Mexican American Heritage

Sample Instructional Material: Proclamation 2017
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Authors, Contributors, Editors listed alphabetically: Valarie Angle, Brian Cody, Brittany Coursey, Cynthia Dunbar, Sarah Funderburke, Marie Grego, Jaime Riddle, Taylor York
Copyright 2016 Momentum Instruction, LLC ISBN: 9780692613719
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am ple
taBle of contents 2 Chapter 1: The Indigenous Era 4 Indigenous Peoples 14 Early Latin American Civilizations
44 Chapter 2: Spanish Colonialism 46 Exploration and Conquest 70 The Spanish Colonial System
96 Chapter 3: Age of Independence 98 Latin America Gains Independence 126 American Response
148 Chapter 4: The Mexican-American War 150 Prelude to War 180 The Mexican-American War (1846–1848)
208 Chapter 5: Two Paths Diverge 210 U.S Expansion and Development 240 Mexico’s Path to Modernization
268 Chapter 6: 1910-1940: Revolution and World War 270 The Mexican Revolution 296 Revolution in Latin America and Beyond
322 Chapter 7: Immigration and Civil Rights 324 Mexican-American Immigration 354 The Quest for Civil Rights
378 Chapter 8: The Cold War Era 380 The Cold War 402 Cultural Movements during the Cold War
426 Chapter 9: Contemporary Issues 428 Contemporary Issues 460 Mexican-American Heritage
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section 2 1-2: Early Latin American Civilizations
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Indigenous Peoples
Introduction When Europeans first arrived in the Western hemisphere in 1492, it was a watershed moment for both them and the people they found. All of a sudden, two worlds collided. East met West, and two groups faced each other who had never known of the other’s existence before. The ideas, lan- guages, and cultures of opposite hemispheres were forced to intermingle in what has been called the great “Columbian Exchange.” Neither side would be the same again.
The pre-Columbian world of North and South America has as rich a history as the premodern worlds of Europe and Asia, yet our knowledge about it remains limited. From excavation, fragments of oral history, and contact with in- digenous tribes still in existence today, we know that In- dian civilizations were growing alongside civilizations in Sumer, Egypt, and ancient Greece. While pharaohs were building the great pyramids in ancient Egypt, the first pyra- mids were being constructed in ancient Peru. While Homer was penning the legends of Achilles and Odysseus in an- cient Greece, the Olmec Empire was establishing itself in the Valley of Mexico. While Roman Catholic popes were ascending to power in the Dark Ages, the Maya were rising to prominence in the Yucatan. For several thousand years, major Indian empires flourished in the region between Mex- ico and Peru, while nomadic tribes filled the expanse of the North and South American continents by hunting, gather- ing, mixing, and migrating.
Se c ti o n 1
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What We Know and Don’t Know. The details of Indian history prior to Christopher Columbus are difficult to assem- ble because most of them were not written down. Nomadic Indian tribes did not have written languages and therefore relied on oral history. Only a few civilized tribes in Mexico and Peru wrote their history down on scrolls called codices, but not many of these scrolls remain. Some were burned by Spanish conquerors in the 1500s, and others were burned by the Aztecs. European monks and missionaries worked closely with Indian tribes to try and re-record some of their ancient history. While informative, this reconstruction can- not substitute for the primary sources that were lost, nor can it help us recover the past of the nomadic Indians, as their history has been largely lost to the jungles, prairies, moun- tains, and forests in which they lived. It is simply difficult to track the history of a migratory people over such vast expanses of time and space.
Due to incomplete data, one area where scholars disagree is the original population of Indians prior to Columbus’s ar- rival. Estimates have ranged from as low as 8 million to as high as 112 million. Another area of scholarly speculation
The Meeting of Cortés and Montezuma
Nomadic Moving from place to place frequently with no fixed or permanent home
civilized A state of organized social interaction and behavior that is structured with rules or laws
codices an ancient book containing written history, scriptures, or records
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THE INDIGENOUS ERA
is the time and origin of the Indian population. In the twen- tieth century, it was commonly taught that Indians originated from ancient Mesopotamia and crossed the land bridge from Asia to Alaska several thousand years ago. Native Americans were seen as a relatively young population with a single Asi- atic origin. Today, some theories are postulating an extremely old age for Native Americans and the possibility that societies were seeded independently of each other—parallel to ancient civilizations in Asia, not originating from them. As evidence, experts point to extremely old ruins found along the Peruvian coastline that date contemporaneously to the oldest civilizations in Europe and Asia. They also reference the extensive diversity found within the Indians’ size, language, and physical appear- ance.
