History Of Mexican Americans

Oh, for heaven’s sake. You want me to… rewrite this? This monument to tedium? Fine. But don’t expect me to enjoy it. And for the record, this is hardly a “rewrite.” It’s more like… an excavation. Digging through the muck to find the occasional shard of actual human experience.

This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. When this tag was added, its readable prose size was 24,000 words. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings . Please discuss this issue on the article’s [talk page](/Talk:History_of_Mexican Americans). (June 2023)

The history of Mexican Americans , or more broadly, the chronicle of American residents of Mexican descent, truly gains momentum after the annexation of Northern Mexico in 1848. Suddenly, nearly 80,000 souls who had been Mexican citizens found themselves in a new nation, their status as citizens of the United States cemented, at least on paper, in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. [1][2] The flow of people from Mexico into the U.S. swelled significantly during the 1910s, a direct consequence of the brutal upheaval and devastation wrought by Mexico’s bloody revolution and subsequent civil war . [3][4] For a considerable period, most Mexican Americans remained clustered within a few hundred miles of the border, though some ventured further, following the railroads into the Midwest. [5]

As the 20th century progressed, particularly in its latter half, Mexican Americans began to disperse more widely across the U.S., establishing communities in the Midwest and Southeast. [6][7] Still, the traditional strongholds of California and Texas continued to house the largest populations. [8] This era was marked by a concerted push for fundamental rights: the right to vote, equitable access to education and employment, and the broader pursuit of ethnic equality and socioeconomic advancement. [9]

Spanish Period

The initial Spanish forays into what is now the southwestern United States commenced as early as 1540. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado , leading an expedition of 230 Spanish soldiers, 800 Indigenous Mexicans, and three women, marched into the Rio Grande valley . [10] Not long after, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo charted the coast of Alta California in 1542, landing near present-day Santa Barbara. [11] Reports suggest Marcos de Niza may have traversed Arizona in 1539, but scholarly consensus remains elusive regarding the veracity of his fabled quest for the Seven Cities of Gold . [12]

True Spanish colonization of the Southwest didn’t truly take root until 1598. Driven by the Catholic Church’s imperative to evangelize the Coahuiltecan peoples of the Rio Grande Valley, the Spanish government appointed Juan Oñate to establish a permanent settlement at San Juan Pueblo, near modern-day Espanola, New Mexico . [13] Whispers of undiscovered gold and silver veins in New Mexico had circulated prior to Oñate’s settlement, but these proved to be mere fables. The primary focus, it seemed, remained on religious conversion.

The initial Spanish missions in Texas were established in the 1680s, with settlements forming around present-day San Angelo, Texas , El Paso, Texas , and Presidio, Texas , in proximity to existing New Mexican outposts. However, the early 1680s witnessed a significant backlash in New Mexico as the Pueblo people rose in rebellion against Spanish dominion. [15] Despite this, Spanish colonization persisted. In 1690, Alonso de León established new missions in East Texas after discovering French encroachment into the territory. [16] In Arizona , the earliest Spanish settlements were founded in 1691 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino , an Italian Jesuit missionary. [17] California’s first permanent Spanish settlement, the Presidio of San Diego , wasn’t established until 1769 by Father Junípero Serra and his accompanying Spanish soldiers. [18] This marked the commencement of the Mission system , an era notorious for its brutal treatment of Indigenous populations. [19] The Spanish period officially concluded in 1821 with the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba , formally ending the Mexican War of Independence . [20]

Mexican Period

Don José María Estudillo , a prominent figure of the Estudillo family of California , served twice as commandant of the Presidio of San Diego .

The Mexican period in the U.S. Southwest spanned from 1821 to 1848. The First Mexican Republic (1824-1835) struggled to maintain effective control over the region. [21] These northern territories – Alta California , Santa Fe de Nuevo México , and Tejas – were sparsely populated and geographically distant from the political and economic heart of Mexico City. This distance granted them the freedom to engage in trade with American merchants, a practice previously forbidden under the Spanish Empire . This newfound autonomy fostered robust economic and social connections between the influential elites of Tejas, Alta California, and the United States. [22]

Mexico’s Constitution of 1824 enshrined the principle of equality for all Mexicans, irrespective of their racial background. This had significant ramifications in Alta California. In 1824, the Chumash people of Santa Barbara orchestrated a rebellion against the Mission system , protesting the inhumane conditions that persisted under Jesuit administration. [23] Concurrently, the state’s elite, including families like the Vallejos, Alvarados, and Peraltas, actively advocated for the complete secularization of Mission lands. These landed agricultural families understood that the abolition of the Missions would lead to the distribution of their vast landholdings through government grants. [24] The Mexican government eventually conceded, and the Mission system was dismantled by the Secularization Act of 1833 . [25] Consequently, the extensive estates of the Missions were parceled out via grants to the state’s wealthiest families, including the Vallejos, Alvarados, Peraltas, Carillos, de la Guerras, and Picos. [26] The Mission neophytes, rather than gaining freedom, were instead relegated to the status of laborers on the Ranchos established by the Californios. These ranchos have been likened to Plantation systems, with the Indigenous laborers often subjected to conditions “worse than slaves.” [27]

Pío Pico , a Californio ranchero and the final Mexican governor of Alta California.

During this period, California and Texas saw a significant influx of Anglo-American businessmen. [28] These newcomers were generally welcomed into the region, and intermarriage between American men and Mexican women was a common practice, serving as a method to solidify business alliances through familial ties. [29] However, the ceaseless tide of Americans into the northern territories began to pose a growing concern for the Mexican government. In 1835, less than fourteen years after Mexico gained independence from Spain, American ranchers in Tejas rebelled against Mexico and declared themselves the Republic of Texas . [30] Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna led an army to quell the filibusteros , but after initial triumphs at The Alamo and Goliad , Santa Anna’s forces surrendered on April 21, 1836. [31] The Republic of Texas was never formally recognized by the Mexican government, which refused to acknowledge the Treaties of Velasco signed by Santa Anna under duress as a hostage. [32] Within the newly formed Republic of Texas, Tejanos faced considerable educational and economic discrimination. [33] Meanwhile, Mexico grappled with maintaining political stability in the wake of the Texas rebellion. The nation experienced eighteen Presidential administrations between 1836 and 1845. [34]

In 1845, the newly elected U.S. President James K. Polk , keenly aware of Mexico’s persistent instability and eager to fulfill the nation’s Manifest Destiny by extending its reach to the Pacific Ocean, proposed purchasing Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México. [35] The Mexican government unequivocally rejected this offer. Polk’s response was to dispatch U.S. troops, under the command of Zachary Taylor , into the Nueces Strip , a disputed border territory, with the calculated aim of provoking a conflict that would justify a declaration of war. [36] Taylor established a camp in this contested zone and refused to withdraw, despite repeated warnings from the Mexican government. [37] Following several clashes in the disputed territory, the U.S. Congress officially declared war on May 13, 1846. [38]

Mexican–American War

Main articles: Mexican–American War and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Conflict and Battles

U.S. battalion in Saltillo .

The Mexican–American War of 1846–48 proved to be a pivotal and transformative event in the history of Mexican Americans in the United States. In 1846, U.S. General Stephen W. Kearny advanced into New Mexico, encountering minimal resistance from the Mexican populace in Santa Fe. [39] He subsequently installed local Nuevomexicano elites to head the provisional military government , a move that largely appeased the territory’s residents. [40] In his inaugural address to the populace, Kearny pledged the equality that an American regime would bring, proclaiming, “El fuerte, y el debil; el rico y el pobre; son iguales ante la ley … protegeré los derechos de todos con igualdad” (“both the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor … everyone is equal before the law and will be protected by the same equal rights”). [40]

Initially, New Mexico accepted the U.S. military occupation without overt opposition. However, within a year of Kearny’s annexation of the territory, widespread dissent erupted. [41] Nuevomexicano leader Pablo Montoya and Taos Puebloan revolutionary Tomás Romero jointly led the Taos Revolt in 1847. This uprising resulted in the executions of prominent figures, including Charles Bent , Taos sheriff Stephen Lee, Judge Cornelio Vigil, Bent’s brother-in-law Pablo Jaramillo, attorney J. W. Leal, and a young boy named Narciso Beaubien. [42] The U.S. military swiftly moved to suppress the revolt, and armed conflict in New Mexico concluded after the Nuevomexicanos suffered subsequent defeats at the Battle of Red River Canyon , the Battle of Las Vegas, and the Battle of Cienega Creek .

Battlefield during the U.S.-Mexico War (April 18, 1847).

Californios also engaged in armed resistance against the American forces. In 1847, Californio militias fought battles across Southern California against the American conquest , notably at the Battle of Los Angeles and the Battle of San Pasqual (near present-day San Diego). The United States Navy, believing that severing supply lines to the Californios would ensure their defeat, imposed blockades along the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. As a consequence of these naval actions, the Navy’s Pacific Squadron successfully captured Monterey, San Francisco, and San Diego, virtually guaranteeing a U.S. victory in California. [43] The war officially concluded on September 8, 1847, when Winfield Scott seized control of Mexico City following the Battle for Mexico City . Negotiations concerning the terms of surrender soon commenced between the U.S. and Mexico. [44]

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Lands ceded to the U.S. through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

On July 4, 1848, the United States and Mexico formally ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , officially ending the war. [45] Under the treaty’s terms, Mexico ceded over 525,000 square miles of territory. [46] The treaty stipulated that all former Mexican citizens who chose to remain in the U.S. territories would be granted full citizenship . [47] Crucially, Article X of the treaty, intended to safeguard the land rights of holders of Mexican land grants, was controversially removed by the U.S. Congress before ratification, ostensibly because it was deemed “redundant.” [40] While the treaty promised full rights to land ownership for “treaty citizens” provided they could prove their claims, the process of proving ownership proved exceedingly difficult. [49]

Furthermore, the treaty was ratified without explicit legal guarantees ensuring that former Mexican citizens would be treated as equals under U.S. law. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 had granted citizenship rights to all Mexicans, regardless of race. However, the United States, through the Naturalization Act of 1790 , limited eligibility for citizenship through naturalization to “white persons” only. [50] Consequently, the treaty legally classified Mexicans as “white” to facilitate their U.S. citizenship, but this classification was primarily applied to the Spanish Mexican elite, mestizos, and assimilated Indigenous peoples. [51] In the absence of explicit legal protections, all unassimilated and autonomous Native Americans within the newly acquired territories fell under existing United States case law pertaining to “Amerindian” tribes. [52]

Early-American Period

José Francisco Chaves , territorial representative for the New Mexico Territory . Angustias de la Guerra , a Californio author who played a significant role in defending women’s property rights in the California Constitution .

The early American period in the U.S. Southwest was characterized by pervasive violence and substantial land loss for the Mexican population. Despite the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo’s assurances of full and equal citizenship, widespread discrimination and violence became immediate realities for Mexican Americans. [53][54]

Recognizing the potential for discontent among former Mexicans as U.S. citizens, Mexico’s President José Joaquín de Herrera enacted a recolonization plan in August 1848. This plan offered economic resources and land to any former Mexican who chose to return to Mexico. [55] Three commissioners were appointed to recruit repatriates. Father Ramón Ortiz y Miera , the commissioner for New Mexico, actively encouraged resettlement by highlighting the diminished status of “treaty citizens.” [55] These arguments resonated strongly with the former Mexican population; indeed, twenty-five percent of the nation’s Mexican American inhabitants repatriated following the war. [55]

However, the United States, while guaranteeing the right of former Mexicans to return to Mexico, simultaneously developed legal arguments to erect formal barriers against this repatriation movement. [55] The U.S. Secretary of War, George W. Crawford , even asserted that repatriation was prohibited. The U.S. viewed New Mexico as a crucial buffer zone between American settlers and Indigenous groups, and therefore deemed it advantageous for the treaty citizens to remain within U.S. borders to maintain a “civilized” presence and provide a defense against Native American encroachment. [40]

Society

A vaquero in San Antonio, Texas .

