Mexican American literature

Abstract

The first half of the twentieth century represents a dynamic and diverse period for Mexican Americans in California. Changes in population and culture were largely determined by a remarkable sequence of major historical events whose significance cannot be understated. At the turn of the century, the original Mexican-origin population of the state was increased by an influx of workers recruited to construct the railways and to work in the mines. Because of the restrictions on Chinese labor brought about by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Mexican laborers were seen as the most reasonable replacement. Then in 1898, a mere fifty years after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which settled the Mexican American War, the United States of America declared war on Spain, a country for which many Mexican Americans in California – and elsewhere in the United States – still felt a strong attachment. Twelve years later, in 1910, the Mexican Revolution began in Mexico, launching a decade of continuous fighting, and sending a large mass of Mexicans of all social classes to the United States. With the situation in Mexico still unresolved, the United States became a formal participant in World War I in 1917, resulting in increased military and labor needs that impacted Mexican Americans in California. The Great Depression led to massive deportations in the early 1930s, disrupting Mexican American communities and sending families and individuals (many of them American citizens) south to Mexico. In 1942, when the United States joined World War II, the war effort required large numbers of laborers, and Mexicans were recruited once again, both informally and through official government initiatives such as the Bracero Program (1942–65). The arrivals tried to acclimate themselves to their new environment. But scores of urban Mexican American youngsters were targeted by angry mobs of U.S. sailors and marines in Los Angeles and other cities during the so-called Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, reflecting deep social and ethnic tensions, some of whose consequences are visible still today. © Blake Allmendinger 2015.