Mexican Americans In The 1930's

Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos were all brought in to work, but their low standard of living and attempts to organize caused race riots by the white labor force and subsequent removal of foreign workers from the agricultural industry. The need for cheap labor therefore remained. To fill this void, many Mexican workers were brought in;so many that the white worker could not even live in southern California anymore because the wages were so low. Eventually the Mexican worker population grew so massive that they too began to organize, causing the growers to take action against them with "vigilante terrorism and savagery unbelievable in a civilized state" (pg 54). Eventually Mexican labor was withdrawn as well.

Hispanics have been immigrating to America since the beginning of the Spanish Colonial era. Up until the 1920’s Mexican Americans have boomed in rural places in america. The 1920’s was meeting the beginning of a renaissance, a better promised life for both native americans as well as immigrants. Businesses were booming, wages were higher, and the industry was creating a bright future for America. However, Mexican Americans continued to face hardships as well as few successes leading up to the 1920’s. Whether these were Native born Americans with a Hispanic background or newly immigrated Mexicans, Mexican Americans faced the hardship of poverty, discrimination, segregation, and struggles during the 1920’s.

While many remember the Great Depression as a time of terrible trials for Americans, few understand the hardships faced by Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. This paper examines the experiences of Mexicans in America during the Great Depression and explores the devastating impact of repatriation efforts. America has an extensive history of accepting Mexican workers when they are needed for cheap labor, and demanding that they be deported when the economic situation is more precarious in an attempt to open jobs for Americans. In the 1930s, “Americans, reeling from the economic disorientation of the depression, sought a convenient scapegoat. They found it in the Mexican community.” Mexicans were blamed for economic hardships

Many people from all over the world saw America as a place to create a better life for them and their family. America was a place full of many job opportunities, ones that were not available anywhere else in the world. It was in America that people from different nations saw the chance to escape the place they originally lived because of unfair government or as a chance to have money to send back to their family in their homeland. The period after the civil war was an era of tremendous migration from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China, because of all the opportunities that were available here that were not available anywhere else. Migration was also prominent within America when African Americans

Considering it is the 1930s. I think the white accusers behaved the way that they did because they might have been raised of influenced to think colored people are bad because,they are colored and they think bad of these colored men with no legitimate reason.And the mob and other white people are yelling at the colored men because they are black and apeerently “raped’ the girls.So since they are white peole from the 1930’s they imidiatly want to kill the colored men because they are colored did certain things to the white people who are going to trial.So the thoughts or ideas did they have about clored people at that time, is that white people hated them because they are influened or eighter raise to think colored people are unsivilized and

Labor laws in the 20th century played a major role in the lives Mexicans and caused massive deportations as well as economic concerns with congress and Anglo-Americans in the United States. Labor laws were crucial part of the immigration waves through the 20th century and made an impact to voting patterns in the U.S. Natalia Molina discuss how, “Employers

The 1840s and 50s experienced a massive escalation in the number of immigrants from Europe especially from Ireland, and Germany, arriving on U.S shores in densely populated urban areas (Arenson, 2011). Most of them afterward became vigorous in domestic politics, much to the aggravation of old-stock, authentic Americans. The consequence was a renaissance in the formation of “nativistic” societies (small, indistinct, anti-foreign and anti-catholic organizations), some which banded together in the early 1850s to form the American Party (Arenson, 2011). Commonly referred to as the “Know-Nothing,” the party rode a wave of racial intolerance as well as racism into the mid-1850s.

“Race, Expansion, and the Mexican War” and “Anglo-Saxons and Mexicans” by Horsman illustrates a causal effect regarding the treatment of Mexicans during the period of the early United States. The events from “Anglo-Saxons and Mexicans” show the ideologies regarding Mexicans that were present at the time. The actions that resulted from the ideologies are found in “Race, Expansion, and the Mexican War”.

During the Great Depression that struck in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the economy of the United States collapses with farmers and producers likewise losing money due to overproduction and underconsumption of goods due to an extravagant increase of price on goods. As a result, the Great Depression caused immigration and migration rates to increase. This is a negative impact on the economy because gaining employment becomes competitive and consequently, people earn a lower wage. Though immigration and migration creates conflict between native inhabitants of the land and the immigrants with employment competition, migration and immigration is vital to rebuild the economy of the United States through increased taxes and a wide array of new labor sources. Also, it enhances the vibrant, diverse, and syncretic cultures in the United States as well. Lastly, immigration and migration both promotes unity within family and their own social-ethnic groups.