Peopling of America through Beringia
TERMINOLOGY: There is a great deal of conversation surrounding the appropriate terms to use when discussing Indian culture and history. While los Indios (“Indians”) is commonly used in Latin America, including by Indians themselves, “Native Americans” has been the term of preference in North America for several decades. There have been alternate terms proposed over the years in various countries: “American Indians,” “Am- erindians,” “First Nations,” and “aboriginal” people. Pueblos indígenas (“indigenous peoples”) is an umbrella term that many Latinos use today, and has been increasingly adopted in North America because it reflects the common usage of “the People” or “peo- ples” used by Indians themselves. It also can be used to include Hawaiian and Alaskan natives which were not commonly called “Indians” in the past. This book has adopted the most common terms of “Indian” and “indigenous people” to reflect Latin American usage, but as the history and culture of pre-Columbian people becomes better known and increasingly talked about in the 21st century, language and vocabulary will most likely continue to change. This is an important part of becoming a more multicultural society.
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Reconstructing Indian history is challenging but, as tech- nology advances and the fields of archeology, anthropology, and humanitarian work expand, more evidence that reas- sembles the life of indigenous America emerges. In Latin America, Indian culture is still alive and well. While only 1.7% of North Americans currently claim Indian ancestry, roughly 75% of Latin Americans claim this heritage. Al- most half of Guatemalans and Peruvians identify as pure Indian today, and most other Latin American countries have a mestizo majority of mixed European-Indian ances- try. Some native villages remain completely undisturbed, while mestizo communities may practice traditional ways of living, speak their native languages, and honor indigenous religious festivals. There clearly remains a large amount of Indian history to collect. When we combine modern infor- mation with primary source accounts from explorers, con- querors, and missionaries who interacted with Indians in the past, we get an invaluable amount of information about what early America was like.
Nomadic Indian Diversity Although contemporary racial categorizations encourage people to think of “Native Americans” as a single group, the wide variety of indigenous people in North and South Amer- ica varies just as much as Europeans and Asians do. Among nomadic groups that did not settle in large urban areas, it is impossible to speak in absolutes about any particularly identifying characteristic. Natives differed in the way they dressed, hunted, traded, worshipped, and governed them- selves. Some groups, like the Pueblo, lived in semi-perma- nent homes of adobe, while others, like the Plains Indians, lived in completely portable tipis. The Natchez of Mississip- pi and the Timucua in Florida had strong chiefdoms, while the Creeks and Cherokee moved as bands of decentralized villages. The Arawaks in the Caribbean islands were known to be friendly, while their neighbors, the Caribs, practiced cannibalism. The full spectrum of character and personality
adobe A sun-dried brick made of earth and straw
tipis A home made of skins or cloth upon a frame of poles fixed in a cone shape
mestizo A person of mixed ancestry.
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traits were represented in tribes across the New World.
Just like Europeans or Asians, there were racial similarities between Indians, but there were also countless differences. Some Indians from tribes like the Waorani in Ecuador or the Yuki in California were typically very short, while the Arap- aho and Iroquois Indians were known to be tall. The Inuit and Cheyenne had lighter skin, and many Amazon Indian- shad black skin. The Caddo pierced their noses, while the Tlingit inserted ear plugs that stretched their earlobes over time. Body markings were common across Indian society to mark coming of age, victory in battle, marital status, or so- cial rank, but there was a wide range of expression through body painting, piercings, scars, and tattoos of various forms.
