranchos. About 1,300 White Americans and a very mixed group of about 500 Europeans, scattered mostly from Monterey to Sacramento dominated trading as the Californios dominated ranching. In terms of adult males, the two groups were about equal, but the Americans were more recent arrivals.
Secularization
The
Other nationalities
- In this period, American and British trappers began entering California in search of beaver. Using the Forty-Niners, farmers and ranchers.
- In 1840, the American adventurer, writer and lawyer Richard Henry Dana Jr. wrote of his experiences aboard ship off California in the 1830s in Two Years Before the Mast.
- The leader of a French scientific expedition to California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras, wrote in 1840 "...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."[16] In 1841, General Vallejo wrote Governor Alvarado that "...there is no doubt that France is intriguing to become mistress of California", but a series of troubled French governments did not uphold French interests in the area. During disagreements with Mexicans, the German-Swiss Francophile John Sutter threatened to raise the French flag over California and place himself and his settlement, New Helvetia, under French protection.
By 1846, the province had a non-Native American population of about 1500 Californio adult men (with about 6500 women and children), who lived mostly in the southern half. About 2,000 recent immigrants (almost all adult men) lived mostly in the northern half of California.
Arizona and New Mexico
Arizona
Spanish period
Most of the colonists left Arizona after
In 1765, Charles III of Spain doing a major rearranging of the presidios (military fortresses) on the northern frontier. The Jesuits were expelled from the area, and the Franciscans took their place at their missions. In the 1780s and 1790s, the Spanish began a plan of setting up Apache peace camps and providing the Apache with rations so that they would not attack, allowing the Spanish to expand northward.
Mexican period
In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, annexing the southwest of the present United States, including Arizona. As missions began to wither, Mexico began auctioning off more land, causing the Pimería Alta and the Apachería to shrink as territory expanded. In the meantime, American
New Mexico
The settlement began on July 11, 1598 the Spanish explorer
Texas
Spanish period
Mexican period
In 1821 at the end of the Mexican War of Independence, there were about 4,000 Tejanos living in what is now the state of Texas alongside a lesser number of immigrants. In the 1820s many settlers from the United States and other nations moved to Texas from the United States. By 1830, the 30,000 settlers in Texas outnumbered the Tejanos six to one. The Texians and Tejanos alike rebelled against the attempts of centralist authority of Mexico City and the measures implemented by Santa Anna. Tensions between the central Mexican government and the settlers eventually led to the Texas Revolution. After the revolution, many were dismayed by the treatments they received at the hands of Texians/Anglos, who suspected and accused the Tejanos of sabotage and of aiding Santa Anna.
United States era (beginning 1846)
Mexican Cession
When war was declared on May 13, 1846 between the United States and Mexico, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for definite word of war to get to California. Units from the U.S.Army and Navy were poised to invade, and easily captured California against scattered resistance. Within days they controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento as Mexican General Castro and Governor Pio Pico fled from Los Angeles.
The
Incorporation of the Hispanic people
The
The loss of property rights in New Mexico created a largely landless population that resented the powers that had taken their land.
In other areas, particularly California, the settled Hispanic residents were simply overwhelmed by the large number of Anglo settlers who rushed in, first in Northern California as a result of the
During the California Gold Rush, at least 25,000 Mexicans, as well thousands of
In addition to California, many Mexicans immigrated to other places of Southwest (mainly Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) since 1852. Also many Colombians, Paraguayans (who emigrated to the United States since 1841[26]), Chileans and Cubans emigrated to several places of the United States during the nineteenth. The more numerous were the Cubans. 100,000 Cubans (belonging to all social and racial groups) emigrated to the United States (mostly to Florida) during this period. In 1861-65 many Hispanics fought in the American Civil War, on both the Union and Confederate sides, although not all of them lived in the US.
Despite integration, Hispanic Americans managed to retain their culture. They were most successful in those areas where they had retained some measure of political or economic power, where Jim Crow laws imposed a forced isolation or where they made up a significant percentage of the community.
Recent immigration
Following the Spanish–American War, in 1898 Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Cuba to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. Cuba gained independence from the United States in 1902 and Puerto Rico became a commonwealth of the United States in 1917, so that Puerto Ricans were able to emigrate to the United States easily because of their American citizenship. During the 20th century many Hispanic immigrants came to United States fleeing the poverty, violence, and military dictatorships of Latin America. Ironically, the United States government was responsible for many of these dictatorships because of its foreign policy, which frequently involved covert as well as overt interventions such as military coups that toppled democratically-elected presidents. The U.S. supported the ensuing regimes, which arrested, tortured, exiled, and murdered civilians opposed to them.[27] Those who fled these countries emigrated mainly to Southwest, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Florida, although the Hispanics emigrated through the country. Most Hispanics who immigrate to the United States are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Salvadorans. There are currently over a million descendants of the last four groups in the United States. Throughout the twentieth century, the Hispanic population has been characterized by a high population growth, both for the emigration and the birth rate.
