Chapter 1 Essay

Asaph Rangel Per.7 9/27/11

The reasons for chapter 1 being important to learn about Mexican American history are tremendous, but it will be explained by 3 reasons. The history of Mexican Americans consists of a long timeline full of important events that also affected the united states. The reasons for this chapter being important for learning about Mexican American history is because it explains why immigrants moved to the U.S. during the early 19s, how Mexicos economy was during that time, and what was going on. There were many things that lead to migration of people from Mexico to America, including the economy, but it was Porfirio Diazs ideas that mainly made them leave Mexico. By 1930, 10 percent of Mexicos entire population migrated to North America, mainly southwestern states. Another thing that the Mexicans left their homes for was to get more money to support their families. For example: Carlos Almazan left his home because of the revolution going on and because he started becoming more poor by the second. And what did he do about this? He took a train to America for jobs that pay a fair amount, despite him leaving his homeland. Many people in Mexico did this and for the same reasons as Carlos, that is why 10 percent of Mexico left. This information is important to know because most people dont even know why many Mexicans came to America. A crucial event that lead to this was Mexicos economy. In the early 20th century, Mexicos economy was at a horrible state because of one person who decided to make more railroads leading to the border separating the United States and Mexico, thus spending 644 million dollars, 61.7 percent of the Capitals total support. That one person also thought it was a good idea to Americanize Mexico by the railroad constructions

and new ideas. That person was Porfirio Diaz, the dictator of Mexico from 1876 to 1910. People did not like this idea of his, so they either left or became more poor than they already were and lose land by debts. For example: losing a large amount of Mexicos money would mean that things would get more expensive and making the poor have no choice but to lose their land due to bankruptcy. Some were able to actually keep their land, but most werent, so people left Mexico and migrated to the U.S. and the ones who didnt have any land and didnt go to America were forced to live in the life of a homeless. This is important to know because this may be one of the reasons why Mexico is a poor country now and to take out of peoples minds the idea of Mexico always has been and always will be poor. The events that were going on during the time of Mexicos money being low were very hard to live in. The revolution in Mexico caused many males to go and fight for what they thought was right. Meanwhile, the women that stayed in their homes were vulnerable for anything to happen to them. For example: a girl by the name of Guadalupe in the text book was taken from her home at the age of thirteen and was raped. When her father found out, he whipped her and then forced her to marry the guy who raped her. Another thing that was going on during the revolution was changes in culture. For example: usually parents would arrange marriages for their children, but people who left to America made decisions of their own. Another example is that rarely women migrated on their own instead with a husband or their family. This is important to learn because it shows the hardship of what people in Mexico went through during that time. In conclusion, learning about this chapter of Mexican American history is important because it explains why immigrants moved to the U.S. during the early 19s, how Mexicos economy was during that time, and what was going on. All of these events affected Mexicos

timeline and molded it for what it is today. This is why chapter 1 is important to know, so it can enable you to have more knowledge about Mexican American history.