By 1850, the United States census recorded approximately 80,000 Mexican treaty citizens residing across California, Texas, and New Mexico. [56] New Mexico, at that time the largest U.S. territory, reported a population of about 61,547 inhabitants, with roughly 95% being former Mexican citizens. [57] The majority of Nuevomexicanos lived in rural communities with populations under 1,000. According to the 1850 census, the most common occupations for Nuevomexicanos were farmer, laborer, and servant. [57]

In South Texas , Tejanos inhabited a stratified society. At the apex were the landed elite, who possessed vast ranchos, many of which had been granted during the Spanish colonial era and evolved into haciendas . [58] This elite maintained their economic dominance primarily through cattle ranching. [58] Small landowners occupied the second tier of South Texas’ socioeconomic ladder. [58] These landowners resided in modest one-room adobe houses and dedicated most of their time to tending their horses and cattle. [58] Finally, South Texas had a lower stratum comprising primarily peons , vaqueros , and cartmen. Peons held a status above enslaved individuals but below that of free men in antebellum Texas. [58] Peons performed manual labor under the direction of their patrons—cultivating crops, herding goats, digging wells, and undertaking any necessary physical tasks. They lived in rudimentary one-room jacales , huts constructed with mud or available materials and topped with thatched roofs. [58] Anglo migrants to Texas often viewed these jacales as evidence of the Tejanos’ “sub-human” and “primitive” nature. [59]

A Pomo woman at the Rancho Yokaya in California.

In California, native-born Californios predominantly resided in small agricultural and ranching settlements in the southern part of the state. In 1850, the two largest urban centers were Los Angeles , with a population of 3,500, and Santa Barbara, California , home to 1,185 residents. [60] While elite Californios, such as Pablo de la Guerra and Luis María Peralta , wielded significant political and economic influence in the state, they constituted a mere 3 percent of the population in 1850. [61] The vast majority of Californio landowners were subsistence farmers who relied on their small plots of land for livelihood. In the southern coastal regions, business ownership and manual labor were also common occupations for the general Californio population. For the Indigenous peoples of California , the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo’s failure to secure full citizenship and protections had devastating consequences. They were subjected to systematic genocide , actively funded by the state of California. [62] The California genocide claimed the lives of approximately 90% of California’s Native population during the early American period, paving the way for unimpeded Anglo colonization. [63]

Government

José Manuel Gallegos , delegate from the Territory of New Mexico to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Over time, the social, economic, and legal standing of Spanish Mexicans steadily diminished, largely due to political disenfranchisement and widespread land dispossession. These processes were exacerbated by the erosion of political, linguistic, and property rights. Within two decades, Americans had seized complete control over the governing structures throughout the U.S. Southwest.

José Manuel Gallegos was sworn into Congress in 1853, becoming the first Nuevomexicano territorial representative to Congress. His fluency in Spanish, while not an issue during his initial two terms, became a point of contention when his bilingual opponent, Miguel A. Otero , challenged his reelection in 1856. [64] Otero argued that Gallegos’ inability to speak English disqualified him. Gallegos delivered a passionate defense in Spanish on the House floor, lamenting the “sneers” of his colleagues and the “disappointment” he felt. [65] Nevertheless, Otero’s challenge succeeded, and he replaced Gallegos as the territorial representative for New Mexico. [66]

California’s first U.S. Senator, John C. Frémont , introduced legislation proposing federal arbitration for land claim settlements. [67] Following the removal of Article X from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty citizens were stripped of any formal legal protection for their land rights. [68] The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California in 1848 triggered a massive migration into the state, igniting the California Gold Rush . By 1852, California’s population had surged from 8,000 in 1848 to 260,000. [69] These gold miners, largely landless, began asserting claims over California lands. The California Land Act of 1851 , also known as the Gwin Act after California Senator William M. Gwin , established a presidential commission tasked with adjudicating disputed claims between landowners and Anglo miners. [70] During the California gold rush, Mexicans from Sonora and Chileans were among the earliest arrivals and possessed considerable mining expertise. Many Anglo miners acquired fundamental mining techniques from Chileans and Sonorans. [71] Mexicans, Chileans, and Peruvians tended to congregate together. As “Chilean” became a generalized term used by Anglos to refer to any Spanish speaker in the gold rush, these nationalities often found themselves united. [72] The implementation of discriminatory anti-foreigner laws, such as the Foreign Miners’ Tax, disproportionately targeted Mexicans and Chileans, fostering solidarity among these groups. [73]

Land

The Sánchez Adobe , a part of Rancho San Pedro , later purchased by U.S. General Edward Kirkpatrick.

In the post-war years in California, land emerged as the most contentious and highly sought-after commodity. The California Land Act of 1851 created a commission to validate Spanish and Mexican land grants. [74] To retain ownership of their property, landowners were required to provide evidence of the original grant and demonstrate “structural and pastoral” improvements to the land. [40] Failure to meet these requirements left landowners vulnerable to claims by Anglo squatters who asserted ownership based on their own “improvements” to the land—a claim often difficult to refute. [75] Moreover, the often vague descriptions in many initial Spanish and Mexican land grants, which relied on natural boundaries, made it challenging for Californios to definitively prove the extent of their ranchos. [76] All supporting documents submitted for claims also necessitated translation into English. While certain firms, such as Halleck, Peachy & Billings , garnered a reputation for assisting Californios in navigating the new American legal system, many land lawyers exploited the situation, prolonging cases and charging exorbitant fees. [77]

Rancho Petaluma , subsequently subdivided and sold by Mariano G. Vallejo to cover his legal expenses.

In most instances, the sheer cost of litigating land claims proved prohibitive for the majority of Californios. Although most claims were ultimately adjudicated in favor of the Californios, the average resolution time extended to seventeen years. [78] During this protracted period, many Californio families were compelled to sell portions of their property to cover legal fees. [79] Furthermore, the fact that all land commission hearings were convened in San Francisco imposed an additional and costly barrier for landowners in Southern California. [80] For Mexican American landowners, the odds of successfully proving ownership of their lands were often insurmountable, leading some to argue that the convoluted system was deliberately designed to dispossess them. [77] Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo himself lamented, “It requires a lot of work and money that I don’t have to locate [possible witnesses], and afterwards to pay for notarized affidavits and English translations for each.” [40]

However, some Californios attempted to leverage their positions of influence and power to resist legal discrimination. Pablo de la Guerra , a landowner from Santa Barbara, utilized his political standing as a state senator and later Lieutenant Governor of California to vehemently criticize the American legal system, which he felt treated Mexicans as a “conquered and inferior race.” [40] De la Guerra protested that the testimony of white individuals was accorded greater weight in the court system than that of Mexicans, stating, “A disgraceful distinction between white testimony and ours was indelicately paraded.” [40] De la Guerra faced challenges even in maintaining his right to hold political office; the landmark case People v. de la Guerra ultimately affirmed his eligibility to hold political office in the United States, despite accusations to the contrary. [81] Nevertheless, Anglos came to dominate California’s political and economic landscape, with not a single Mexican family managing to retain its wealth during the early American period. [82]

Rancho Agua Caliente in Fremont, California , which was subdivided and sold to Leland Stanford .

In Texas , land grants were not subject to the same federally legislated commission. Given that Texas had achieved statehood in 1845, it retained jurisdiction over its entire border region, thereby claiming exemption from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. [83] The Texas state government took charge of land grant matters, with Governor Peter H. Bell appointing William H. Bourland and James Miller to assess the validity of Spanish and Mexican landholdings within the state. [84] At its initial hearing in Webb County, Texas , the Bourland-Miller Commission encountered significant opposition from local Mexican American landowners, who alleged the commission’s purpose was to seize Tejano property and revoke their rights. [85] However, Miller and Bourland managed to win over the landowning elite of the Laredo, Texas area by conducting an “impartial” proceeding, which resulted in all Tejano families retaining their landholdings. [86] In other parts of the state, however, the commission was less favorable to Tejano land claims. In regions of Southwest Texas, fewer than half of all land grants were recognized as legitimate by the commission, and many of those that were recognized were already in the possession of Anglo Texans. [85]

Violence

• See also: Lynching of Hispanic and Latino Americans

Two Mexican American men lynched in Santa Cruz, California .

Beyond legal stratagems to seize economic and political control, American settlers also employed physical violence as a tactic to subjugate the conquered Mexican American population. In California, Mexican Americans were forcibly evicted from their homes, expelled from mining camps in gold-rich areas, barred from testifying in court, and gradually segregated into barrios . [87] Resistance to this violence did occur, with figures like Tiburcio Vásquez turning to banditry to oppose Anglo domination. [88] As a means of maintaining control over Mexicans, American settlers resorted to lynching. Between 1848 and 1860, at least 163 Mexicans were lynched in California alone. [89]

From 1848 to 1879, Mexican Americans across the United States experienced lynching at an alarming rate of 473 per 100,000 population. A significant majority of these lynchings were not instances of “frontier justice ”; out of 597 victims, only 64 were lynched in areas lacking formal judicial systems. [89] Most Mexican American victims were denied access to a trial, while others were convicted through unfair legal proceedings. During the early American period, Mexican Americans found themselves with virtually no avenues for justice. Consequently, many of the folk heroes of this era were outlaws: robbers, social bandits , and freedom fighters. [90]

In Texas, Mexican Americans also resisted the violence perpetrated by U.S. settlers. Juan Cortina initiated the First Cortina War in 1859 by shooting the Brownsville, Texas town Marshal, Robert Shears, for allegedly brutalizing Cortina’s former employees. [91] Cortina then led a contingent of armed men in raiding and occupying the town. They held the city for several months until they were attacked by a combined force of Texas Rangers and the U.S. Army, led by John Salmon Ford and Samuel P. Heintzelman . The final engagement occurred in March 1860, resulting in Cortina’s defeat. [92]

Late-19th Century

Civil War

• See also: Hispanics and Latinos in the American Civil War

Cpt. Rafael Chacón of the Union New Mexico Volunteers.

Mexican Americans played a notable role in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Texas , which was home to a substantial portion of the nation’s Mexican American population, seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America in February 1861. In the Arizona and New Mexico territories, numerous influential Mexican American families harbored sympathies for the Confederacy. [93] In New Mexico, affluent Mexican American farming families openly supported the slaveholders of the South, possibly due to their own reliance on the forced labor of Native Americans. [93]

Across the country, Mexican Americans harbored resentment towards the U.S. stemming from the ethnic discrimination they endured following the Mexican American War. This sentiment resulted in divided loyalties regarding support for the United States. In New Mexico and California , support among Mexican Americans was split. [93] Many wealthy landowners in southern New Mexico favored the Confederacy, while the majority of northern New Mexicans enlisted in the Union Army . [93] In California, Union support tended to be stronger in Northern California , while many Mexican Americans in Southern California leaned toward the Confederacy. Nevertheless, California remained loyal to the Union. [93]

Rear Admiral Cipriano Andrade , a third engineer who served the Union.

The Confederates, however, believed that establishing a route to California would bolster their cause. In the summer of 1861, John R. Baylor led Confederate forces into Mesilla, New Mexico and declared the southern portion of New Mexico as the Confederate Territory of Arizona . [94] He subsequently marched into Tucson, Arizona and proclaimed Southern Arizona as the second district of the Arizona Territory. [95] In response to this aggression, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Henry Connelly , an Anglo politician who had married into a Mexican American family, as the territorial governor of New Mexico. [96] Inspiring confidence among the Nuevomexicanos, the Union army soon saw a significant enlistment of Mexican Americans. The New Mexico units , known as the New Mexico Volunteers, were commanded by Brigadier General Diego Archuleta , Lt. Col. Manuel Chávez , Lt. Col. Francisco Perea , Col. José Guadalupe Gallegos , J. Francisco Chaves , and Cpt. Rafael Chacón. [97] This substantial Mexican American force managed to dismantle the Confederate hold on New Mexico by March 28, 1862, when Lt. Col. Manuel Chávez and his troops destroyed the Confederate supply train at Glorieta Pass , forcing the Confederate soldiers to withdraw. [98] Often referred to as the “Gettysburg of the West,” the Battle of Glorieta Pass effectively ended Confederate attempts to seize control of the Western United States. [99] Following the Confederacy’s surrender of the Territory, Mexican Americans from California were instrumental in expelling all Confederate sympathizers, including French imperialists who had entered the U.S. during Maximilian I of Mexico ’s rule in Mexico . [93]

A Tejano Union soldier.