Historical demographics
Year | Population (millions) | %± | Percent of the U.S. population |
---|---|---|---|
1850 | 116,943 | — | 0.6% |
1860 | 155,000[30] | — | |
1870 | 200,000 | — | |
1880 | 393,555 | — | 0.8% |
1890 | 401,491 (Mexican Americans)[31] |
+336.5% | |
1900 | 503,189 | +27.8% | 0.7% |
1910 | 797,994 | +58.6% | 0.9% |
1920 | 1,286,154 | +61.2% | 1.2% |
1930 | 1.7 | +28.6% | 1.3% |
1940 | 2,021,820 | +22.2% | 1.5% |
1950 | 3,231,409 | +59.8% | 2.1% |
1960 | 5,814,784 | +79.9% | 3.2% |
1970 | 8,920,940 | +53.4% | 4.4% |
1980 | 14,608,673 | +63.8% | 6.4% |
1990 | 22,354,059 | +53.0% | 9.0% |
2000 | 35,305,818 | +57.9% | 12.5% |
2010 | 50,477,594 | +43.0% | 16.3% |
2020 | 62,080,044 | +43.0% | 18.7% |
Year | Population (millions) | %± | Percent of the U.S. population |
---|---|---|---|
2030 | 78.7 | +22.1% | 21.9% |
2040 | 94.9 | +19.2% | 25.0% |
2050 | 111.7 | +22.7% | 27.9% |
2060 | 128.8 | +22.7% | 30.6% |
See also
- History of Cuban Americans
- History of Mexican Americans
- History of Puerto Ricans
- Criticism of the term Hispanic
- Alta California
- Santa Fe de Nuevo México
- Spain in the American Revolutionary War
References
- ^ Peña, Lorenzo. Un puente jurídico entre Iberoamérica y Europa:la Constitución española de 1812. Instituto de Filosofía del CSIC
The first thing there is to understand is that in a good measure, the Courts of Cadiz created a new state, the Spanish state.[...]there had never been a proclamation of a Kingdom of Spain, so that difficulties always arose upon the legal value of the very frequent references to 'Spain' in the legal texts of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Spanish sovereigns had always refused the advice [...] in the sense of establishing a United Kingdom of Spain, preferring to see themselves as vertices of converging scattered kingdoms, at least in theory. Even the Napoleonic Bayonne Constitution of 1808 did not proclaime a kingdom of Spain, but a 'Crown of Spain and the Indies'. On the other hand, 'Spain' was merely a geographical name, a simple romance version of 'Hispania', whereby its use, in principle, should not have to go beyond the designations ‘Galia’, ‘Germania’[...]
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 477.
- ^ Rowland, L. S, 1990. "Window on the Atlantic. South Carolina Department of Archives
- ^ Laird W. Bergad, and Herbert S. Klein. Hispanics in the United States : a Demographic, Social, and Economic History, 1980–2005. Cambridge UP, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), lpclibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=344670&site=ehost-live.
- ^ Goodwin, 152.
- ^ Edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Published in 1984. Third Edition, 2006. Ancestry. Page 361.
- ^ U.S 1790 Census
- ^ Ricardo Kaulessar (October 12, 2021). Records shed light on earliest residents of Hispanic, Latino ancestry in NYC, Delaware. Published on northjersey.com
- ISBN 9781569754085.
- ^ Parrado, Emilio A., and William A. Kandel. "Hispanic Population Growth and Rural Income Inequality." Social Forces, vol. 88, no. 3, 2010, p. 1421+. Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A224989314/OVIC?u=live10669&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=ff0e694e.
- ^ From many strands: ethnic and racial groups in contemporary América By Stanley Lieberson, Mary C. Waters
- ^ Thomas E. Chavez. Spain and the Independence of The United States. An Intrinsic Gift. University of New Mexico, 2002.
- ISBN 0-8130-0535-3
- ^ U.S. National Park Service official website about Juan Cabrillo. (retrieved 2006-12-18)
- ^ Information from Monterey County Museum about Vizcaino's voyage and Monterey landing (retrieved 2006-12-18); Summary of Vizcaino expedition diary (retrieved 2006-12-18)
- ^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1884-1890) History of California, v.4, The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, complete text online Archived 2012-01-02 at the Wayback Machine, p.260
- ^ Simmons, Marc, The Last Conquistador Norman: U of OK Press, 1992, pp.96, 111
- ^ Leonard Pitt and Ramon A. Gutierrez, Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890 (1999)
- ^ Chávez-García, Miroslava (2004). Negotiating Conquest: Gender and Power in California, 1770s to 1880s. The University of Arizona Press. pp. 123–150.