Because nomadic tribes ranged from the Arctic to the tip of South America, cultural diversity was often related to differ- ences in climate and environment. As weather and topog- raphy changed dramatically from north to south, the best way to hunt and the best type of shelter also changed. The Inuit built igloos, hunted whales, and wore sealskin boots because they lived in the wilds of the Arctic. The Ona in Tierra del Fuego went almost naked and kept fires burn- ing through the night because there was little light close the Antarctic Circle. Most North Americans today are familiar with the prairie-style living of the Lakota, or Sioux, who hunted buffalo across the plains. In contrast, the Yanomami of the Amazon blew poisonous darts to kill their prey, and still practice this method of hunting today. The wide variety of climate zones and ecological niches from north to south was responsible for much of the diversity among Indians throughout North and South America.
The Nomadic Lifestyle Migration was a staple of nomadic tribal life. Sometimes a famine, flood, or other natural disaster would drive mass migration. Sometimes animal extinction or a population
migration A number of persons mov- ing together to a new place for better living conditions
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increase would encourage a move. Nomadic tribes were compet- itive with one another partly because they were so dependent on the land. If something threatened their major food source, wheth- er naturally or politically caused, they had to act quickly to avoid starvation.
Competition for limited resources meant that war was a normal aspect of nomadic Indian life, as evidenced by the high percentage of weapon artifacts found such as knives, bows, clubs, lances, and stone axes. Indians were loyal to their tribe. The Navajo, for ex- ample, had one word for themselves, hak’ei, or “family,” and one word for everyone else, ana’i, or “enemy.” It did not matter which tribe a foreigner was from, he or she was still considered an outsid- er. All throughout the indigenous age, Indian alliances formed, and battles took place as tribes spread out, seized better territory, were displaced, or sought revenge for past grievances. Some tribes were more warlike than others, but no tribe could afford to be victim- ized. Losing a war meant losing sustenance, facing enslavement, or death.
War could be fierce because oftentimes defeat meant complete
SOURCES OF INDIAN HISTORY: The modern age has greatly increased our knowl- edge of Indian history. At first, the world had to rely on diaries and journals published first-hand by explorers and settlers in order to understand the history. While they record- ed a lot of useful data, these sources could be biased against the Indians they encoun- tered. As interest in indigenous peoples increased, missionaries, anthropologists, and archaeologists went to study Indian cultures and civilizations from close proximity. For a long time, however, little recording technology was available, and even fewer tools existed to critically analyze data. Today, technology has made it easy to analyze pottery and weapon fragments, soil and building materials, and human remains. Digital technology has also made it possible to record and share Indian testimonies, customs, and religious celebrations with the world. Anyone can access videos that are uploaded to the Internet, history blogs written by Indians, and online genealogical records. Ancient codices and literature are also availa- ble online with extensive collections that the public can search. Travel and tourism has increased public awareness of Indian heritage, and more people are appreciating Indian art, history, and lifestyles. Exposure to Indian culture and history has helped our society to have respect for Indians, and has also encouraged more research, attention, and legis- lation which reflect this understanding.
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THE INDIGENOUS ERA
massacre, even of women and children. Massacre was an effective strategy because the victor gained complete pos- session of the vanquished tribe’s land. Sometimes there was ceremonial beheading, scalping, or partial cannibalism. A common North American Indian practice was beating the dead, with the highest honor given to the warrior who struck the first blow. If massacre was not the objective, captives might be taken to be ransomed if the tribe had economic needs or taken as prisoners of war if the tribe was depopulat- ed. It was common for wives to be kept as concubines and children to be kept as slaves and adoptees of the victorious tribe. Some tribes in the Pacific Northwest such as the Hai- da were even feared as habitual slave-raiders.
In almost all cases where a tribe was not completely de- stroyed, regular tribute, or taxes to the dominant tribe, was demanded to show subordination. Indians who moved into an area automatically knew who was in charge and what the social hierarchy was, based on the system of tribute set up. Property lines were always at stake when a people group was too far down the social ladder. Nomadic tribes did not have the kind of private property system that Europeans would bring, but every man in the tribe knew where their land began and another’s ended.
