The Hispanic Americans represent various different ethnic groups that are related through a common language and cultural heritage. These groups were heavily influenced by Spaniards who were their earlier colonizers. This essay is a response to Martin Marger’s chapter entitled, “Hispanic Americans” from the book titled, Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspective.
The essay will focus on Mexican Americans who are the largest group of Hispanic Americans. I agree with the author’s argument that initial migration of the Mexicans into the American society was because of conquests in wars while subsequent movements were voluntary.
The Mexican war which resulted in the independence of Mexico from Spain in 1810 was the cause of annexation of a large territory of Mexico. The Texas colony which was under limited control of the Mexican government revolted between 1835 and 1836 in search of independence.
Although Mexico was opposed to annexation of Texas, the Americans supported it. This resulted in the Texas war between Mexico and America with disastrous impact to Mexico which lost almost half of its territory. Therefore, Mexican immigration was as a result of both Texas and Mexican wars in which Mexico lost.
The author claims that the original immigration of the Mexicans to America was because America triumphed in these wars. He goes further to say that the original number of Mexican immigrants was small (about 75,000). Majority of the Mexican Americans entered as voluntary immigrants motivated by similar factors that affect other immigrant groups.
According to Marger (2008, p.309), “flow of Mexican immigration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was dictated primarily by the labor needs of the American Southwest”. I agree with the author that the initial movement of the Mexicans was small compared to the massive movement that was spurred by demand for cheap labor.
Although there is the evidence that significant Mexican migration happened during the reminder of the nineteenth century, massive migration of the Mexicans to America occurred in the twentieth century. This was in response to labor needs spurred by the rapid expansion of American Southwest. The massive migration also corresponded to the insufficiencies in the Mexican economy.
The author also asserts that the pressure of a growing population and political destabilization brought about by the Mexican Revolution in 1910 could have further fueled the migration. The development of various labor-intensive industries including railroads and agriculture contributed to the great movement of the Mexicans into the United States.
The author presents a strong argument that majority of Mexican Americans migrated into the United States out of free will. He also argues that the political instability that resulted from Texas war, Mexican war, and the Mexican revolution also contributed to massive migration of the Mexican people.
The labor shortage in America that resulted from rapid development of various industries such as Agriculture and railway was another reason for massive movements of Mexicans into the United States.
In conclusion, Marger’s view point that majority of the Mexican Americans migrated out of their free will is true. I fully concur with the author that the annexation of Mexico after the Texas and Mexican wars resulted in significant movement of the Mexicans into the United States.
However, the largest share of Mexican Americans migrated out of their own free will. This voluntary migration was spurred by factors such as shortage of labor force in America and dismal performance of the Mexican economy.
Works cited
Marger, Martin. “Hispanic Americans”. Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspective. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing, 2008. 221-223,225-244.Print.