- ^ "World Book Encyclopedia Online, Reference Books Set & Kids Education". Worldbook.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
- ^ "Justice Delayed: Mexican-Americans Win Stolen Oil Rights". Commondreams.org. 2000-08-12. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
- ^ a b "American Experience | The Gold Rush | People & Events". PBS. 2006-09-13. Archived from the original on 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
- ^ Brands, H.W. (2003), pp. 48–53.
- ^ a b Carrigan, William D. (2003). "The lynching of persons of Mexican origin or descent in the United States, 1848 to 1928". Journal of Social History.
- ^ [1] Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Paraguayan Americans. Countries and Their Cultures: Paraguayan Americans by Olivia Miller. Retrieved July 21, 2011, to 13:50 pm.
- ISBN 9781783601776.
- ^ "Hispanics in the United States, 1850–1990" (PDF). Latinamericanstudies.org. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
- ^ [2] Archived copy at the Library of Congress (October 19, 2010).
- ^ "Facts on Latinos in America". September 18, 2017.
- ^ "Historia Mexicana: LOS EFECTOS DEMOGRÁFICOS DE LA REVOLUCIÓN MEXICANA EN ESTADOS UNIDOS" (PDF). 2000. p. 7}.
- ^ "Population Projections – 2008 National Population Projections: Summary Tables". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
Notes
- ^ In the eighteen century, Spanish America and the Philippines belonged to the Spanish Crown. So the inhabitants of Latin America and Filipinas were considered "Spanish". Possibly, many of the people registered as "Spanish" en the 1790 Census were from these places. Indeed, some of the Latin Americans living in the former British colonies at end of eighteen century were Venezuelans.
Bibliography
Surveys
- Bean, Frank D., and Marta Tienda. The Hispanic Population of the United States (1987), statistical analysis of demography and social structure
- Chabran, Richard, and Rafael Chabran. The Latino Encyclopedia (6 vol. 1996)
- De Leon, Arnoldo, and Richard Griswold Del Castillo. North to Aztlan: A History of Mexican Americans in the United States (2006)
- Gomez, Laura E. Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race (2008)
- Gomez-Quiñones, Juan. Mexican American Labor, 1790-1990. (1994).
- Gonzales, Manuel G. Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States (2nd ed 2009) excerpt and text search
- Gutiérrez, David G. ed. The Columbia History of Latinos in the United States Since 1960 (2004) 512pp excerpt and text search
- Meier, Matt S. Notable Latino Americans: A Biographical Dictionary (1997) 431pp; 127 longer biographies excerpt and text search
- Meier, Matt S. Mexican American The biographies: A Historical Dictionary, 1836-1987 (1988) 237pp; 270 shortwer biographies
- Ruiz, Vicki L. From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America (1998)
- Vargas, Zaragosa. Crucible of Struggle: A History of Mexican Americans from the Colonial Period to the Present Era (2010)
- Weber, David J. Spanish Frontier in North America (Yale University Press, 1992; brief edition 2009)
- Weber, David J. New Spain's Far Northern Frontier: Essays on Spain in the American West, 1540-1821 (University of New Mexico Press, 1979).
Historiography
- Babcock, Matthew. "Territoriality and the Historiography of Early North America." Journal of American Studies 50.3 (2016): 515-536. online[dead link]
- Castañeda, Antonia I. "Gender, race, and culture: Spanish-Mexican women in the historiography of frontier California." Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 11.1 (1990): 8-20.
- De Leon, Arnoldo, and Carlos E. Cuéllar. "Chicanos in the City: A Review of the Monographic Literature," The History Teacher (1996) 29#3 pp. 363-378 in JSTOR
- Garcia, Richard A. "Changing Chicano Historiography," Reviews in American History 34.4 (2006) 521-528 in Project MUSE
- Poyo, Gerald E., and Gilberto M. Hinojosa. "Spanish Texas and borderlands historiography in transition: Implications for United States history." Journal of American History 75.2 (1988): 393-416 online.
- Rochín, Refugio I., and Denis N. Valdés, eds. Voices of a New Chicana/o History. (2000). 307 pp. 14 articles by scholars
- Ruiz, Vicki L. "Nuestra América: Latino History as United States History," Journal of American History, 93 (Dec. 2006), 655–72.
- Weber, David J. "The Spanish legacy in North America and the historical imagination." Western Historical Quarterly 23.1 (1992): 4-24. online
- Weber, David J. "The Spanish Borderlands, Historiography Redux." The History Teacher (2005) 39#1:43-56 online.