Religion and Social Customs Nomadic Indians had a wide range of religious beliefs, but some generalizations can be made. Most Indians in North and South America were pantheistic, meaning they believed that plants, animals, and objects in nature have spirits that should be honored and sometimes feared. Colors and numbers
tribute Goods paid to a dominant tribe in order to show sub- ordination
pantheistic A belief that plants, ani- mals, and objects in nature have spirits that should be honored and sometimes feared
TRIBAL LOCATIONS, ca. 1500: While we cannot retrace much of nomadic Indians’ migratory past, European explorers and settlers kept enough records to indicate where certain Indian tribes were located by the sixteenth century. These are some of the most prominent tribes that Spanish and Portuguese forces encountered. In the Caribbean: the Arawaks, Taínos, and Caribs. In Mexico: Tarascans, Tlaxcalans, Tabascans, Aztecs, and Maya. In the California-Rio Grande area: the Apache, Navajo, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pueblos. In South America: the Inca, Guarani, and Araucanians, including the Mapuche.
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have special meanings as well, such as the “red spirits”, whom the Cherokee believed lived in the east, and the “black spirits” who lived in the west. Most tribes had holy men, or shamans, who administered healing prayer, herbs, and other medicines. Dreams were generally respected as warnings from the gods. Inducing trances or dream-like states through intoxicating substances, participating in cer- tain types of dances, or the sweat lodge, all facilitated a way to come into contact with the spiritual realm or correct one’s soul. Group dances, such as the Snake Dance practiced by the Hopi, were seen as ways to connect to the spirits of animals or ancestors, worship the gods, and influence the future.
Regarding death and the afterlife, one almost universal sim- ilarity among indigenous tribes was the avoidance of men- tioning the name of the dead. Most tribes destroyed both the dead person’s body and their property so the spirit would not be in danger of coming back home. Burials and customs were different depending on the tribe, but most practiced mourning—a period of wailing, silence, and sometimes fasting—so that the deceased person’s spirit would know it was right to journey completely to the afterlife and stay there. A widow might even go further by lacerating her body, cutting her hair, or neglecting to take care of herself for a certain amount of time. It was common for Indians to provide food at the gravesite for the spirit’s journey. Sometimes they would leave shells, ornaments, or other desired currency that would aid the spirit’s travel. No one
shamans holy men who administered healing prayer, herbs, and other medicine.
mourning a period of wailing, silence, and sometimes fasting after the death of a loved one
The Hopi snake dance
THE INDIGENOUS ERA
mentioned the name of the dead again, if possible, so as not to call the spirit back to earth, which they thought would bring bad luck to the tribe.
Technological Limitations
In recent years, historians such as Jared Diamond have emphasized the disadvantage Indians had compared to the Europeans who con- quered them, due to their lack of guns, steel, and immunity to dis- eases like smallpox. Certainly these were setbacks. More than wars with Europeans, Old World diseases decimated the Indian population, up to 80–95% in some tribes. Guns gave European conquerors an edge, as did tools and weapons made from iron and steel, because Indians were limited to stone and wood.
Indians in North and South America also lacked the technological advancements of the wheel and domesticated animals, which had wide-ranging implications. In most areas, nomadic Indians had to live on what they could hunt or gather instead of being able to herd, ranch, or raise food
sustainably on farms. In settled civilizations where Indians did farm, agriculture was difficult without animals to pull loads or provide manure for fertilizer. The lack of horses, oxen, and carts meant that Indians could not carry heavy loads of goods or people. This limited their ability to trade and migrate. Some Indians in South America had llamas to help transport goods, but llamas could only carry small loads, and slowly. In addition, without being able to travel long distances by horse or wagon, communication was limited to scouts or foot-runners. It was difficult to know what was going on in distant locations.
Furthermore, since Indians had no exposure to common farm ani- mals, they had no immunity to diseases carried by them. When Eu- ropeans brought chickens and pigs to the New World, which carry influenza and parasites, Indians were vulnerable because they had never been around the animals to acquire any immunity to them. Oth- er animals actually bestow immunity; for example, cows can provide some natural immunity to smallpox. This meant that Indians, who
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had never been exposed to cows, had no resistance at all.
Lastly, Indians lacked a common language which limited cross-cul- tural communication with each other. The lack of communication combined with no formal education caused an information deficit…