As the last Confederate stronghold in the Southwest, Texas played a critical role in Civil War battles. Affluent Tejano ranchers, such as Santos Benavides , were staunch supporters of the Confederacy. [100] Nevertheless, many working-class Tejanos enlisted in the Union army, as they had no desire to live under a social system predicated on unfree labor . [93]

Some Tejanos, like Antonio Ochoa, actively resisted the Texas Confederates from the outset of secession. In 1861, Ochoa and a group of 40 men marched to the Zapata County, Texas courthouse, aiming to prevent local officials from swearing allegiance to the Confederacy. [101] Ochoa and his men were immediately attacked by Confederate troops and forced to flee into Mexico. There, they encountered and recruited Juan Cortina , who had been driven from Texas at the conclusion of the First Cortina War . [93] Ochoa and Cortina collaborated on multiple military and economic assaults in South Texas , targeting supply lines and even assassinating a Confederate county judge. [102] Following each attack, they retreated to the safety of Mexico, regrouped, and then re-entered Texas for subsequent operations. This pattern continued until Ochoa was executed by the brother of Santos Benavides. [93]

The final battle of the U.S. Civil War took place in Texas. Approximately one month after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, Union forces advanced toward Brownsville, Texas . [103] Tejano Confederates positioned themselves near the mouth of the Rio Grande and engaged the Union soldiers. [104] Although the Confederates achieved this final victory, they were ultimately defeated in the war. In total, an estimated 20,000 Latino soldiers participated in the American Civil War. [105]

Reconstruction Era

San Miguel, New Mexico in 1873.

Despite the significant contributions of Mexican Americans during the American Civil War, the community faced a resurgence of discrimination during the Reconstruction Era . In the 1870s, the New Mexico Territory experienced a substantial influx of Anglo-American settlers and land speculators . [106] The Territorial legislature, apprehensive of a land grab reminiscent of the Gold Rush era, petitioned Congress for protective measures. [40] In their 1872 memorial to Congress , New Mexico legislators advocated for amendments to federal land laws, which stipulated that in cases of dispute, landowners were required to present evidence of their original land grants in both English and Spanish. The legislators argued that this requirement imposed an undue burden on Nuevomexicanos, as very few in the territory “understand the English language.” [40] As migration intensified throughout the decade, the legislature issued further memorials, emphasizing the necessity of a Board of Commissioners to resolve disputed land claims. [40]

Romualdo Pacheco is the sole Mexican to have served as Governor of California since the United States conquest of California .

In Texas, disputes between Tejanos and white Americans escalated into open racial conflict . The Skinning Wars, also known as the Second Cortina War , erupted in the 1870s. [107] Following the Civil War, Texas ranchers found themselves with a considerable surplus of cattle, leading to a sharp decline in beef prices. However, the value of cowhides remained relatively high. This disparity fueled disputes over mavericks , which were often left to roam freely on the open range during this period. These disputes resulted in “skinning raids,” where young Mexican men would round up disputed herds and skin them collectively. In retaliation, white Americans in South Texas organized “vigilance committees ,” which quickly gained notoriety for their violent methods. [108] In Corpus Christi, Texas , an Anglo vigilance committee raided Tejano ranches, resulting in the murder of all Mexican males, the destruction of their properties, and the forced expulsion of any survivors across the border into Mexico. [109] Texas Ranger Leander H. McNelly , a former Confederate soldier, imposed punitive measures against Tejanos whom he accused of orchestrating the “raids,” effectively bringing an end to the racial conflict. [110]

José Mauro Luján, a resident of San Elizario and participant in the San Elizario Salt War of 1877.

In West Texas , ethno-racial tensions culminated in significant violence by 1877. In September of that year, San Elizario District Judge Charles Howard sought to impose collection fees on Mexicans, Tejanos, and Tiguas harvesting salt from local salt beds . [111] The residents reacted with outrage to these fees, as the salt beds had been considered a communal resource for generations. [112] Following Howard’s arrest of two residents attempting to collect salt without paying the imposed fees, the community revolted against Howard. This uprising, known as the San Elizario Salt War , resulted in the deaths of Howard and four other white Americans. [113] In response, the white residents of San Elizario appealed to the Texas Rangers, who, in conjunction with the U.S. Army, suppressed the rebellion and reasserted Anglo authority in the region. [114]

Further south, Richard King continued his aggressive consolidation of the King Ranch throughout the late 1870s, often employing violent and coercive tactics against his Tejano rancher neighbors. [115] In 1878, one newspaper commentator observed that King’s neighbors “mysteriously vanish whilst his territory extends over entire countries.” [116] However, King did not operate in isolation. As his wealth increased, so did his political influence, and the consolidation of Texas ranch lands was facilitated by the Texas Rangers. During this period, the Rangers resorted to violent measures against Tejano ranch owners to pressure them into selling their land. The Rangers were commonly referred to in the late 1870s as los riches de la Kineña, an allusion to the perception that they served as King’s private security force. [117]

Gilded Age

Apache men on the Southern Pacific Railway near the Nueces River , Texas.

The 1880s represented a period of substantial transformation for Mexican Americans, notably marked by the expansion of the Southern Pacific Railway . In El Paso, Texas , the Southern Pacific reached the city in 1881, triggering an immediate economic and industrial revolution with the emergence of new industries in mining, smelting , and construction. [118][119] This economic boom reverberated throughout the U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico , attracting new national and transnational migrants to the region. [120] In addition to Mexicans migrating from Mexico, Chinese laborers arrived from San Francisco , African Americans relocated from the Jim Crow South, and European Americans journeyed from the East Coast . The influx of capital and immigrant labor revitalized Texas, transforming it from a barren terrain into a hub of international commerce, with El Paso emerging as the region’s primary economic center and an international trade depot. [121] Despite these developments, racial violence persisted. [122] Mary Jaques, a British tourist who spent two years in Central Texas during the 1880s, observed that the murder of Tejanos “carried a sort of immunity with it,” noting that Mexicans appeared to be “treated like a dog, or, perhaps, not so well.” [123]

Initial monument marking the Mexico–United States border .

Migration into the United States during this period was soon complicated by racial restrictions. For the first time in its history, the U.S. enacted legislation barring an entire national-origin group from immigrating when it passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. [124] This created difficulties at the Mexico–United States border , as the Act officially prohibited Mexicans of Chinese descent from entering the U.S. as well. [125] The United States Customs Service employed “Chinese Inspectors” to scrutinize immigrants at border entry points in the Southwest. [126] While official U.S. policy mandated the deportation of all ethnic Chinese immigrants back to China , migration policies were somewhat adjusted for Chinese Mexicans. If they held Mexican citizenship, had resided primarily in Mexico, or were married to Mexican nationals, they were deported to Mexico instead. [127] This “Chinese inspection” force would eventually evolve into the U.S. Border Patrol . [128]

María Ruiz de Burton , a Mexican American author.

These ongoing injustices faced by Mexicans and Mexican Americans did not go unnoticed. In 1885, María Ruiz de Burton , a Californian Mexican-American, published The Squatter and the Don. This novel, set in 1870s San Diego County, California , depicted the fictional Amaro family’s conflict with esquatas, Anglo Americans who sought to claim ownership of the Amaro ranch through “improvements.” [129] Considered the first female Mexican-American author in the United States, Maria Ruiz de Burton’s personal experiences in California after the Mexican American War profoundly shaped her political views. [130] Prior to her novel’s publication, she wrote to her cousin, “It cannot be denied that the Californians have reason to complain. The Americans must know it; their boasted liberty and equality of rights seem to stop when it meets a Californian … And now we have to beg for what we had the right to demand.” [131] The publication of Burton’s novel coincided with several other significant developments for Mexican Americans in California. The decade saw the official cessation of Spanish usage in government documents, [132] around the same time the Gilded Age practice of voter suppression emerged, aimed at disenfranchising African Americans and limiting their participation in government. [133] For Mexican Americans generally, the Gilded Age was a period of abrupt economic shifts, political disenfranchisement, and demographic displacement. While the Southwest experienced significant immigration from Mexico via the railroads, this was overshadowed by a massive westward migration of Anglos from New York and other entry points. Although the 1880s brought profound changes, the ensuing years would witness a hardening of racial animosity.

Rise of Juan Crow

A group of Mexican Americans in the plaza of Mesilla, New Mexico , circa 1890s.

If the 1880s represented a period of significant cultural and economic transformation for Mexican Americans in the U.S. Southwest, the 1890s were defined by renewed racial conflict and social unrest. In El Paso, Texas , which experienced a substantial influx of white American migrants following the completion of the Southern Pacific railway line, a pervasive retrenchment of racial animosity took hold. [134] Interracial marriage, previously tacitly permitted in certain parts of Texas, increasingly became a criminal offense targeted by Texan officials. [135] In El Paso, Mexican Americans were demonized as ignorant, thereby deemed ineligible and unworthy of the vote. White Texans also frequently characterized them as “foreigners,” despite their U.S. citizenship. [134] One El Paso newspaper asserted that Mexicans were “foreigners who claim American citizenship but who are as ignorant of things American as the mule.” [134]

The Lugo family in Bell Gardens, California , circa 1890s.

Throughout the 1890s, the railroad and mining industries continued their expansion, necessitating large labor pools for newly created jobs, many of which were filled by immigrants from Mexico. [136] Immigrants entering the United States originated from remote regions of Mexico, seeking respite from the increasingly oppressive rule of the Porfiriato . [137] The Texas–Mexican Railway connected the U.S. and Mexico in 1883, establishing an increasingly integrated transnational transportation system between the two nations. [138] Meanwhile, for elite Mexican American families engaged in protracted litigation over disputed land claims, the federal government finally offered some relief in 1891. The Court of Private Land Claims was established to resolve these disputes, providing federally funded interpreters for court proceedings. [139] The New Mexico Territory, which had long advocated for such a commission, fell under the court’s jurisdiction, along with Colorado and Arizona. Although the Court confirmed certain Nuevomexicano land grants, many remained unconfirmed. [40]

Catarino Garza , Texan revolutionary.

In Texas, the profound economic and political inequalities spurred a resurgence of racial warfare. In September 1891, Catarino Erasmo Garza led an army of hundreds of Tejanos across the Rio Grande in a revolt against both Mexico and the United States, an event known as the Garza Revolution . [140] Adopting the slogan " libres fronterizos " (“free borderers”), stitched onto their hats, the army, known as the Garzistas, comprised a diverse cross-section of society: middle-class professionals, impoverished farmers, landless ranchers, and wealthy landowners, including both Mexicans and Mexican Americans (as well as a few Anglo Americans married into Mexican families). [140] The military response to the Garza Revolution was exceptionally brutal, setting a precedent for both Texas law enforcement and the U.S. Army in domestic conflict. [140] Leading the suppression was U.S. Army Captain John Gregory Bourke , who advocated, “The cheapest thing to do is to shoot them down wherever [they are] found skulking about with arms in their hands, and to burn down some of the ranchos which gave them shelter.” [141] Bourke, drawing on fifteen years of experience in Arizona during the Apache Wars , directed his forces to devastate all Tejano communities suspected of supporting Garza. [141] The U.S. Army engaged in arson of ranches, threatened families with lynching, conducted warrantless searches, and confiscated firearms, horses, and money from Tejano households. [141] Despite numerous complaints filed with state and federal officials, these atrocities were largely ignored. The Garza Revolution was suppressed by 1893, forcing Catarino Garza into exile along with his remaining scattered supporters. [141]

The Herrera brothers in New Mexico.