Scores of Latino men went off to war by the hundreds of thousands fighting in every major battle in both the European and Pacific theatres. More Mexican Americans serving in combat divisions than any other ethnic group and a high percentage volunteered for the more hazardous duties such as the paratroopers and Marines (Meier & Ribera). Mexican Americans that served gained a recognition that was not possible in civilian life, and through the military, promotion was based off of individual merit. This developed a newfound self-esteem and confidence that would not be wrestled away. They would come home with pride and a feeling of being more 'American ' than ever before. These sentiments leveled out the playing field in the minds of many

Agriculture in California was the reason many migrants viewed the state as one with many economical opportunities. There were fewer jobs available than those advertised. Even the jobs that were available provided terrible pay. One had to think of the idea that low pay was greater than no pay. Corporate farms provided poor living conditions, but it had to be ignored by those who were seeking jobs (“The Dust Bowl”). White folks from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas increased in quantity. They were in search of harvesting jobs (“Mass Exodus from the Plains”). The WPA, Workers Progress Administration, was one to provide migrants with many jobs. This was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. A total of 8.5 million people were employed, and they earned

The phenomenal growth farming, minding, railroad construction, and commercial fishing all have a story of transnational families and shattered dreams. With the coming of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, many mexicans fled north to the United States in order to escape the bloodshed in search of new lives. Sadly their dream for a better life did not come true. Migrant workers work for low wages in extreme conditions such as extreme heat, discomfort, and danger, as well as struggling to have a stable life for their families. The disastrous great depression left many people unemployed. As a result, a large number of caucasian people took over many migrant workers’ jobs in California. This left many Mexicans and Filipinos desperate and willing to do anything for money. Farm workers were often unpaid and were denied the right to unionize, a right that all other American workers enjoyed. Migrant workers are from different ethnicities such as Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Europeans, but most of the population is made up of Mexican migrant workers. Migrant workers lived a very harsh work environment as well as a harsh society interactions. Mexican farm workers were offered a legally binding work contract, but the majority suffered gross abuses of their labor rights and racial discrimination. Migrant workers have always played a vital role in the US economy, so they should not be treated as illegal or undeserving individuals. People have always harassed migrant workers and soon it

border patrol to break unionizing campaigns. Galarza new how to deal with the scourge of eager and hungry bracero and mojado workers. Thanks to Ernesto Galarza, César Chavez and Dolores Huerta took up the torch borne by Ernesto Galarza and transformed their passion for social justice on behalf of American farmworkers into a political movement. The activities of many Mexican American women like, hope Schecter Mendoza, Maria Duran, and Virginia Muzquiz demanded great respect and illustrate the key role played by women in the Mexican American freedom movement. The environment felt after the war shaped the political of social change for Mexican Americans. All the racism at home and overseas and the sacrifices they mad during the war set the stage for a new era in Mexican American civil rights. The National Association of Mexican Americans fought for Mexican American equality through the courts but where always pushed back by the domestic Red Scare. By 1954 million of Mexican had cross the border illegally and faced many competitions. They only had three options they had to work for the same low wages as the Mexican aliens, join the welfare roles, or to seek work elsewhere. People blamed the illegal Mexicans for the rise in crime disease and other social ills. Mexican American organizational leaders united to oppose the bracero program and when national concerns about undocumented works rose, they supported immigration controls. The Red Scare try to disrupt the organizing of Mexican American. Functioning under Operation Wetback and Operation Terror, U.S. Immigration, Border, and Customs agencies conducted search and seizure campaigns and committed innumerable human and civil rights violations. The Mexican American civil right movement that emerged had very different leadership with

Being the the Mexican Military in the 1830’s was certainly not the best job in the world, especially if you were forcefully put into the ranks. There were a lot of things happening in Mexico. There’s a lot of rebellions, poor treatment as well as a war with Texas. Therefore with all of this, you can definitely tell that it wasn’t a great job.

The Mexican revolutionary war brought a flow of Mexicans into America due to America’s thriving economy and Mexico’s crippling. Crops in Mexico weren’t producing enough and employment was dwindling. Faced with the struggle of survival many Mexicans looked for hope in the north. In America, life seemed to be going well. Although World War I was going on at the time and most people were overseas, this allowed for Mexicans to find many job opportunities. Especially in the making of the railways. Many Mexican agencies pushed its citizens to make the trek to America. But for this to happen Mexicans had to sign a contract, this contract also happened to grant the workers with certain rights from the Mexican constitution and it also allowed them to bring their families. This time period saw thousands of Mexicans come into America, “Between 1910 and 1930, the number of Mexican immigrants counted by the U.S. census tripled from 200,000 to 600,000.” (?) In a way the border of El Paso served as an Ellis island, but most of the time with Mexico being so close workers returned home. However in the 1930s the Great Depression hit America. Now even more than ever were Mexicans were struggling to survive but they were also faced with a greater issue, deportation. People were rounded by the thousands and shipped off to Mexico. Many of which were U.S born citizens. Over 400,000 Mexican and Mexican Americans were sent back to Mexico in hopes of this helping the great depression in other words