It is not uncommon to walk down the streets of an American city today and hear Spanish spoken. In 1950 fewer than 4 million U.S. residents were from Spanish-speaking countries. Today that number is about 27 million. About 50 percent of Hispanics in the United States have origins in Mexico. The other 50 percent come from a variety of countries, including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia. Thirty-six percent of the Hispanics in the United States live in California. Several other states have large Hispanic populations,including Texas, New York, Illinois, and Florida, where hundreds of thousands of Cubans fleeing the Castro regime have settled. There are so many Cuban Americans in Miami that the Miami Herald, the city's largest newspaper, publishes separate editions in English and Spanish.
The term Hispanic was coined by the federal government in the 1970's to refer to the people who were born in any of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas or those who could trace their ancestry to Spain or former Spanish territories. Obviously, this represents a wide variety of countries and ethnic groups with different social, political and emotional experiences. Most Hispanics see themselves in terms of their individual ethnic identity, as Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc. instead of members of the larger, more ambiguous term Hispanic or Latino.
The Newcomers Myth
People think of Hispanics as the latest, most recent group to enter the so called "melting pot". This erroneous perception is mostly due to the media attention given to Hispanic groups in the 1980's, after the Bureau of the Census published their 1980 results. Their report revealed that Hispanics were the fastest growing group in the U.S., soon to become the largest minority group. People associated the growth with immigration, ignoring the long history of Hispanics in the United States.
Hispanic heritage in the U.S. goes back a long time. When Plymouth was founded in 1620, Santa Fe was celebrating its first decade and St. Augustine its 55th anniversary. Spanish settlements developed in the southwest of today's U.S. and also in the Gulf coast and the Florida peninsula. Some Latinos can trace their ancestors back to those days.
Other Hispanic groups, like the Puerto Ricans, did not migrate into the U.S. but instead were absorbed into it during the American expansions of the late 19th century. Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship in 1917. Economic depressions and two world wars forced many Puerto Ricans to migrate from the island in search for better opportunities. Their current political situation still confuses many who think of Puerto Rico as a foreign country.
Background
•American Family: Journey of Dreams (PBS)
• Beyond the Border (PBS)
• A History of the Mexican-American People (Julian Samora and Patricia Vandel, Simon Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University)
• Immigration From Mexico: Assessing the Impact on the United States. (Center for Immigration Studies)
• Mexican American History (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)
• Pew Hispanic Center
• Rural Hispanics: Employment and Residential Trends. USDA, May 2004
• Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives
Original Documents
• Documents in Mexican American History (Digital History)
• Mexican American Voices (Digital History)
Multimedia
• Puerto Rico & The American Dream (Judith Escalona and Stephanie Owens)
• Realidades (PBS) (video)
Statistics & Maps
• Coming from the Americas: A Profile of the Nation's Foreign-Born Population From Latin America (2000 Update) US Census Bureau
• Facts for Features: Hispanic Heritage Month 2004 (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Facts on the Hispanic/ Latino Population (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Hispanic Ancestry of the U.S. (Map) University of Minnesota
• Hispanic Fact Pack 2004 (Advertising Age)
• Hispanic Population Statistics (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Hispanic Trends 2005 (Pew Research Center)
• Map of Hispanic and Latino Population. Census 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau)
• We, the People: Hispanics in the U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau, Dec. 2004)
Exhibits - Digital Images
• Americanos: Latino Life in the United States (Smithsonian Institution)
• Latino Virtual Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
• Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement (Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives)
• Portugese in the United States (Library of Congress)
For High School Students
• Celebrate Hispanic Heritage (Scholastic Web)
• Famous Hispanics (Coloquio Web Services)
• Hispanic Heritage Month (InfoPlease.com)
• Latinos Spice Up Melting Pot (Learners Online)
• Meet Amazing Americans: Cesar Chavez (Library of Congress)
Teacher Resources
• Celebrate Hispanic American Month (National Register of Historic Places')
• Celebrate Hispanic Heritage: Teacher's Guide (Scholastic Web)
• Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (Education World)
• Celebrating Hispanic Heritage (Gale - Free Resources)
• Hispanic American History Lesson Plans. Teaching with Historic Places (National Park Service)
• The Roots of American Culture. Exploring the New Visibility of Latino Culture in the U.S. Lesson Plan. (New York Times Learning Network)
• Teaching Chicano Literature: An Historical Approach by Raymund Paredes. (Heath Anthology Newsletter)
Link Lists
• Chicana Studies (CLNet, University of California)
• Internet Resources (Pew Hispanic Center)
• Latin American Resources (Digital Librarian)
• Latino Internet Sites (CLNET, University of California)
• Recommended U.S. Latino Websites (Iowa State University Library)
• Smithsonian Center for Lationo Initiatives
• Yahoo! Full Coverage: Latino and Hispanic Americans
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