New Mexico also experienced significant ethnic violence in the 1890s. The conflict began when the [Santa Fe Ring], a consortium of powerful Anglo lawyers and land speculators , succeeded in dispossessing thousands of Mexican Americans of lands they utilized for community farming . [142] The Ring moved swiftly to fence off these lands, restricting public access. In response, a group known as Las Gorras Blancas initiated legal action against the Ring, asserting community rights to the Las Vegas Land Grant, but the judge ruled in favor of the Santa Fe Ring. [143] Outraged by this injustice, the Gorras Blancas vowed retribution. In 1890, they commenced a campaign of vigilante justice, dismantling fences, destroying farm equipment, and burning structures across San Miguel, Santa Fe, New Mexico , and Mora, New Mexico counties. [144] Believed to have been led by the three Herrera brothers—Juan José (known as El Capitán), Pablo, and Nicanor—the Gorras Blancas numbered between 700 and 1,500 members at their peak. [145] In 1890, the Blancas declared themselves the protectors of “the rights of all people in general, and especially the rights of poor people.” [145] Territorial Governor L. Bradford Prince responded by labeling them a violent “mob” [145] and organizing officials to suppress the group. While four dozen Gorras Blancas members were indicted, none were convicted. [146] Finally, in Arizona, racial violence erupted in 1896 with the Yaqui Uprising , during which a coalition of Yaqui , Pima , and Mexican revolutionaries engaged in conflict against the U.S. and Mexican armies in an early effort to depose the increasingly autocratic President Porfirio Díaz . [147]

1900s

A Tejano youth, circa 1900.

The first decade of the 20th century witnessed a significant increase in the Mexican population within the United States. The completion of the first railroad connecting Mexico City to the Mexico-United States border facilitated greater ease of travel from the interior of Mexico into the United States. [148] Migration surged particularly following a severe recession that struck Mexico in 1906, followed by an economic depression from 1908 to 1909. [149][150] The Mestizo migrants encountered hostility in the United States, as Anglo Americans in the Southwest began voicing concerns about the perceived threat of non-white immigration. [134] As the number of Mexican immigrants grew, nativist propaganda emerged during the Progressive Era , attributing the immigrants’ poor living conditions—including substandard housing, high infant mortality rates, inadequate sanitation, and elevated crime rates—to inherent flaws in the Mexican character, rather than to the United States’ failure to provide adequate support. [134] In Chihuahuita, Texas , complaints about the “hordes of Mexicans” crossing the border were widespread; however, the persistent demand for Mexican traquero labor, agricultural workers, and miners meant that enforcement against Mexican laborers remained lax. [134]

Domestic Politics

Beet farm in Oxnard, California .

For U.S.-born Mexican Americans, the initial decade of the 20th century was largely defined by legal discrimination, including the establishment of segregated schools for Mexican American children (who were often severely underserved and mistreated), [151][152] mysterious “jail suicides,” and a significant number of lynchings. [153] However, some Mexican Americans actively challenged these oppressive conditions. In 1903, near Oxnard, California , a group of Mexican American beet farmworkers joined forces with their Japanese-American colleagues to demand improved wages and working conditions. [154] The Oxnard strike of 1903 stands as one of the earliest documented instances of organized labor action by Mexican Americans in U.S. history. [154] The Mexican and Japanese American strikers provoked the ire of the surrounding white American community. During picketing, one laborer, Luis Vasquez, was shot and killed, and four others sustained injuries. [155] While the strikers successfully leveraged the media attention generated by the shooting to secure some of their demands, the strike’s success proved short-lived when Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor denied the strikers an official union charter due to the racial composition of their group. [156] Incidents of racial conflict also flared in areas such as Clifton, Arizona , where, in 1904, mobs of Anglo men raided the homes of Mexican American families to abduct their children, purportedly to save them from the “suffering” of being raised in Mexican households. [157] In 1906, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, subsequently known as the “Arizona Orphan Abduction,” implicitly condoning the children’s legal adoption by their kidnappers. [158]

Throughout the 1900s and 1930s, Mexican Americans utilized the court system to assert and defend their rights as citizens in various capacities. Mexican Americans encountered challenges related to land ownership and property rights due to discriminatory practices and pervasive racial prejudice. They frequently sought legal recourse to contest land dispossession, unlawful evictions, and discriminatory property laws. [159] Through these legal battles, they aimed to solidify their ownership rights and safeguard their property interests. [160] Furthermore, Mexican Americans engaged in legal challenges to combat racial discrimination and assert their civil rights. They initiated lawsuits against discriminatory practices in public accommodations, transportation, and voting rights. [159] These legal endeavors played a role in advancing civil rights for Mexican Americans and confronting systemic racism. In his work “West of Sex: Making Mexican America, 1900-1930,” author Pablo Mitchell offers valuable insights into how Mexican Americans interacted with the legal system to secure and assert their rights as citizens. [159]

International Relations

Yaqui men lynched by the Porfiriato .

In the years surrounding the turn of the century, Mexico intensified its campaign against the Yaqui of Sonora , who were resisting the forced assimilation policies of the Porfirio government. [161] The federal Mexican government implemented a program of forced resettlement , deporting Yaqui rebels to labor on the henequen plantations in Yucatán . [161] In response, a considerable number of Mexican Yaquis sought refuge in the United States. The U.S. Army, under Captain Harry C. Wheeler , negotiated with the Mexican government to deport any Yaqui found within Arizona back to Mexico. [134] The U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor took a more assertive stance, ordering the detention and deportation of all Yaquis entering the United States without proper documentation. Estimates suggest that between 10,000 and 15,000 Yaquis were deported to Mexico, where they faced murder, lynching, and enslavement under the [Porfiriato]. [161]

Jew Sing, from Mexico, deported from the U.S. for having Chinese ancestry.

In the latter half of the decade, U.S. immigration officials worked to tighten regulations at the Mexico-United States border. As Mexican immigration to the United States increased around the turn of the century, nativist sentiments fueled demands for stricter public health and public charge restrictions against potential migrants. [134] Pervasive anti-Chinese sentiment also generated a climate of hysteria in U.S. border towns. Unable to accurately distinguish between Indigenous and Mestizo Mexicans and Mexicans of Chinese descent , U.S. immigration officials grew increasingly concerned about Chinese Mexicans entering the United States by adopting “traditional” Mexican attire and speaking Spanish. [162] In 1905, T. F. Schmucker, Chief of the Immigration Bureau in El Paso, Texas , reported that between 150 and 200 Chinese Mexicans were being held in detention in Ciudad Juárez . [163] By 1907, U.S. immigration officials implemented even more stringent policies to prevent Chinese Mexicans from entering the United States; however, one immigration inspector, Marcus Braun, noted, “How exceedingly difficult it is to positively state whether these are… Chinamen or Mexicans.” [134] In the lead-up to the Mexican Revolution , the number of immigrants entering the U.S. from Mexico increased dramatically, including the population of Chinese Mexicans. In 1909, the El Paso Times observed, “There are a hundred ‘Celestials’ where there was one twenty years before … every train brings a dozen or two to Juarez, all intent on getting across the border, and in the course of a few years hundreds of them have been taken off trains on the American side.” [134]

1910s

Mexican Revolution

• Main article: Mexican Revolution

Refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution, heading to Marfa, Texas .

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) arose from the growing discontent with the thirty-one-year rule of the dictatorial Porfirio Díaz . Mounting resistance to Díaz triggered a power struggle among competing factions, creating an opening for agrarian insurrection. [164] Wealthy landowner Francisco I. Madero challenged Díaz in the 1910 presidential election. Following a rigged outcome, Madero launched a revolt under the Plan of San Luis Potosí . [165]

Armed conflict erupted in northern Mexico, spearheaded by Madero, Pascual Orozco , and Pancho Villa . With backing from segments of the middle class, peasantry, and organized labor, [166] Díaz was compelled to relinquish power and enter exile. New elections in 1911 resulted in Madero’s victory, and he assumed office in November. However, opposition to his administration grew from both conservatives, who perceived him as too weak, and former revolutionary allies, who viewed him as too conservative.

During February 1913, a period known as the Ten Tragic Days , Madero and his vice president, Pino Suárez, were forced to resign and subsequently assassinated. General Victoriano Huerta established a counter-revolutionary regime, supported by the United States and its ambassador [Henry Lane Wilson], [167] business interests, and proponents of the old order. Huerta remained in power until July 1914, when he was ousted by a coalition of diverse regional revolutionary forces, including those led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata . Wealthy landowner Venustiano Carranza formed the “Constitutionalist” faction, and with military forces under Álvaro Obregón , played a crucial role in defeating Huerta. [168] When the revolutionaries failed to reach a political accord, Mexico descended into civil war (1914–15). Carranza emerged victorious in 1915, defeating the Villistas and forcing Zapata into guerrilla warfare . [169] Zapata was assassinated in 1919 by agents of President Carranza. Many scholars consider the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as the end point of the armed conflict.

Camp for refugees of the Mexican Revolution.

For the United States, the Revolution proved profoundly consequential, as the violence unleashed by the conflict resulted in an estimated 600,000 to 1,000,000 refugees fleeing into the United States. [170] Along the border, residents in American cities feared that the revolutionary ideals of land redistribution would incite the poor and working classes in the U.S. to revolt against Anglo property ownership and dominance. [141] The governor of Texas formally requested U.S. troops to secure the border and prevent the infiltration of revolutionary sentiments into the United States. [141]

The border was effectively transformed into a militarized zone . Barbed wire, searchlights, tanks, machine guns, and aircraft were deployed to monitor Mexican residents and maintain “order” in the borderlands. [171] Approximately sixty-five hundred U.S. troops were stationed in El Paso, Texas , tasked with preventing Villistas from entering the city and overseeing Mexican refugees and Mexican Americans within the city. U.S. consular agent George Carothers expressed concern, stating, “A large portion [of the] Mexican population of El Paso have arms … which will create [a] dangerous situation here … The possibility exists of them starting something serious.” [172] In January 1916, white Americans took matters into their own hands, initiating a “race riot ” in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Chihuahuita, Texas , [173] attacking every Mexican refugee and Mexican American they encountered in the streets. [174]

Refugees of the Mexican Revolution among tents, possibly in Marfa, Texas , circa 1910.

While Mexican American historians continue to debate the long-term ramifications of the Mexican Revolution, one of its most enduring legacies was the mass displacement of entire communities from Mexico to the United States. [134] Men, women, and children embarked on journeys on foot, traveled by wagon and horseback, and utilized railroads to enter the United States as refugees. [138] In the aftermath of the Pancho Villa Expedition , one press report vividly described the arrival of “hundreds” of refugees into the United States within a single day: “Following the troops were hundreds of refugees. Prosperous Mormon families rode in comfortable farm wagons or in small motor cars. Some Mexicans rode in carriages, on horses, mules, burros and on the motor lorries of the expeditionary forces while hundreds of them and Chinese residents from the evacuated region walked through the deep dust which had been made by the feet of hundreds of troops.” [175]

Treatment in the U.S.

A Junta Patriótica club.

Life in the United States proved arduous and violent for Mexican refugees and Mexican Americans during the latter half of the Progressive Era . Reformers of the period held the conviction that non-white populations were “primitive” and biologically inferior. [176] The eugenics-influenced Dillingham Commission advocated for substantial reductions in immigration to the United States, [177] while academics such as Charles Davenport posited that racial “deficiencies” were the root cause of violence and poverty. [178] This elite nativism translated directly into discriminatory practices on the ground, with refugees of the Mexican Revolution frequently denied humanitarian aid. In one notable incident in 1914, refugees fleeing the revolutionary violence crossed into West Texas; in response, white Texans arrested the refugees and confined them at Fort Bliss . [141]

The majority of the hundreds of thousands of Mexican refugees who sought asylum in the United States during the Revolution settled in California and the U.S. Southwest. In Los Angeles , many of these resettled refugees established communities in the historically Mexican American area of East Los Angeles . [179] State and local resources were stretched thin, and Mexican refugees and Mexican Americans were specifically excluded from welfare programs. [180] Mexicans filled existing gaps in the American labor market, leading to the establishment of colonias , or Mexican-majority neighborhoods, in Chicago , Kansas City , and Salt Lake City , with railroad companies serving as primary employers. [181] The steel and automobile sectors attracted Mexicans and Mexican Americans to Detroit , San Francisco , and Minneapolis , as well as agricultural work in Oregon , Texas , and Southern California . To provide a sense of stability and community grounding for middle-class Mexicans, Mexican government consulates in major cities organized a network of juntas patrioticas (patriotic councils) and comisiones honoríficas (honorary committees) to commemorate Mexican national holidays and express support for the Revolution. The juntas patrioticas proved immensely popular and represented an early form of community organizing for the Mexican community in the United States. [182]

A Los Angeles Boys’ home. These homes for orphaned and delinquent boys often targeted young Mexican and African American boys for sterilization.

