Major Problems in Mexican American History Essay - 2304 Words

Major Problems in Mexican American History Mexicans have been a people long oppressed. That is evident not only by the readings edited by Zaragosa Vargas in Major Problems in Mexican American History, but also by the the documentary Chicano!. The Mexicans’ past is underscored by conquest of the present-day American Southwest first by the Spanish and then by the United States following the Mexican American War. With other countries establishing control over them, Mexicans have never really been able to establish themselves. Efforts were repeatedly made to shape them into what others perceived them to be. The language they should speak, the religion they should practice, the things they should learn, and the way they should live, were all†¦show more content†¦This is clear in Document 2 of chapter two in The Major Problems in Mexican American History. In this document entitled, Spain Asserts Control over the Indians of Nueva Galicia, Mexico, 1570, the king of Spain issued a royal order commanding the Spanish in Mexico to control the Indians, convert them, and use them as labor. The king did not’t like the fact the Indians were living in the mountains preventing interference with their manner and custom of life (34). By being away from the Spanish established towns, they were refusing to be more advantageously converted and indoctrinated (34). What is ironic is that although the Spanish felt that Mexico’s population had to be converted because they were uncivilized and inferior, mestizaje, the product of racial interbreeding with Indian, black, and mixed-blood women, took place. As a result, Mexicans share a rich mestizo cultural heritage of Spanish, Indian, and African origins. By raping the uncivilized Other, the Spaniards were in turn making themselves uncivilized. Those women represented nothing more but the medium through which the Spanish could vent their sexual desires. This was a major problem that Mexican women had to encounter. While dealing with the hardships of being Mexican, a woman also had to face the burden of being a female. A social hierarchy was clearly in existence. While the men were inferior to the Spaniards and Anglos because they wereShow MoreRelated The Ethnicity of Mexians in the United States Essay1738 Words   |  7 PagesFor centuries, Mexican Americans have dealt with an enormous amount of hardships that date back to their early Aztec roots. The source of many problems in Mexican American history can be traced in the pre-colonial period, before the United States of America was even conceived. Major problems of this era in history not only affected the Aztecs, but also the following generations of Aztec and Mexican descent, and continue to have an impact on their descendents in contemporary American society. 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