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The American Of American History

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Historical Foundation
In the United States, before there was New England, there was New Spain; and before there was Boston, Mass., there was Santa Fe, N.M. The teaching of American history generally highlights the establishment and development of the British colonies in North America, their appearance as an independent nation in 1776, and the change of the United States from east to west. This action easily overlooks the fact that there was important colonization by Spain of what is now the American Southwest from the 16th century on. It also tends to disregard, until the Mexican War is talk about, that the whole Southwest, from Texas westward to California, was a Spanish-speaking territory with its own individual heritage, culture, and customs for several decades. The Spanish-speaking citizens of the United States who were combined into the country as a result of the Mexican War are called Mexican Americans. Their numbers have since enlarged as a result of immigration. Other Spanish-speaking citizens came from Cuba and Puerto Rico, and smaller numbers are immigrants from Central and South America and from the Dominican Republic. All together, these are the people who are called Hispanics, or Latinos.
Today 's Mexican Americans are a produce of historical change that arose more than four centuries ago, when Spain ruled Mexico and made it a colony. Formerly the territory was populated completely by Indians. The Mexican Americans are, therefore, the second oldest element of

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