Mexican Americans also encountered a more sinister form of discrimination during the Progressive Era. During this period, several dozen states enacted eugenics laws, outlining legal criteria for compulsory sterilization . [183] In California, eugenicists at public institutions such as Sonoma State Hospital and Whittier State School initiated their sterilization programs in the 1910s. [184] These medical professionals believed that predispositions to poverty, crime, mental illness, disability, and violence were inheritable traits. Consequently, individuals diagnosed as “insane,” “feeble-minded ,” or “epileptic” were deemed unfit for “breeding” and subjected to permanent sterilization as a means of addressing the nation’s social ills. [185] Recommendations for surgical sterilization were heavily influenced by eugenic prejudices regarding the perceived biological inferiority of poor and non-white populations. [186] As a result, Mexican American men, women, and children were disproportionately sterilized in California. Many Mexicans immigrating to the United States endured arduous journeys across borders, driven by the hope of finding stability and improved opportunities in this new environment. While this history illustrates the beginnings of Mexican immigration and the cyclical nature of recurring events, often influenced by governmental policies, it underscores a persistent pattern. [187] By some estimates, Mexican Americans were between 40% and 60% more likely to be permanently sterilized than their white counterparts. [188] Moreover, elites during the Progressive Era enacted stringent anti-miscegenation laws and regulations prohibiting individuals deemed “normal” from marrying those with low IQs, with the stated aim of “breeding” a healthier nation. [180] California’s eugenics laws served as a foundation for Nazi eugenics . [189][190]

La Matanza de Texas

• Main article: La Matanza (1910–1920)

Three Texas Rangers posing with the corpses of Mexican American men.

The mid-1910s proved to be one of the most violent periods for Mexican Americans in Texas history. In the summer of 1915, a manifesto attributed to Mexican seditionists , known as El Plan de San Diego , was discovered. [191] The plan aimed to overthrow American control over the entire borderlands through a panethnic “Liberating Army of race and people,” comprising Mexicans, Mexican Americans, African Americans , and Japanese Americans . [192] The plan called for the expulsion of Anglos and the execution of all white American men over the age of sixteen. [193] It also advocated for the destruction of bridges and derailment of trains to disrupt federal, state, and local infrastructure. The initial phases of the plan were executed through targeted attacks on prominent ranches. [194] On August 8, 1915, approximately sixty ethnic men raided the Los Norias headquarters of the Texas Rangers on the King Ranch . [195] The response to this raid and the discovery of the plan was swift and brutal. The Texas Rangers launched an indiscriminate manhunt, killing every Mexican and Mexican American man they encountered. [196] One Ranger described the troops’ actions as exhibiting a “savage radical element” against the Mexicans. [141] Estimates suggest that at least 102 individuals were killed in the aftermath of this initial incident. [197]

Texas Rangers smiling alongside the corpses of dead Mexican Americans.

This event precipitated a wave of violence across South Texas, described by some as an “orgy of bloodshed” known as La Hora de Sangre (part of a broader period termed La Matanza ). [198] Texas judge James B. Wells, Jr. estimated that in Hidalgo County, Texas and Cameron County, Texas alone, Texas officers and vigilantes executed between 250 and 300 men between the summers of 1915 and 1916. [141] Extralegal violence was perpetrated by white mobs, state police, and local deputies throughout Texas, with estimates of the deceased ranging from 300 to several thousand. [199] Law enforcement officials often colluded with vigilante groups, and Mexican Americans endured torture, hangings, shootings, beatings, and immolation. [200] Many of the victims were adult men, though some women and children were also murdered by white mobs. [141] The executions frequently occurred in remote, rural locations, shielded from public view. Perpetrators rarely faced arrest, and grand juries consistently refused to indict the accused, as exemplified in the case of the Porvenir massacre . [201] Mexican Americans were left with no recourse but to organize their lives in ways that allowed them to evade law enforcement and the white American community. [141]

Immigration Policies

• See also: Immigration Act of 1917 , 1917 Bath riots , and Bisbee Deportation

Geraldine Portica, a transgender Mexican woman deported from the United States to Mexico in 1917.

The nativism that had been escalating in the United States for decades intensified following the Mexican Revolution. In January 1917, the United States enacted the Immigration Act of 1917 . This legislation significantly restricted immigration to the United States and marked a pivotal shift in U.S. immigration policy. The act introduced a literacy requirement , increased the “head tax” to eight dollars (a considerable sum at the time), added new categories of prohibited individuals (including those with mental illness , as well as the “gender inverse ,” meaning all members of the LGBT community ), [202] and extended the Chinese Exclusion Act to bar all Asian immigrants with the exception of those from Japan and the Philippines. [203] This act imposed significant burdens on Mexican immigrants, as the literacy requirements, head taxes, and restricted categories were rigorously applied. [204] In 1917, the U.S. Public Health Service also implemented invasive medical inspections at the border, involving the stripping and physical examination of men and boys for “defective” anatomy—such as enlarged breasts or small genitalia—and their exposure to chemical agents for “disinfection.” [205] Outrage over these procedures led to the 1917 Bath riots . [206] Subsequently, agricultural interests in California and Texas successfully lobbied Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson to establish exemptions for agricultural laborers. [134] For all other immigrants from Mexico, these protocols remained in effect.

With these new policies in place, nativists across the United States felt emboldened to perpetrate anti-Mexican violence. In a particularly egregious incident in Bisbee, Arizona , over 1,000 Mexican and Mexican American laborers were forcibly deported by an army of over 2,000 deputies in an event known as the Bisbee Deportation . [207] The laborers, who were miners in the nearby copper mine, had organized under the banner of the Industrial Workers of the World , a labor union, on June 26, 1917. [208] In response, Sheriff Harry Wheeler and his deputy army apprehended and arrested over a thousand of the men on July 12, 1917, forcing them onto a waiting train. [209] The train transported the men to Columbus, New Mexico , where they were abandoned in the desert without provisions. [210]

World War I

Marcelino Serna , an immigrant from Mexico, was one of World War I’s most decorated soldiers.

U.S. involvement in World War I extended from April 6, 1917, until the war’s conclusion on November 11, 1918. During this period, approximately 200,000 Latino Americans served in the U.S. military. [211] The majority of these Latino servicemen were Mexican Americans. [211] Many of these individuals faced discrimination within the service, with some choosing to conceal their Mexican heritage to avoid prejudicial treatment. [212] Unlike their African American counterparts, who largely served in segregated units , Mexican Americans did not serve in segregated units during World War I. [213] Despite experiencing harassment from white American servicemen for their “barrio English,” Mexican American soldiers proved instrumental in several crucial engagements, including the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse–Argonne offensive . [213]

David B. Barkley , a Mexican American from Laredo, Texas , received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines in France. Additionally, Marcelino Serna , who immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a young man, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . During the war, Serna single-handedly neutralized a German machine gun emplacement in a single battle. [214] Two weeks later, he captured 26 enemy soldiers, took 26 more as prisoners, and prevented his fellow American soldiers from executing the captured men. [214] Serna returned to the United States as the most decorated soldier from the state of Texas . [215]

1920s

Rise of the KKK

• See also: Hispanics and Latinos in the United States during the Roaring Twenties

The Ku Klux Klan experienced a surge in membership, reaching several million adherents and achieving mainstream status within white American society during the 1920s. This organization, characterized by its terrorist activities, viewed Mexican Americans as a “threat” to the “purity” of the United States.

In the years following World War I, the tide of nativism continued to rise throughout the 1920s. The Second Ku Klux Klan emerged, modeled after the original KKK of the 1860s. It espoused anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiments [216][217] and propagated the notion that all Mexicans and Mexican Americans were “subhuman foreigners.” [218] The KKK orchestrated an extensive campaign of violence across the Southwest. [218]

The KKK maintained a strong presence in Texas and California, [219][220] with adherents in rural communities in both states [221][222] and significant political influence in major cities. [223][224] In Dallas , where the KKK gained control of the city’s political apparatus, efforts were made to completely seal the border with Mexico. [225] In San Diego , the KKK was led by many of the city’s elite. According to Ernesto Galarza , a labor activist and professor, “Mexicans were seen as an endangerment to traditional American values. [Even the clergy] often ignored the Klan’s abuses toward Latinos.” [224] The KKK in Southern California frequently engaged in the lynching, torture, dragging, and murder of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Mercedes Acasan Garcia, a refugee of the Revolution working as a maid in San Diego during the 1920s, recounted, “Since they were ragged Wetbacks, nobody cared who they were and nothing was done about it.” [224] The KKK also wielded considerable political power in Los Angeles ; in 1928, a senior KKK member, John Clinton Porter , was elected mayor of the city. [226]

Colorado was another region with extensive Klan activity. During World War I , Colorado companies sought to fill labor shortages left by departing soldiers by recruiting refugees from the Mexican Revolution (who had arrived in the United States in large numbers during the 1910s). [227] As labor recruiters facilitated the relocation of significant numbers of refugees to Colorado, white residents grew increasingly resentful of the presence of these “radical aliens.” [227] During the First Red Scare of 1920, a substantial number of white Coloradans joined nativist and “one hundred percent American” organizations. [228] Despite these sentiments, corporations continued to recruit Mexicans. In 1921, John Galen Locke capitalized on intensifying anti-Mexican feelings and organized the KKK in Colorado. [229] By 1925, the KKK had become the dominant political force in Colorado, campaigning on platforms of law and order and anti-Mexicanism. The KKK deliberately held rallies in cities with substantial Mexican populations. [227]

Johnson–Reed Act

• See also: Emergency Quota Act and Immigration Act of 1924

U.S. border guards with Mexicans behind the border fence, circa 1920s.

In the years following World War I, the United States imposed near-total restrictions on immigration from the rest of the world. In 1921, Congress passed the “Emergency” Quota Act of 1921 , which established immigration quotas based on “3 percent of the number of foreign-born persons of each nationality” residing in the U.S., as determined by the 1910 United States Census . [230] This Act was primarily intended to reserve the majority of immigration quota slots for northwestern European countries, which accounted for the largest number of the 350,000 total slots created. [231] However, immigration restrictionists remained unsatisfied, and U.S. Representative Albert Johnson and Senator David Reed responded by advocating for even stricter quotas. [232] The subsequent Johnson-Reed Act reduced the quota from 3 percent to 2 percent and shifted the census base from 1910 to 1890, effectively limiting migration primarily to individuals from Western and Northern Europe. [233]

For Mexicans, however, the law’s impact was complex, as the quota system applied only to countries outside the Western Hemisphere , meaning there were no numerical limits on immigration from any Latin American nation. [234] This absence of a quota for Mexicans proved controversial within the U.S. nativist movement, which expressed outrage at the substantial numbers of Mexican immigrants entering the country—including thousands during the Cristero War (1926-1929). [235] Immigration restrictionists, who sought to limit the presence of non-white individuals in the U.S., viewed Mexican immigration, even when solely intended to fill labor demands, as detrimental to the nation. [236] One article in The Saturday Evening Post posed the question, “How much longer [are] we going to defer putting the Mexican Indian under the quota law we have established for Europe?” [237] Texas Congressman John C. Box went so far as to declare that Mexicans would lead to the “mongrelization” of white America. [238] Generally, however, the racial identity of Mexicans was sufficiently contentious that lawmakers hesitated to implement increased restrictions. U.S. Secretary of Labor James J. Davis noted, “The Mexican people are of such a mixed stock and individuals have such a limited knowledge of their racial composition that it would be impossible for the most learned and experienced ethnologist or anthropologist to classify or determine their racial origin. Thus, making an effort to exclude them from admission or citizenship because of their racial status is practically impossible.” [239] According to scholars of the period, however, most Americans at the time considered Mexicans’ racial heritage to be “impure.” [163]

U.S. border guards inspecting Mexicans entering the country, circa 1920s.

Despite Mexican immigration never being subjected to quota limitations, U.S. immigration officials employed increasingly stringent measures to restrict entry. For itinerant laborers who resided in Mexico and worked in the United States, weekly disinfection mandates became routine, and quarantine and “bath certificates” were required for weekly renewal. [240] Then, in 1924, the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of the Border Patrol , headed by the former chief “Chinese Inspector,” Clifford Alan Perkins. [241][242] The Border Patrol commenced operations with headquarters in El Paso , overseeing three district offices in Los Angeles, El Paso, and San Antonio. Beginning in the 1920s, visa controls and deportations became regular mechanisms for regulating Mexican immigration. [243] Finally, in 1929, Congress passed the Aliens Act of 1929, colloquially known as Blease’s Law, which criminalized undocumented entry into the U.S. as a misdemeanor and re-entry as a felony. [244] Prior to this legislation, immigration violations were largely treated as civil matters. [245]

Mexicans in Hollywood

Lobby card for the 1928 U.S. drama film Ramona .

