The Prevelance of Diabetes in the Hispanic Culture

The Aztecs, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief and conquered Mexico within two years. By 1521, the Aztec culture was officially eradicated and a new culture, consisting of a

The Aztecs were one of the last tribes to arrive in Mexico, in 1195 CE, when they arrived in the Valley of Mexico other tribes had taken the best land so the Aztecs were left with the swampy shores. They soon adapted and began to conquer their neighboring tribes. They continued to expand until they had their very own empire. The empire continued to thrive, until the Spanish arrived and had a fixed mind set on wanting the empires region of land.

The war was ended with the capture of Mexico City by the United States. Part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the Mexican Cession of the territory of Alta California.

Mexicans immigrated to the United States back in the 1800's (Stanford, 2006). During 1848 the United States took over a part of Mexico which is now the Southwest (Stanford, 2006). Mexicans living in these areas were Mexican citizens before the acquisition. The United States even went into agreements with Mexico to have Mexicans work in the United States. Mexicans were treated with cruelty, while working the agriculture fields for years. The United States made several agreements with Mexico to have the Mexicans come work in the United States while American soldiers were fighting in the world wars. The labor shortage that the United States went through was reason enough to have Mexicans migrate to the United States as laborers. The United

The first major wave of Hispanic migration to the United States was in 1848, which was a result from the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The newly acquired lands of the United States hosted a population of about 75,000-100,000 and the U.S. Government offered blanket naturalization to the former Mexican Citizens. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexican immigration to the U.S. “average[d] 3,000-5,000” persons per decade, with the exception of the California Gold Rush, where around 10,000 Mexican miners migrated to California, all totaling to about 100,000 Mexicans in the U.S. by the end of the 1900 (Gutierrez). However, “historical migration statistics for this period are inaccurate because of inconsistent enumeration techniques, changing methods of ethnic and racial classification in the U.S., and the constant movement of uncounted thousands of

Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the

Mexico was one of the main points of the conquistadors’ conquest. Mexico was home to two of the biggest Pre-Colombian civilizations, the Aztecs and the Mayans. The Mayans and Aztecs both faced the wrath of the conquistadors, as they were both conquered very easily due to the Spanish’s advanced weaponry. After conquering the natives, the Spanish would rule over that land for anout 300 years. This new ruling came with new foods, races, animals, and changes that effected the natives.

While Polk and Great Britain discussed claims to Oregon, the United States and Mexico were entering war. The Mexican-American War was a result of Manifest Destiny and the annexation of Texas in 1845. Texas had been in a border dispute with Mexico at the time of the annexation, leading to the of the U.S. Mexico claims to the border. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican War and added more than 1 million square miles to the United States. The entry of this land led many Americans to ponder on whether slavery would be accepted in new

even more, and was determined to have California and New Mexico. These territories belonged to the Mexicans, but when Polk tried to buy the areas, the Mexican officials wouldn’t even meet him. When the U.S. annexed Texas, tension escalated on both sides, since Texas and Mexico already couldn’t agree on a border. In April of 1846, Mexican soldiers fired on American troops, which led to Congress declaring war on Mexico.

Over 750,000 Mexicans immigrated between 1900-1930 (Romero, “The Great Migration”). Propelled by the panic caused by the Mexican Revolution, immigration skyrocketed during this era, not only increasing, but quadrupling the Spanish-speaking population in states such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. (Romero, “The Great Migration”). Mexican Americans experienced violent discrimination during the “gringo against greaser” war (Vargas 116). In spite of the hatred Mexicans were exposed to, America’s economic condition pushed for their immigration.

Santa Anna convinced James K. Polk that he would end the war if he is to be set free Mexico, an agreement in which Santa Anna violated and instead double-crossed Polk by authority of the Mexican arm and leading them into battle. Shortly after Polk became president he decided to annex Texas on December 29. 1845. Not stopping there Polk also determined to purchase both California and New Mexico in 1840s, an offer in which the Mexican leaders refused which caused the United States to declare war. The United States army under the lead of General Zachary Taylor and later General Winfield Scott managed to invade and capture most of Mexico and secure California, Santa Fe, and Texas. (Modern World History, ch. 10) Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, and even though Guerilla attacks continued the war was completely over. The consequences of the war included: Rio Grande to be established as the U.S. – Mexican border, formal annexation of Texas, New Mexico, and California as well as, $15 million compensation to Mexico. (Modern World History, ch. 10) In 1848 the United States finally achieved its goal of “manifest destiny,” spreading across to the Pacific Ocean across the

Since 1970, United States of America has seen a considerable amount of immigration because of economic chaos and civil wars in Latin American countries. The fight between the government of El Salvador and leftist guerrillas in 1980 brought about 500,000 immigrants to United States. They settled primarily in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. The civil war in Nicaragua in the year 1980 drove an estimated 800,000 Nicaraguan immigrants to the United States

The migration of Mexican was split into four parts. It started in the 1943, where many immigrants try to cross to the border by bribing the labor contactor. Even though

Mexico and Spain are two countries that started interacting with each other since the early 1500s. In 1518, Hernán Cortés (a Spanish conqueror) led an expedition to Mexico establishing the city of Veracruz on his arrival. In 1521, Cortes and some of his men marched into the capital city of the Aztec, Tenochtitlan. Even though the Aztecs and their emperor Moctezuma tried to persuade the Spanish to leave, Cortés and his man did not accept. Instead, he allied with some other indigenous people who were enemies of the Aztecs such as the Tlaxcalans in order to defeat them and take Tenochtitlan (1).

There is a long history of undocumented Mexican immigrants to the United States for various purposes. After the southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah where annexed to the US in 1848 and for the second half of the nineteenth century movement across the border was mostly unrestricted (Castro-Salazar 2010). During WWII the US encouraged migration of Mexican workers and formed the Bracero Program to fulfill the high demand