HIST 2122 - Chicano Experience in the U.S.

(3 CR, 3T + 0L)

In 1848, the United States violently wrested over half of the landmass of Mexico, displacing and forcing indigenous and traditional peoples of the Southwest to re-establish citizenry in their own homelands. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848) assured Mexicans the full rights to citizenship in the United States, but the imposition of a new governmental system often left the new “ethnic minority group” to deal with economic and psychological hardships. Despite these hardships, Chicanas/os have not only survived, but in many cases thrived, in the country that often treated them as “second class citizens.” In this class we will examine the historical, cultural, political, and economic conditions of Chicanas/os in the U.S. through the major court cases that have shaped Mexican American identity.