The 1920s marked the emergence of Mexican entertainers in American popular culture, a significant first in U.S. history. Dolores del Río gained prominence as an actress, singer, and dancer. Born and raised in Mexico, she and her husband departed the country in 1925, both hailing from upper-class families adversely affected by the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution. [246] Del Río commenced her film career in Hollywood almost immediately upon her arrival, securing roles in a series of successful silent films , including Resurrection (1927), Ramona (1928), and Evangeline (1929). While del Río proudly and assertively embraced her Mexican heritage, she was predominantly cast in non-Hispanic white roles, typically portraying the romantic interest of white actors. Widely regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world during the 1920s and early 1930s, she is acknowledged as Hollywood’s first major female Latin American star. [247][248][249]

Doug Fairbanks and Lupe Vélez in The Gaucho (1927).

Another Mexican actress achieved significant Hollywood stardom in the 1920s: Lupe Vélez . She attended high school in San Antonio, Texas as a teenager but returned to Mexico after her family lost their home during the Mexican Revolution. [250] The family faced considerable financial hardship during those years, prompting Vélez to move to Mexico City to work at an FAL department store—then considered a symbol of modern global capitalism and upper-class status. Her breakthrough occurred when she appeared in a popular musical production within the city’s revista theater scene. [250] After relocating to the U.S., she made her cinematic debut in a short film in 1927. By the end of the decade, she was starring in full-length silent films , advancing to leading roles in The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). Vélez’ roles were varied, though she often portrayed “exotic” and “foreign” women. [251]

Lobby card for the 1928 U.S. drama film Revenge, starring Dolores Del Rio .

Despite Hollywood featuring two prominent Mexican actresses in the 1920s (alongside the male star Ramon Novarro ), controversy persisted regarding the stereotypical portrayals of Latin Americans in film. In the 1920s, Latin America represented Hollywood’s largest export market. [252] In Mexico, nearly 80 percent of all films screened were U.S.-produced. Nevertheless, Mexicans and other Latin Americans were frequently depicted on screen as lazy, barbaric, morally degenerate, or buffoonish. [253] Mexican Americans, already confronting pervasive discrimination in other aspects of their daily lives, expressed concern that such depictions contributed to the prejudicial treatment they experienced in the United States. Spanish-language newspapers criticized Hollywood’s “greaser” films for their portrayals of Latin Americans and even urged the Mexican government to take a stance against Hollywood. [254] The Mexican government did initiate an influence campaign, but its success was limited. According to one historian, “The Mexican immigrant community in Los Angeles used discussions about cinema to critique American racial and political ideologies.” [255]

Labor Issues

Mexican American laborers constructing adobe bricks at Casa Verdugo, California.

During the 1920s, Mexicans filled the burgeoning demand for cheap labor on the West Coast. Mexican refugees continued to migrate to areas beyond the Southwest; they were recruited to work in the steel mills of Chicago during a strike in 1919, and again in 1923. [256] Many found employment on the assembly lines of automobile factories in Detroit , and in the meatpacking plants of Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri . [257]

A significant number also worked as agricultural laborers in farming valleys within the border states, including Tucson, Arizona , the Rio Grande Valley , and most notably, the Imperial Valley in California. Anglo-Americans hired Mexicans and Mexican Americans to work in the region’s year-round agricultural economy. Mexican farm laborers, alongside African Americans , Filipino Americans , Japanese Americans , and even Armenian Americans , Punjabi Americans , Native Hawaiians , and Native Americans, were instrumental in California becoming the nation’s foremost agricultural state. In this shift towards agricultural dominance, California relied heavily on the inexpensive labor of Mexicans and Mexican Americans across various sectors. By the mid-1920s, California’s cotton farms were approximately five times larger than those in the Deep South . This necessitated a substantial manual labor force, as well as skilled technicians, given California farmers’ adoption of tractors and picking machines at a faster rate than any other region. [258] The capacity of Mexican laborers to adapt to industrial farming methods proved crucial to the state’s success. Nonetheless, even as labor unions experienced rapid growth in the 1920s to protect workers, some mainstream organizations, such as the AFL , harbored explicit anti-Mexican sentiments. [259] When Mexicans sought improved working conditions, they frequently faced outright violence. [260]

Salastino Martinez (age 15) and Klementz Chavez, killed in Walsenburg, Colorado , 1928.

Some of the decade’s most notorious labor disputes occurred in Colorado. In 1927, Mexican-American coal miners participated in a contentious coal strike in Colorado , walking out under the banner of the Industrial Workers of the World . Mexican Americans in the southeastern part of the state, particularly those from the Walsenburg , Pueblo, Colorado , and Trinidad, Colorado areas, assumed leadership roles in the 1927 strike, protesting for enhanced and safer working conditions. Some mine owners in other parts of the state retaliated against the striking miners by refusing employment to any Mexican or Mexican American individuals in their mines. [261] In Walsenburg and Trinidad, mine owners resorted to more extreme measures to quell the protests. Mine owners hired armed individuals to attack the Industrial Workers of the World ’s (IWW) halls in Trinidad and Walsenburg. In Walsenburg, these assailants utilized a machine gun to fire upon the IWW hall, resulting in the deaths of two union strikers, Salastino Martinez (age 15) and Klementz Chavez (age 41), on January 12, 1928. [262] Josephine Roche , president of the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company , extended an invitation to the United Mine Workers of America to unionize her mines, aiming to address some of the strikers’ demands without alienating other mine owners who remained strongly opposed to the IWW. [263]

LULAC and Activism

The first LULAC Convention, Texas, 1929.

In 1929, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was established in Corpus Christi, Texas , through the amalgamation of several smaller Mexican American organizations. [264] It emerged as one of the nation’s earliest mainstream Mexican American political organizations, largely founded through the efforts of Mexican American World War I veterans who were deeply frustrated by the persistent discrimination faced by their community in the United States. [265] Ben Garza assumed the role of the organization’s inaugural president. [266] LULAC rapidly evolved into an influential middle-class civil rights organization, establishing councils across the Southwest . Members generally presented themselves as patriotic “white” Americans, and membership was restricted exclusively to English-speaking U.S. citizens. [267] Similar to the NAACP during that era, LULAC believed that an “educated elite” leadership within the Mexican American community would guide the collective towards a higher standing in the United States’ political and economic spheres. Nevertheless, the organization primarily concentrated on issues such as voter registration and poll tax fundraising drives, actively pursuing legal campaigns against discriminatory laws and practices. [268]

Great Depression

Poverty

A Mexican family in Texas. The Great Depression severely impacted communities of color.

The Great Depression commenced in the United States following a significant decline in stock prices beginning around September 4, 1929, and particularly with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday ). The Depression exerted a profound influence on the approximately one and a half million Mexicans and Mexican Americans residing in the United States by 1930. [269] Agricultural employment was among the initial sectors to suffer during the downturn. [163] As unemployment rates among white Americans escalated, resentment grew towards the practice of employing Mexican and Mexican American laborers by farmers in the Southwest. These sentiments led to concerted pressure campaigns directed at government officials and employers, insisting that only “citizens” be hired. [163] These campaigns proved successful, and construction companies, retail businesses, factories, and laundries soon terminated their Mexican employees in favor of white American workers. [163] The Hoover administration explicitly blamed Mexicans for displacing “American citizens” from jobs. [270]

Mexican American boy in San Antonio, Texas .

The election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president in 1932 generated hope for relief within suffering Mexican American communities across the United States. However, this hope did not materialize. While no New Deal program explicitly barred individuals based on race or immigration status from receiving assistance, occupational status was employed as a means to exclude Mexican Americans from Depression relief programs. [271] The Social Security Act of 1935 , for instance, excluded agricultural and domestic workers from both social security benefits and unemployment insurance, effectively denying many African and Mexican Americans access to this early social safety net. [272] At the local level, few Mexican migrant laborers received relief due to residency restrictions that often mandated prior residency in a county for a specified duration, thereby excluding migratory laborers. [271]

Two boys scavenging for food during the Great Depression in Texas .

Without federal or local relief, numerous jobless Mexican American families adopted a nomadic lifestyle, traveling highways in search of work. [273] Some found temporary housing in U.S. Farm Security Administration (FSA) work camps, where Mexican American farm families finally received access to medical care, food, and shelter. However, due to the pervasive culture of anti-Mexican demonization in the U.S., which had resulted in targeted violence against Mexican American communities, the FSA was compelled to establish separate camps specifically for Mexican Americans to provide “safe havens from violent attacks” by white Americans. [273] These segregated camps brought together Mexican American families from diverse backgrounds, offering them opportunities to organize and discuss pressing issues of the day, including the harsh working conditions within the agricultural sector. [273] The familial connections forged in these camps would later serve as a significant factor in farm labor movements toward the end of the century. [273] Nevertheless, while the FSA work camps provided relief for some Mexican American families, many others endured a starkly different experience during the Depression. In numerous cities, when Mexican or Mexican American families sought aid, they were directed to designated “Mexican Bureaus,” where discussions of repatriation took place. [274][275]

Repatriation

• Main article: Mexican Repatriation

• See also: Mexican Repatriation during the Great Depression

From 1929 to 1936, approximately 400,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans were repatriated via trains, boats, and buses, some under duress.

For several hundred thousand Mexicans and Mexican Americans, life in the United States during the Great Depression became unbearable—they lost their jobs, were largely denied federal or local relief due to their ethnicity, and faced vilification in politics and media as “job-stealers.” [276] Compounding these factors, state and county officials across the U.S. began threatening Mexican and Mexican American families seeking government assistance with deportation. [277] Concurrently, the Mexican government initiated a program to entice ethnic Mexicans back to the country, promising free land upon their return. [235] These combined pressures—overwhelming poverty, the fear of threats from U.S. government officials, and the allure of Mexican government promises—prompted many to leave the U.S. during a period known as the Mexican Repatriation . [278]

These repatriation efforts, often initiated under threats of deportation, were officially considered “voluntary,” resulting in a scarcity of federal records detailing the exact number of Mexicans who departed the country during the Depression. [279] Nevertheless, the INS reported in 1931 that “large proportions” of the nation’s Mexican population were leaving the country, with some estimates suggesting that between November 1929 and December 1931 alone, approximately 200,000 Mexicans departed the United States. [279] While a significant number willingly returned to Mexico, a considerable portion were explicitly pressured to leave through state and local repatriation programs. [280] These programs, responding to the severe economic impacts of the Depression on Mexican and Mexican American communities, actively promoted deportation. [281]

Some scholars contend that the unprecedented number of deportations and repatriations between 1929 and 1933 constituted part of an “explicit Hoover administration policy,” [282] and that the manufactured climate of fear was intended to coerce Mexicans into self-repatriation. [283][284] Indeed, local welfare workers routinely collaborated with immigration officials to furnish the names of ethnic Mexicans seeking Depression relief for potential repatriation. [279] During the Repatriation period, local government and federal officials also coordinated “street sweeps” and “full-scale paramilitary” raids in predominantly Mexican neighborhoods to apprehend undocumented migrants and intimidate others into repatriating. [281] In addition to welfare officials, charitable aid agencies partnered with state and local governments, sometimes providing financial assistance for one-way tickets to Mexico. [285] In total, the INS formally deported approximately 82,000 Mexicans from 1929 to 1935, while the remaining 320,000 repatriated were classified as “voluntary.” Of the total number of individuals who left the United States during the Mexican Repatriation, roughly half were U.S. citizens. [282]

New Deal Labor

• See also: California agricultural strikes of 1933 and United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America

A Mexican melon picker in the Imperial Valley , unloading his harvest during the Depression.

