History of Mexican Americans

This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (June 2023)

Left-right from top: first female Mexican American author in English María Ruiz de Burton, 1887 picture of the initial boundary marking the U.S.-Mexico border, Texas Rangers during the 1910-1920 La Matanza, 1877 lynching of two Mexican-American men in California, civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, the Mexican Repatriation, the Great American Boycott, first Mexican American to run for President Ben Fernandez

This article is part of a series on the
History of Chicanos and Mexican Americans
Early-American period Josefa Segovia Las Gorras Blancas Mexican–American War Mutualista San Elizario Salt War Sonoratown Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Juan Crow 1913 El Paso smelters' strike 1917 Bath riots Bisbee Deportation Bloody Christmas Bracero program Cantaloupe strike of 1928 California agricultural strikes Citrus Strike of 1936 La Matanza Mexican Repatriation Operation Wetback Plan de San Diego Porvenir Massacre Sleepy Lagoon trial Zoot Suit Riots
Chicano Movement Aztlán Black-brown unity Brown Berets Católicos por La Raza Chicanismo Chicano Moratorium Colegio César Chávez CFMN Conferencia de Mujeres CRP East L.A. walkouts Hijas de Cuauhtémoc Huelga schools Land grant struggle Las Adelitas de Aztlán Los Siete de la Raza Los Seis de Boulder MANA MAYO MEChA Occupation of Catalina Island PCUN Plan Espiritual de Aztlán Plan de Santa Bárbara Quinto Sol Raza Unida Party United Farm Workers
Post-Chicano Movement 1985–1987 cannery strike 1992 Drywall Strike 2019 El Paso shooting Abolish ICE Arizona SB 1070 Castro 2020 DACA Great American Boycott IRCA Farah strike Justice for Janitors Murder of Selena Proposition 187 Xicanx
Supreme Court cases Botiller v. Dominguez Hernandez v. Texas San Antonio I.S.D. v. Rodriguez Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co. U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce Plyler v. Doe Medellín v. Texas Flores-Figueroa v. U.S. Leal Garcia v. Texas Mendez v. Westminster Bernal v. Fainter DHS v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal.
by region Arizona (Tucson) California (Los Angeles) Michigan (Detroit) Texas Dallas–Fort Worth Houston
United States portal
v t e

This article is part of a series on the
History of the United States
Timeline and periods Prehistoric and Pre-Columbian Era until 1607 Colonial Era 1607–1765 1776–1789     American Revolution 1765–1783     Confederation Period 1783–1788 1789–1815     Federalist Era 1788–1801     Jeffersonian Era 1801–1817 1815–1849     Era of Good Feelings 1817–1825     Jacksonian Era 1825–1849 1849–1865     Civil War Era 1849–1865 1865–1917     Reconstruction Era 1865–1877     Gilded Age 1877–1896     Progressive Era 1896–1917 1917–1945     World War I 1917–1918     Roaring Twenties 1918–1929     Great Depression 1929–1941     World War II 1941–1945 1945–1964     Post-World War II Era 1945–1964     Civil Rights Era 1954–1968 1964–1980     Civil Rights Era 1954–1968     Vietnam War 1964–1975 1980–1991     Reagan Era 1981–1991 1991–2008     Post-Cold War Era 1991–2008 2008–present     Modern Era 2008–present
Topics American Century Antisemitism Civil unrest Cultural Cinema Music Newspapers Sports Demography Immigration Economy Banking Education Higher education Flag Government Abortion Capital punishment Civil rights Corruption The Constitution Debt ceiling Direct democracy Foreign policy Law enforcement Postal service Taxation Voting rights Journalism Merchant Marine Military Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Space Force Coast Guard Party Systems First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Religion Social class Slavery Sexual slavery Technology and industry Agriculture Labor Lumber Medicine Railway
Groups African American Asian American Chinese American Filipino American Indian American Japanese American Korean American Thai American Vietnamese American European American Albanian American English American Estonian American Finnish American German American Irish American Italian American Lithuanian American Polish American Serbian American Hispanic and Latino American Mexican American Jewish American Middle Eastern American Egyptian American Iranian American Iraqi American Lebanese American Palestinian American Saudi American Native Americans Cherokee Comanche Women LGBT Gay men Lesbians Transgender people
Places Territorial evolution Admission to the Union Historic regions American frontier Manifest destiny Indian removal Regions New England The South The West Coast States AL AL AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Territories DC AS GU MP PR VI Cities Urban history Cities
Outline List of years Historiography Category Portal
v t e

Mexican American history, or the history of American residents of Mexican descent, largely begins after the annexation of Northern Mexico in 1848, when the nearly 80,000 Mexican citizens of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico became U.S. citizens.^[1][2] Large-scale migration increased the U.S.' Mexican population during the 1910s, as refugees fled the economic devastation and violence of Mexico's high-casualty revolution and civil war.^[3][4] Until the mid-20th century, most Mexican Americans lived within a few hundred miles of the border, although some resettled along rail lines from the Southwest into the Midwest.^[5]

With the border being established many Mexicans began to find more creative ways to get across. In the article Artificial Intelligence and Predicting Illegal Immigration to the USA the statistic that "more than half of undocumented immigrants in the USA enter the USA legally and overstay their visas" (Yektansani). This happened all throughout the timeline.

In the second half of the 20th century, Mexican Americans diffused throughout the U.S., especially into the Midwest and Southeast,^[6][7] though the groups' largest population centers remain in California and Texas.^[8] During this period, Mexican-Americans campaigned for voting rights, educational and employment equity, ethnic equality, and economic and social advancement.^[9]