Spanish American Imperialism

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Pages: 6

Throughout American history there has been many groups that have been substantially underrepresented and this is still even a problem in politics today. These various groups have had different political obstacles to overcome and because of that this has effected the way their society has changed. Two ethnic groups that have been subjugated to this are Chinese and Hispanic immigrants. In the case of Hispanics many people were incorporated in the state through acts of imperialism. Other Hispanics came in hopes for better economic success. Chineese imigrants came for hope of better economic success in the us and faced tons of racism and violence towards them. While these groups history very deeply the political struggles they both encountered …show more content…
This is, in Us history, the biggest acquisition of land they ever had. The mestizo people, who were a combination of black, Mexican native Americans, and European orgins, were added to the population through this imperialistic war and populated a lot of the valuable areas in the territory. In the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo it guaranteed the native of these lands would be able to have “free enjoyment of their liberty and property.” This turned out to be more talk than action as much of the land did end up transferring to wealthy Anglos. There are plenty of reasons why this land was lost including high legal fees to regain the land, proof of ownership laws that were different, and an anti Chicano bias in government and in the legal system. When the war was over many Chicanos were asked to go to court to prove what land they had acquired under the Mexican government. This was difficult as it required a lawyer who would usually charge extravagant fees, especially if you were from Chicano decent. The burden of proof was also put on the Chicano people in court rather than the us to prove that it was not their land. Often Chicanos did not have the capital to afford these legal fees and were required to take out loans at very high interest rates. This caused a huge shift from Chicanos to wealthy Anglos taking control of the land. One area that vastly differed in land acquisition in the area was Texas. In Texas Anglos had already been living there and this was compounded with the fact that the main stage for the war was Texas. During the war many of the Spanish speaking population was driven out of counties in fear of their own safety during the war. If they did not want to leave immediately they were harassed by Anglos who eventually forced them out. They wanted to sell their lands and because of this necessity was generally forced to