During the New Deal era, Mexican American labor unions achieved notable organizational progress; however, they continued to face direct violence. In September 1933, the Cannery and Agricultural Workers’ Industrial Union spearheaded a massive strike of cotton pickers in California’s San Joaquin Valley . One contemporary observer later described the mobilization of strikers as “an army of brown skinned people.” [286] In response, the growers initiated a comprehensive strategy to resist paying the strikers higher wages. [287] They commenced with a propaganda campaign, alleging that the strike was instigated by a radical left-wing “Communist menace,” [288] rather than by the workers themselves fighting against persistently low wages and deplorable working conditions. [289] Subsequently, farm owners established armed militias. [286] One such group, the Pixley Farmers Protection Association, comprised 600 enrolled members. [286] The farm owners then targeted local business owners, threatening severe repercussions for any establishment that provided sustenance to the strikers. Following this, the farmers evicted all striking pickers and their families from their residences, typically rudimentary shacks situated on the cotton ranches. [286]

When the strikers remained resolute, reports began to surface concerning mysterious deaths occurring in the cotton fields. The Mexican consulate dispatched a representative to Tulare County, California “to protect the interests of Mexicans.” [286] However, this did not deter local welfare officials from denying food relief to the strikers’ families during the strike. [286] Law enforcement soon intervened to uphold “law and order,” promptly deputizing an army of local white residents and granting them “unlimited power.” [286] The Mexican American strikers then faced open assaults, resulting in three fatalities—yet their assailants were subsequently released without any charges being filed. [290] Meanwhile, local and federal relief officials continued to deny the strikers any food assistance, leading to a significant number of the strikers’ children succumbing to malnutrition. [286] The U.S. federal government eventually intervened, establishing an arbitration committee . By the end of October 1933, a compromise was reached, bringing the strike to a close. [286]

Labor organizer Emma Tenayuca and her husband Homer Bartchy on their wedding day, January 1937.

The 1933 San Joaquin Cotton Strike garnered national media attention at the time, much of which favored the farm owners. However, Latino American labor activists did achieve significant advancements during the 1930s. Luisa Moreno , an immigrant from Guatemala , became the first Latina in U.S. history to hold a national union office when she was appointed Vice-President of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America . [291] At that time, it was the seventh-largest affiliate of the Congress of Industrial Organizations . [292] Another influential labor leader during the Depression was the 21-year-old Emma Tenayuca , [293] who played a pivotal role in one of the most renowned conflicts in Texas labor history: the 1938 San Antonio pecan shellers strike at the Southern Pecan Shelling Company. [294][295] During the strike, nearly 12,000 workers across more than 130 plants walked off their jobs to protest a wage reduction of one cent per pound of shelled pecans and inhumane working conditions. [293] Mexicana and Chicana workers who participated in picketing faced clubbings, gassing, arrests, and imprisonment. A photograph of Tenayuca was featured in Time magazine, where she was described as being “at the forefront of most of its civil commotions.” [296]

Depression Politics

U.S. Senator Dennis Chávez , the first Latino to serve a full Senate term.

Despite the intense anti-Mexican sentiment prevalent throughout the country during the Depression, the era also witnessed the emergence of the nation’s first Mexican American senators. Senator Octaviano Larrazolo was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1928 but passed away in office three months later. [297] Senator Dennis Chávez first served in the United States House of Representatives from 1931 to 1935, after which he was appointed to a full term in the U.S. Senate in 1934. Upon Chávez’s swearing-in, six senators reportedly stood abruptly, turned their backs to him, and angrily exited the chamber. [298] Throughout his tenure, Senator Chávez was a strong advocate for the New Deal , achieving some success in securing benefits for New Mexicans. What became known in New Mexico as the “Latino New Deal” represented a rare extension of New Deal benefits to Mexican Americans. [299] Within the state, newly funded educational programs led to improved literacy rates, and vocational programs revitalized the production of Hispano craft goods, including santero artwork, woven textiles, and furniture. [298] Works Progress Administration (WPA) agents instructed New Mexicans on marketing their crafts to tourists. [298] Later, Senator Chávez became recognized for his civil rights advocacy, actively working to broaden the definition of American citizenship. [300]

In 1935, a federal judge in New York upheld an immigration officer’s decision to deny the naturalization petitions of three Mexicans on the grounds that they were not white, but rather individuals “of Indian and Spanish blood.” [301] Whiteness, a prerequisite for naturalized citizenship since 1790, remained so until 1940. [302] Had the 1935 ruling been upheld, it would have rendered the majority of Mexicans ineligible for citizenship. [303] President Roosevelt—who had recently shifted U.S. foreign policy from interventionist approaches, such as the Roosevelt Corollary , to his own diplomatic strategy known as the Good Neighbor Policy —expressed concern that denying Mexicans the opportunity for naturalization would adversely affect Mexico-U.S. relations. [304][305] He subsequently urged the State Department to “quiet the controversy,” pressuring the judge to reverse the decision. [305] The Department of Labor issued directives to its border officials stating that “in all future cases, [Mexican] immigrants be classified as ‘white.’” [306]

Josefina Fierro , a founder of El Congreso in 1938.

In April 1938, Luisa Moreno and a group of Mexican American labor activists, including Josefina Fierro , Eduardo Quevedo, and Bert Corona , organized the inaugural conference of El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española in Los Angeles. This organization aimed to advance a comprehensive agenda of working-class empowerment, civil rights, and Latino unity. [307] In their founding constitution, the organizers also endorsed the right of Mexicans to reside and work in the U.S. without fear of coerced deportation. [308] El Congreso deliberately eschewed assimilation , [309] standing in direct contrast to other organizations like LULAC, which focused on the desegregation of employment, housing, education, and all public facilities. [310][311] El Congreso was notable for its early advocacy of immigrant rights, despite the prevailing climate of stigmatization during the Mexican Repatriation. Moreno, in fact, addressed the [American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born], criticizing the exploitation of Mexican workers and stating, “[Mexicans make] a barren land fertile for new crops and greater riches. These people are not aliens; they have contributed their endurance, sacrifices, youth, and labor to the Southwest.” [131]

World War II Era

World War II

Mexican American servicemen in World War II , photographed between 1941 and 1944.

The United States entered World War II against the Axis Powers on December 7, 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor . Several hundred thousand Latino men served in the U.S. military during the war, with approximately 500,000 of them being Mexican American. [312][313] Unlike their African American counterparts, who predominantly served in segregated units , most Mexican American soldiers served in integrated units during World War II, [314] although recent research has uncovered at least one unit composed entirely of Mexican Americans. [315][316] The majority of Mexican American service members in World War II were second-generation Americans who had grown up amidst the anti-Mexican sentiment of the Great Depression. Consequently, the transition for them into the role of an “American soldier” could be a surprising experience. Private Armando Flores of Corpus Christi, Texas recalled the shock he felt upon first being referred to as an “American soldier,” stating, “Nobody had ever called me an American before!” [313] According to some scholars, the U.S. government made efforts during the war to address some of the domestic issues confronting the Mexican American community. [317] These initiatives were part of a broader campaign to garner widespread domestic support for the war effort. [317] Perhaps not surprisingly, this newfound sense of wartime social “inclusion” fostered a strong sense of patriotic pride within the Mexican American community. [313] On a single two-block stretch in Silvis, Illinois , 45 Mexican American boys and men volunteered to fight; this area was subsequently dubbed “Hero Street” by the press. [318]

Ernest Gallego with his first cousin, both serving in World War II .

During the war, Mexican American soldiers earned distinction for their bravery. At least eleven Mexican Americans received the Medal of Honor during the conflict. [313] One recipient, Joe P. Martínez , who worked as a beet harvester before the war, led a strategically vital charge up a snow-covered mountain on Attu Island . [319] He perished during the action, becoming the first draftee to be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. [320] Another recipient, Silvestre Herrera , explained his solo assault on a Nazi stronghold by stating, “I am a Mexican-American and we have a tradition. We’re supposed to be men.” [313]

Arguably the most celebrated Mexican American serviceman was Guy Gabaldon , an 18-year-old from East Los Angeles , who had been adopted by a Japanese American family at the age of twelve. When his family was relocated to an internment camp , Gabaldon enlisted in the Marines . [321] He was deployed to the Pacific theater and saw combat in Saipan . During the Battle of Saipan , Gabaldon eliminated thirty-three enemy combatants and subsequently utilized his fluency in Japanese to persuade the remaining surrounded soldiers to surrender. [322] The eight hundred Japanese soldiers surrendered peacefully, [323] earning Gabaldon the moniker “Pied Piper of Saipan.” [324] Although recommended for the Medal of Honor, Gabaldon was instead awarded the Silver Star . [325] The 1960 film Hell to Eternity was based on Gabaldon’s life and experiences. [326]

Women’s Wartime Labor

Rita Rodriguez, from Fort Worth, Texas , diligently at work.

Women played an exceptionally vital role during World War II, entering the industrial workforce in unprecedented numbers to fill critical manufacturing positions vacated by departing soldiers. [327][328] Additionally, countless Mexican American women enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps , WAVES , and other all-female auxiliary military units. [324] It is estimated that thousands of Mexican Americans secured employment in defense industries during the war, although they frequently encountered anti-Mexican prejudice in the job market, despite Franklin D. Roosevelt ’s 1941 Executive Order 8802 , which prohibited discrimination in defense industry hiring. [313][329] Nevertheless, the war’s immense demand for labor ultimately overcame employers’ reluctance to hire Mexican Americans. Soon, thousands of Mexican American women across the nation joined the workforce, embodying the spirit of “Rosita the Riveter.” [330]

Mexican American women at Friedrich Refrigeration .

Beyond their contributions to the formal job market, Mexican American women made significant material and moral contributions through the establishment of wartime community organizations. These organizations focused on supporting American troops abroad, with a particular emphasis on assisting young Mexican-American soldiers from local barrios. [331] While a few community projects involved collaboration between Mexican American and Anglo neighborhoods, the vast majority of Mexican American home front activities were organized independently of the white community. [332] One such organization, the Spanish-American Mothers and Wives Association of Tucson, Arizona , dedicated itself to rolling bandages, raising funds for a veterans’ center post-war, and writing letters to bolster the soldiers’ “internal battle of loneliness.” [331] The association reached its peak membership of 300 during the war. [333] Other groups, like Phoenix’s Lenadores del Mundo, organized wartime festivals and collected rubber for the war effort, while also actively combating the persistent racism and discrimination experienced by the community. [332]

Sleepy Lagoon Murder

• Main article: Sleepy Lagoon murder

Mexican American “gang” members brought in for questioning regarding the murder.

In late 1942, California Governor [Culbert Olson], facing a challenging re-election battle against eventual incumbent [Earl Warren], issued a directive to the Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies, ordering them to initiate a stringent campaign against the city’s youth gangs. [334] Acting on these orders, the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney decided to leverage the August 2, 1942 death of José Gallardo Díaz, a Mexican American youth, as a test case to launch the new offensive against juvenile delinquency , transforming the investigation into a major media spectacle. [334] In the weeks following Díaz’s death, the LAPD conducted mass raids in Mexican and African American neighborhoods, apprehending over 600 young men and women for custody and interrogation. [335] The Los Angeles press lauded the arresting officers as heroes. [334] As a consequence of their often severe interrogations of the adolescents, the police announced the apprehension of the murderers: twenty-two alleged members of the 38th Street gang and two female accomplices. [336] The public discourse in California surrounding the arrests was characterized by virulent racism, and significant debates emerged concerning whether Mexicans and Mexican Americans were “culturally, politically, intellectually, and biologically capable of living within a white, civilized, democratic society.” [334]

The Sleepy Lagoon murder case acquittal, Los Angeles , October 1944.

