Transcript Ch. 17: Mexicano Contributions to the Southwest

Ch 17 Mexicano Contributions
to the Southwest
17.1 Introduction
• Texas Independence from Mexico in 1836
• Texas was annexed by U.S in 1845.
• Mexican war won in 1848 and U.S. gained
California, Nevada,
Utah, New Mexico,
and Arizona.
• Spanish-speaking people
had made their homes in
this region since the 1500s.
17.1 Introduction
• There were 80,000 to 100,000
Mexicanos, or Mexican citizens, living in
the territories given up by Mexico in the
Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848, which
insured them full citizenship, rights to
their property and right to speak Spanish.
• Unfortunately, Americans pushed them
off their land, made it illegal for children
to speak Spanish at school and kept
Mexicans from voting.
This picture of a Mexicano helping an American
settler pack a mule illustrates how Americans moving
out west benefited from the Mexicanos’ knowledge
and experience.
Nine Mexicano Contributions
Discussed in Ch. 17
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17.2: Mexicano Mining Contributions (pg. 230)
17.3: Cattle Ranching (pg. 231)
17.4: The Cowboy (pg. 232)
17.5: Sheep Raising (pg. 233)
17.6: Irrigated Farming (pg. 234)
17.7: Mexican Food (pg. 235)
17.8: Spanish-style Architecture (pg. 236)
17.9: Mexican Laws (pg. 237)
17.10: Mexicano Entertainments (pg. 238)
17.2: Mexicano Mining Contribution
• Americans didn’t know how to mine.
• Mexicanos were experienced at mining gold,
silver, and copper.
• Mexicanos taught Americans how to use
– Batea: gold pan
– Riffle box: Tom
– Arrastra: grinding mill
VIDEO: Gold panning
Batea
(gold pan)
17.2: Mexicano Mining Contribution
Arrastra (grinding mill)
Riffle box
(the
heavy
gold was
trapped
behind
the riffles)
17.2: Mexicano Mining Contribution
A Closer Look at the Riffle Box: Dirt is placed at the top and water is
poured over it, washing away everything but the gold. The gold, being
heavy, gets stuck behind the riffles (the little rectangle pieces of wood).
Arrastra (grinding mill)
17.2: Mexicano Mining Contribution
• Silver was mined mostly in Nevada, while
copper was mined mostly in Arizona.
17.3: Cattle Ranching
• Branding is the burning
of a rancher’s mark
(symbol) onto his cattle
to identify it as
belonging to him.
• Branding was
done by his hired
cowboys.
17.3: Cattle Ranching
• Cowboys would tie down cattle
and place the end of the hot iron
in a fire until it turned a bright
orange. Then they burned the
brand into the hide of the cattle.
• Branding was necessary
because herds belonging to
different owners often mixed
together on unfenced
grasslands.
• Video: Branding
17.3: Cattle Ranching
• Before branding the
cattle, they first had to
be rounded up. This
process was called a
rodeo.
• Our rodeos are based
on Mexicano rodeos
• Video: Mexican rodeo
17.4: The Cowboy
• A vaquero is a Mexicano cowboy.
• Sombreros, chaps, ponchos, cowboy boots,
western saddle & lariat are Mexican inventions.
• Video: Bull Riding
17.5: Sheep Raising
• Sheep raising was a
big, well-organized
business for the
Mexicanos.
• Americans moving to
the Southwest quickly
adopted this large scale
system of
producing
wool.
17.5: Sheep Raising
• Churros were
raised in the
Southwest
because they could
survive in the dry
environment
17.6: Irrigated Farming
• Irrigation is the process of supplying dry land
with water, often through ditches.
• Irrigation was necessary for farming in the
dry West, where farmers wouldn’t see rain
for months at a time.
17.6: Irrigated Farming
• Irrigation allowed for many foods to be farmed
that hadn’t been farmed in the U.S.
• This included grapes, dates, olives, apples,
walnuts, pears, plums, peaches, apricots,
quinces, lemons, limes, and oranges.
17.7: Mexican Food
• The mostly widely
recognized Mexicano
contribution is
Mexican food.
• But what many
Americans view as
Mexican food is really
“Tex-Mex.”
• “Tex-Mex” is the
blending of Mexican
and American dishes
that started in Texas.
17.7: Mexican Food
• The food you get at Taco Bell is a good
example of “Tex-Mex” cooking.
17.8: Spanish-style Architecture
Spanish-style architecture consists of courtyards,
rounded arches, thick adobe walls, verandahs,
and red tile roofs.
17.8: Spanish-style Architecture
• Since there weren’t a lot of trees in the
Southwest, Mexicanos used adobe bricks to
build.
• Adobe is a mixture of earth, grass, and water
shaped into bricks and
baked in the sun.
• Tile roofs were fireproof
& adobe kept homes
cool in summer and warm
in winter.
17.9: Mexican Laws
• Mining Law- Before the discovery of gold in
California, there was so little mining in the
U.S. that there was no mining law. But with
the Gold Rush in California, it quickly
became clear that the forty-niners needed
rules in order to keep order.
• As a result, Americans developed
a “law of the mines” based on
Mexican mining law, which helped
keep order.
17.9:
Mexican Laws
• Community Property Law- In the eastern
states, married women had few property
rights and any property acquired by a married
couple—such as a home, farm, or business—
belonged solely to the husband.
• In contrast, Mexican law said that all property
acquired during a marriage was “community
property.” If a couple separated, half of the
property belonged to the wife and half to the
husband.
17.9: Mexican Laws
• Water Law- Under Mexicano water law,
known as “pueblo law,” water is seen as
too valuable to be owned or controlled by
any one person. If a river or stream flowed
through your land you still had to share the
water with your community.
17.10: Mexicano Entertainments
• Mexicanos worked hard, but
they also knew how to
entertain themselves with
music, dance, and fiestas
(celebrations, parties).
17.10: Mexicano Entertainments
• Mexicano music greatly
influenced country and
western music in the
Southwest.
• The most important
contribution was the
corrido, or folk ballad.
• A corrido is a dramatic story
sung as a guitar is played.
• Video: Folklorico
Guess Who?????
Ms. Contreras!!
17.10: Mexicano Entertainments
• The most widely celebrated
Mexicano holiday is El Cinco
de Mayo (the Fifth of May).
• It is similar to the Fourth of
July for Americans.
• It commemorates an important victory in
Mexico’s fight for independence from French
rule in 1862.
• Today, Cinco de Mayo fiestas bring together
Mexican and non-Mexican Americans to
Mexicano music, dance, and food.