Juan R. Garcia – författare

Early in this century, a few Mexican migrants began streaming northward into the Midwest, but by 1914--in response to the war in Europe and a booming U.S. economy--the stream had become a flood. Barely a generation later, this so-called Immigrant Generation of Mexicans was displaced and returned to the U.S. Southwest or to Mexico. Drawing on both published works and archival materials, this new study considers the many factors that affected the process of immigration as well as the development of communities in the region. These include the internal forces of religion, ethnic identity, and a sense of nationalism, as well as external influences such as economic factors, discrimination, and the vagaries of U.S.-Mexico relations. Here is a book that persuasively challenges many prevailing assumptions about Mexican people and the communities they established in the Midwest. The author notes the commonalities and differences between Mexicans in that region and their compadres who settled elsewhere. He further demonstrates that although Mexicans in the Midwest maintained a strong sense of cultural identity, they were quick to adopt the consumer culture and other elements of U.S. life that met their needs.Focusing on a people, place, and time rarely covered before now, this wide-ranging work will be welcomed by scholars and students of history, sociology, and Chicano studies. General readers interested in ethnic issues and the multicultural fabric of American society will find here a window to the past as well as new perspectives for understanding the present and the future.

Encounters: Change, Progress, and Traditions in American History, Volume 1 offers students an insightful selection of readings on the history of the United States spanning from pre-Columbian times through the Reconstruction Era. The carefully selected articles in this volume reflect new scholarship and fresh perspectives regarding key concepts and events in American history.The book begins with a chapter that dismantles prevalent assumptions, misconceptions, and generalizations regarding Native American peoples and how they lived prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the continent. Additional chapters proceed chronologically, offering students readings regarding European exploration in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries, the Columbian Exchange, the development of American colonies, and the impetus of the American Revolution. Students read about the challenges of establishing an independent nation, the growth of markets and industrialization, slavery, manifest destiny, and sectionalism. Closing chapters address the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era. Each chapter includes an introduction to provide context for the readings and discussion questions to promote critical thinking.Providing students with diverse viewpoints regarding critical historical events, Encounters is well suited for introductory courses in American history.