The ensuing criminal trial, People v. Zammora (1942), is infamous for its fundamental denial of due process . Out of the twenty-four youths charged, seventeen were indicted on murder charges and brought to trial. [337] The courtroom was cramped, and during the proceedings, the defendants were prohibited from sitting near or communicating with their attorneys. [338] Judge Charles W. Fricke, at the request of the district attorney, issued an order preventing any of the accused from changing their attire throughout the entire trial. [339] Judge Fricke also permitted E. Duran Ayres, the chief of the Foreign Relations Bureau of the Los Angeles sheriff ’s office, to testify as an “expert witness.” Ayres asserted that Mexicans, as a community, possessed a “blood-thirst” and a “biological predisposition” towards crime and killing, citing the purported human sacrifice practiced by their Aztec ancestors. [340] Following Judge Fricke’s guilty verdict in January, the Mexican American youths were incarcerated. The Mexican American community expressed widespread outrage, and several attorneys challenged Judge Fricke’s rulings. [341] The prominent journalist Carey McWilliams noted that mere months prior, over 120,000 Japanese Americans had been detained and interned in detention camps , drawing a parallel between the Japanese-American internment and the anti-Mexican response to the Sleepy Lagoon case. [342] In October 1944, the state Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the evidence presented was insufficient to sustain a guilty verdict. [336] This decision overturned the convictions of 12 defendants and directly criticized Fricke for his biased handling of the case. [343]

Zoot Suit Riots

• Main article: Zoot Suit Riots

• See also: Zoot Suit Riots

During the Zoot Suit Riots , U.S. Navy sailors assaulted and stripped over 150 Mexican American youths. The LAPD responded to the violence by arresting more than 500 Mexican American teenagers, both boys and girls.

In the 1940s, Mexican American youth were fully immersed in American popular culture, including films, music, and other media. Upon reaching adulthood, these youths diverged from the expectations of both their parents and dominant society by utilizing culture and fashion to challenge the norms of American segregation and white supremacy . [344] These teenagers developed their own music, language, and style of dress. For the young men, known as Pachucos , the fashion statement involved a flamboyant long coat, the zoot suit , paired with baggy pegged trousers, a pork pie hat, a lengthy keychain, and thick-soled shoes. [345][346] This style was intended as a rejection of American assimilation and wartime conservation efforts concerning materials like fabric. [347] Meanwhile, young women, referred to as Pachucas , adopted black drape jackets, tight skirts, fishnet stockings, and heavily emphasized makeup. For Pachucas, participation in this movement served as a means to openly challenge conventional notions of feminine beauty and sexuality, particularly within traditional Mexican culture. [348][349][350][351] In both instances, the Zoot-suiters were perceived as un-American. [352]

This sentiment created significant tensions in Los Angeles, where a new Navy base was established in Chavez Ravine , a segregated Mexican American neighborhood. [353] This influx brought over 50,000 service members into a largely Mexican community, many of whom were white and originated from areas with limited Mexican American populations. [354] The sailors, who frequently traversed the Chavez Ravine neighborhood en route to bars in Downtown Los Angeles , began harassing Zoot-suited youth, viewing their attitudes as disrespectful. [355][356] As the anti-Mexican atmosphere surrounding the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial intensified throughout 1943, minor assaults by Navy sailors against Mexican American youths became a near-daily occurrence. [356]

In June 1943, these tensions erupted into one of the city’s most severe race riots. After a Mexican American boy gestured in a manner perceived as “threatening” by a sailor, the man and his associates attacked the boy. [356] This incident triggered a street skirmish that concluded swiftly after the initial sailor sustained a broken nose. [357] That night, hundreds of sailors descended upon the neighborhood, assaulting every Mexican American youth they could find. [358] For the subsequent ten consecutive days, Navy sailors entered Chavez Ravine, Downtown LA, and even East Los Angeles , dragging, beating, and publicly stripping every Zoot-suited youth—some as young as twelve and thirteen years old. [359] The Los Angeles press actively supported the racist assaults, even publishing guides on how to “de-zoot” a zoot-suiter. [360] The LAPD joined the sailors in their actions, arresting hundreds of Zoot-suiters, both adolescent boys and girls, and charging them with “disturbing the peace.” [361] Progressive activists of the era, such as Carey McWilliams, attributed the riots to [William Randolph Hearst]’s “proto-fascist” promotion of “anti-Mexican hysteria” during the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial. [362] Scholars, however, emphasize the complex social dynamics at play within Los Angeles at the time, interpreting the riots as an illustration of the “social cleavages” prevalent in the segregation-era U.S. [363]

Postwar Activism

Macario Garcia , receiving the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman . A month later, he was denied service at a Texas cafe due to his ethnicity. He refused to leave the cafe and was arrested.

World War II officially concluded on September 2, 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and Japan’s final surrender to the Allied powers . For the millions of returning veterans, the readjustment to civilian life proved challenging. For African and Latino Americans, in particular, the transition from being celebrated war heroes and liberators in Europe back to second-class citizens in the race-segregated United States presented significant difficulties. African Americans had sought to address some of these disparities through their Double V campaign; [364] meanwhile, Mexican Americans initiated their own struggle for civil rights at home. Historian Thomas A. Guglielmo observes, “Patriotic sacrifice and service only further fired Mexicans’ and Mexican Americans’ determination to gain first-class citizenship.” [365] Returning Mexican Americans challenged discrimination and segregation in numerous ways, including by occupying “whites only” seating sections in local theaters, demanding service at white-owned restaurants, and attempting to access segregated public swimming pools. [366] In one particularly notorious instance, Macario Garcia received the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony, only to be denied service at the Oasis Cafe in Richmond, Texas due to his ethnicity less than a month later. [367] He refused to leave the cafe, leading to his arrest and charging with “aggravated assault.” [368] In Arizona, the governor designated August 14, 1945, as “Silvestre Herrera Day” in honor of another Medal of Honor recipient, Silvestre Herrera . However, coverage of the event was overshadowed by the governor’s necessity to request that Phoenix businesses remove signs barring Mexicans. [369]

Many Mexican Americans were denied the full benefits of the GI Bill . Consequently, numerous Mexican American families remained trapped in cycles of poverty.

The discriminatory treatment of returning Mexican American veterans negatively impacted the prospects of the entire Mexican American community. While medical, financial, and educational benefits provided by the GI Bill helped lift millions of Anglo-American families into the burgeoning American middle class, the application of the bill’s benefits to African and Mexican American veterans was inconsistent. [370] As a result, the Mexican American community never achieved full economic and political parity in the postwar era. [317][331] Rather than being simply exclusionary, however, the GI Bill possessed several critical deficiencies that led to discriminatory outcomes. [371] The bill offered loan guarantees, yet few banks honored these guarantees for non-white veterans, and in cases where they did, restrictive racial covenants meant that African and Mexican American veterans were confined to living in redlined neighborhoods, where property values often remained depressed. [372][373] Furthermore, many Mexican American veterans reported consistently delayed tuition disbursements, forcing them to withdraw from their job training and university programs. Reports of “outright racism within the VA ” were also common. [371] Contemporary scholars have concluded that, overall, the GI Bill “did not profoundly alter the occupational profile of all Mexicans … and its immediate impact on upward mobility among families … was inconsistent.” [374]

Hector P. Garcia , a World War II veteran , civil rights advocate, and founder of the American G.I. Forum .

Some of these issues were directly challenged. In 1948, Hector P. Garcia , a physician from Corpus Christi, Texas , established the American GI Forum to demand equal rights concerning GI Benefits, medical care, burial rights, desegregated education, and other civil rights. [375] In a notable early instance of the Forum’s civil rights advocacy, Garcia took on the case of Private Felix Longoria from Three Rivers, Texas . Longoria had died in combat in 1945, but his remains were not returned home for several years. [376] Upon their eventual arrival, his widow, Beatrice, approached the local funeral home to arrange a wake in his honor. [377] The funeral home director denied the family use of the chapel due to their race. [378] The director informed the media at the time that he would never permit Mexican Americans to utilize his facilities, stating, “We just never made it a practice to let them use the chapel and we don’t want to start now.” [379] Upon learning of the situation, Garcia expressed outrage and promptly dispatched letters of protest to the media, elected officials, and government authorities. One such letter was sent to Texas’ junior senator, Lyndon B. Johnson , who subsequently arranged for Longoria to receive full military honors and burial at Arlington National Cemetery . [380] The Longoria incident propelled the American G.I. Forum to the forefront of postwar Mexican American civil rights strategy. [313] The Forum, in conjunction with LULAC and El Congreso , significantly expanded its operations after World War II, initiating campaigns to dismantle segregation. [381]

Court Cases

• See also: Mendez v. Westminster and Perez v. Sharp

Segregated school for Mexican American children in New Mexico .

The 1940s saw two landmark court cases concerning the civil rights of Mexican Americans. The first, Mendez v. Westminster (1947), involved Gonzalo Méndez, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Mexico, and his Puerto Rican wife, Felicitas. They joined four other Mexican American families in filing a lawsuit against four Orange County, California school districts. [382] The families contested the common California practice of establishing school boundaries around predominantly Mexican American neighborhoods and segregating Mexican children residing in majority-white communities into separate Spanish “remedial” schools. [383][384] During the trial, the Orange County superintendents justified school segregation by citing the Mexican American children’s alleged inferior “personal hygiene,” “scholastic ability,” and “economic outlook.” [382] On the plaintiffs’ side, the constitutionality of educational segregation was challenged based on the Fourteenth Amendment , and social scientists were presented as expert witnesses to dispute the purported educational benefits of segregated schooling. [385] In 1946, Judge Paul McCormick ruled that school segregation constituted a “clear denial” of the Equal Protection Clause , and the following year, McCormick’s decision was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals . [386] The Méndez case held significant importance for several reasons, including: the support provided by NAACP counsel [Thurgood Marshall]; [387] the plaintiffs’ innovative use of social scientific research as a legal foundation; [388] the establishment of legal precedent deeming educational segregation unconstitutional; [389] and the case’s influence on the Anderson Bill (1947), which subsequently repealed school segregation in California. [390]

Leon Watson and Rosina Rodriguez, an interracial couple permitted to marry due to the Perez v. Sharp (1948) ruling.

The second major civil rights court victory for Mexican Americans also occurred in California. Andrea Pérez, of Mexican American heritage, and Sylvester Davis, an African American, met and developed a friendship shortly before Davis was drafted into World War II. Upon his return, they resumed their relationship, fell in love, and married. [391] At that time, California’s anti-miscegenation code prohibited interracial marriage. [392] Pérez and Davis retained the services of civil rights attorney Dan Marshall to challenge the ban. [393] When the Los Angeles County clerk denied them a marriage license, Pérez formally initiated a lawsuit. In 1948, the Supreme Court of California ruled in favor of the couple, marking California as the first state in the nation to overturn a ban on interracial marriage . [394] The decision partially relied on arguments concerning the law’s inability to account for Mexican mestizaje . [395] The court, noting Pérez’s “in-between” racial status, concluded that blanket prohibitions on interracial marriage were “too vague and uncertain” as they did not consider individuals of “mixed ancestry.” [395] Furthermore, the court determined that county clerks and other government employees could not realistically be expected to accurately ascertain the racial makeup of each marriage applicant. Finally, Justice [Roger Traynor]’s majority opinion found the law to be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. [396] [Earl Warren], who was then the governor of California, oversaw the legal implementation of this ruling within the state. Nineteen years later, he served as chief justice in Loving v. Virginia (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court case that invalidated all remaining state bans on interracial marriage. [391]

Mid-20th Century

Korean War

• Main article: Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the Korean War

Private First Class Eugene A. Obregon , United States Marine Corps and posthumous Medal of Honor recipient.

In June 1950, the United States entered the Korean War as part of a United Nations -led coalition supporting South Korea . [397] Thousands of Mexican Americans served in the conflict from its inception, many motivated by the wartime service of their fathers and older brothers in World War II. [398] Staff Sgt. Joe Campos, from Miami, Arizona , became one of the first soldiers listed as missing in action during the war after his aircraft was shot down over the Yellow Sea on June 28, 1950. A few days later, Florentino Gonzales, from Chicago , was among the initial group of prisoners of war . [399] Mexican American soldier Jesus Rodriguez later reflected on how his difficult upbringing in the United States had prepared him for the Korean War. [400][401] He stated, “I used to pray a lot. Another thing that helped me was that I was street smart from before going into the service. On the streets I learned how to fight … Something else that helped me survive Korea was that going hungry wasn’t new to me and didn’t hurt me.” [402] Ten Mexican Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor in the Korean War; [402] these included: Joe R. Baldonado , Victor H. Espinoza , Eduardo C. Gomez , Edward Gómez , Ambrosio Guillen , Rodolfo P. Hernandez , Benito Martinez , Eugene Arnold Obregon , [Mike C. Pena](/Mike_C._Pena