Spanish is a huge part of the Texan culture, and this is evident when I look around and see the translations for Spanish speakers. Translations like advertencia (warning) and baño (bathroom), or sights like the battle of San Jacinto and the Alamo are impacts from the Spanish. When I found out I had to take a foreign language class in high school, I figured Spanish would be the best. I have never even vacationed outside the state of Texas, which leaves me with a lot of Texas culture. However, I still was missing Spanish in both ways knowing the language and its influence on Texas.
I now have that part of Texan culture in my life. It’s been helpful in history, communicating with other people who don’t speak very fluent English, and understanding what a Texan is. In school there are even other students who ask “What does this sentence mean” or “What are the months and days in Spanish”. When I teach them, it reminds me of the struggle I went through to be able to understand the Spanish language.
My Spanish teacher was a good teacher at heart, but not in teaching. When she would teach a lesson it didn’t connect with me at all. I would ask questions and after a little more detailed explanation, it made more sense, but I still felt like it wasn’t coming together. The one thing she continued to explain to me yet I could never seem to get down were the differences in ellos, vosotros, and nosotros. Sometimes she would answer of one my questions, then complicate the subject again, and
Detra, I can relate with you as I am also not a Texan native or know much about Texas government and its history. When I hear about Texas first thoughts that comes to mind is either their love for their football team, bbq, or women’s big hair do’s. That’s what I related to “everything is bigger in Texas” with, however as I have read it also relates to their pride, their state size and their growing population. I also never understood why Texans are extremely proud people then again as I have been reading and as you have mentioned they have had an interesting history and have shown that they will fight for what they believe in no matter the cost.
I believe that Hispanic influence is evident through much of the architecture and food found in Texas. Through architecture, Hispanic influence is noticed through construction materials, colors, and design styles. Examples of Hispanic influence on architecture are clear in many of the buildings in San Antonio, Texas, including the Alamo. In addition to architecture, I think there is an obvious Hispanic influence on the food found in Texas. Texas is well-known for our "Tex-Mex", and Hispanic-influenced cuisine can be found in nearly any city. Food has a way of bringing people together and bringing insight into other cultures. I believe that the Hispanic influence in Texas through ranching, and even architecture and food, allows for an intermingling, appreciation, and growth of both
Why do the ventures of man fail? The ventures of men fail primarily due to a lack of planning. In the case of Spanish colonies in Texas this holds true. The Spanish first set eyes on the Texas coast in 1519 and in 1821 they lowered their flag for the final time in Texas. The Spanish had about 300 years to try and colonize Texas and the attempt to colonize and settle Texas was not very successful. The initial boats that came to Texas were shipwrecked and only four people survived of the approximately 270 men that made the trip. One of these four survivors was Cabeza De Vaca. These were the first Spaniards to live on Texas soil. Cabeza had a goal to settle Texas and befriend
When I went to Guatemala the culture there was very colorful. I realized the people there don’t speak english. Their first language was spanish. Which was fine to me, since I know how to speak spanish. My
To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there
The History of Texas Texas history itself had its own amazing story. The small number of American settlers moved to the land of Texas had led to the dramatic war with the Mexicans. The land of Texas was used to be owned by Mexicans. Due to the argument between Texans and Mexicans caused the battle of San Jacinto and Mexican War. In long ago before American settlers moved to Texas, this place was so rich and an abundance of land.
Texas political culture is one that can be described as a combination of three main ideas: individualistic, traditionalism and moralism. Considering Texas and its overwhelming 254 counties we can see these main ideas undoubtedly. The 254 counties each have their own general set of ideas, attitudes and beliefs. The whole state of Texas is simply not just considered individualistic, traditionalism, or moralism, it is considered all three. Individualistic, traditionalism and moralism are all strong values that coexist in our society and they all affect how we as the people live our lives. A political culture shapes a region’s politics.
This constitution of United Mexican States provided for a very weak national government and the powers of the government and its states are not defined which caused increasing tension between each state.
The Anglo-American settlers in Texas saw themselves as Americans. They felt they were superior to the Mexicans, and because of this they tried to undermine the Mexican government.
In 1835, a small number of settlers in the territory of Texas, rebelled against the newly established government of Mexico. While they claimed that the government in Mexico had unlawfully usurped authority, establishing a tyrannical dictatorship, there were serious economic and social issues that sparked the conflict. But what is most interesting about the Texas Revolution is the relatively small numbers of soldiers involved. The Texians, as the settlers called themselves, numbered in the hundreds, while the Mexican forces never numbered more than a few thousand. Despite their numerical inferiority, the tactics of the Texian commander, Sam Houston, proved to be successful and Texas won provisional independence.
The Hispanic population has seen the greatest increase and makes up approximately 36 percent of the state’s population.
From March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846, Texas as its own independent country in North America. Those who resided in this independent country were referred to as Texians. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 during the Texas revolution which ended on April 21 of that same exact year. However, Mexico did not want to give the Republic of Texas its independence which resulted in conflicts between that of Texas and Mexico that went on into the 1840s. As a result, The United States of America recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country in 1837 but failed to append their land. Later receiving its independence, Texas elected a Congress of fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives in the month of September and year of 1836. However, within the Republic, citizenship was not a privileged for everybody living in Texas. Not everybody had legal rights to reside within the limits of the Republic without Congress permission. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas created differences for each and every ethnicity for each individual person. Meaning, whoever was there on the day the Republic of Texas won their independence had to be classified as a citizen of the Republic including Africans, those with African descent, and Native Americans. For Caucasian immigrants to become citizens they would have to had lived in the Republic for six months or less and take an oath. Those who were brought to Texas as a slave had to stay a
The Mexican War of 1846-1848 was one of major importance to U.S. history, but has since fallen into annals of obscurity. It was the nation’s first war fought on foreign soil: a war that advocated the concept of “manifest destiny”, the United States God-given right to claim territory for the establishment of a free democratic society (Stevenson 2009). Even though many historians claim the war was forced on Mexico by slaveholders greedy for new territory, President John Polk viewed the war as an opportunity to defend the annexation of Texas, establish the Rio Grande as its border, and to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico (Stevenson 2009).
Texas Revolution, a rebellion in late 1835 and early 1836 by residents of Texas, then a part of northern Mexico, against the Mexican government and military. The rebellion led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas. The short-lived republic was annexed by the United States as a state in 1845. These events were among the causes of the Mexican War between the United States and Mexico, after which Mexico relinquished all claims to Texas and much of the present-day southwestern United States.
Last year I went to an Elementary school to help out a teacher. I could see a piñata hanging in the room. Even the posters in the room had to do with the Hispanic culture. Of course, if you ask any child in school what their favorite day is in the cafeteria most will reply that Mexican food day is their favorite. Many times even in the dress in school you see a Hispanic connection