Catalog Description

Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Comprehensive survey of the history of Mexican Americans, from the Pre-contact era to the present. Emphasis on experiences and contributions of Chicanas/os in the United States regarding culture, economy, government, law, education and politics. Includes a study of the United States Constitution. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Analyze the origins of the American Constitution and its impact on Chicano/Mexican American cultural and political developments with an emphasis on race, class, gender and ethnicity.
  • CSLO #2: Compose coherent, persuasive historical arguments regarding Chicano/Mexican American history using correct academic citation methods.
  • CSLO #3: Differentiate primary and secondary sources and how each are used to make historical claims.
  • CSLO #4: Evaluate the role of geography in the economic and political changes in U.S. history.
  • CSLO #5: Investigate major political, economic and social change in the United States with emphasis on the intersections of race, class, and gender relative to the Chicano/Mexican American community.

Effective Term

Fall 2019

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

1. Interpret primary and secondary sources related to Mexican American history and compose an argument which uses them, as appropriate, for support.
2. Identify and describe the political, economic, and social achievements of Indigenous cultures, prior to European contact, as they pertain to the evolution of Mexican, American, and Mexican-American traditions.
3. Identify and analyze the impact of Spanish colonization on Native American politics, economy, and society in North America.
4. Compare and contrast the major political, economic, and social characteristics of Colonial New Spain with those of the thirteen British colonies in North America, and explain how the different ethnic groups of both regions contributed to the formation of Mexican-American culture in the United States.
5. Compare and contrast the causes, factors, and results of the American Revolution and War of Independence, with the Mexican War for Independence.
6. Identify and analyze the major political principles and philosophies of the Constitution of the United States and explain their application to the relationships between federal, state, and local governments, as well as explain the constitutional rights of American citizens.
7. Identify and examine the factors and causes leading to the Texas Revolt and the U.S.-Mexico War, as well as the impact of the Mexican cession on the United States and Mexico respectively.
8. Analyze and explain the political, economic, and social significance of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo for the Mexican-American people, and its relationship to the United States Constitution.
9. Examine and analyze the consequences of the US conquest of Texas, New Mexico, and California in relation to cultural self-determination, resistance, and cultural maintenance of the Mexican-American community.
10. Examine and analyze marriage, sexuality, gender, and power in the American borderlands.
11. Identify and describe the impact of the Civil War on the Mexican-American community, as well analyze the effects of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution on Mexican-American political participation.
12. Compare and contrast the immigration experience of Mexicans and Mexican Americans to that of European and Asian immigrants in the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth century.
13. Analyze the political, economic, and social roots of contemporary Mexican-American history between 1900 to 1940.
14. Identify and describe the political, economic, and social impact of World War II on the Mexican-American community.
15. Identify and analyze the major political, economic, and social causes, events and results of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement from 1960 to 1975.
16. Compare and contrast the political, economic, and social participation of Mexican-American women in the nineteenth and twentieth century. As well as the impact of the passage of the 19th Amendment on Latinas in the United States.
17. Identify and analyze the political, economic, legal, cultural, and social contributions of Mexican-Americans to the United States in the 20th and 21st centuries.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
    • AA/AS - Multicultural Studies
    • AA/AS - Social Sciences
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSU - US1 Hist/Const/Amer Idea
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
    • CSUGE - D3 Ethnic Studies
    • CSUGE - D6 History
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 3B Humanities
      • IGETC - 4C Ethnic Studies
      • IGETC - 4F History

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: 1. Students must choose two (2) topics for a well-developed 1000-word essay. Essay topic will be selected from a Pre – 1846 list and a Post – 1846 list. A well- developed paper will address the following: a. Compare and contrast the significance of your topic as it relates to Mexican American/Latino and United States history. b. Analyze the personal, social and political lessons learned, and formulate opinions about the value of what you have learned. Explain why these lessons are important. c. Analyze how race, gender, and class influenced the events and/or outcomes of your topic. Develop opinions about each and apply them toward formulating your own interpretations. d. How might the understanding of your topic help you make decisions to shape your future? (SLO 2, SLO 3, SLO 5)
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: 1. Short-answer examinations will consist of the identification of key individuals who contributed to the history of Chicanos in the United States. Sample question: Identify Cesar Chavez and explain his historical significance.
    • Reports
      • Example: 1. Students will write a report or Short paper to evaluate and analyze individual perceptions about Chicanos and Latinos in the United States.

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Following an instructor lecture on the Chicano Civil Rights Movement from 1960 to 1975, students will discuss the movement in groups.
    2. Following an instructor lecture on the social significance of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo for Mexican-American people, students will discuss the impact of the treaty in groups.
    3. Instructor will facilitate in-classroom discussions on the differences and similarities between the historical experience of gaining U.S. citizenship by conquest and U.S. citizenship by choice as they relate to specific time-periods of the United States and Mexican history. Instructor will frame the discussions within the broader macrohistorical evolutionary time periods of
    4. Pre-European contact,
    5. Spanish Colonial,
    6. Mexican Independence/Nationalism, and
    7. Anglo-American/Mexicanization.
    8. Instructor will facilitate break groups of 3 to 5 students, and assigned the roles of facilitator, recorder, and reporter for each group. For 30 minutes, each group will read, analyze, and discuss the primary source document: "John Hitwell Reviews Mexican Land Claims in California, 185
    9. " The group discuss will focus on how United States national and state policies dispossessed Mexicans from their ancestral lands after the United States-Mexican War of 184
    10. The instructor will instruct the reporter to summarize each group's findings to the class.

    Distance Learning

    1. The instructor will provide a video lecture with close captioning for students focusing on the factors and causes leading to the Texas Revolt and the U.S. – Mexico War for which students should take notes for a later assessment.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. Students will read From "Indians to Chicanos" and gain a critical understanding of the relationship between the historical effects of conquest and its influence upon culture. Students should be prepared to discuss in class. (SLO 3) 2. Student will read Chapter on "Freedom in a Cage," in Acuna's "Occupied America" and provide a one-page word processed chapter synopsis, and discussions points for class discussion. (SLO 4) 3. Students will read and report on select articles and primary documents to gain a critical understanding of the relationship between equity and historical underrepresentation, e.g., Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), Plessy v Ferguson (1896), Mendez v Westminster (1947), Grutter v Bollinger (2003), and Acuña, R. F. (2010). Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. (SLO 2)

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. In a four to five page essay, students will identify and evaluate the political, economic, and social factors which helped precipitate the United States-Mexican War of 1846-1848. (SLO 4) 2. In a four to five page essay, students will discuss why the historian Mario Barrera argues that an "internal colonial labor system" developed in the southwest. (SLO 5)

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    1. Students will conduct a research of literature and write (2) 1,000 word essays about the cultural, historical, political, and social experience of Chicanos/Latinos in the United States. One essay will focus on a pre-conquest (1846) topic and a second essay will focus on a post-conquest (1848) topic exploring the relationship between Mexican-American civil rights, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the United States Constitution. (SLO 1)

    Required Materials

    • From Indians to Chicanos: The Dynamics of Mexican American Culture
      • Author: Vigil, James Diego
      • Publisher: Waveland Press, Inc.
      • Publication Date: 2011
      • Text Edition: 3rd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Occupied America: A History of Chicanos
      • Author: Acuña, Rodolfo
      • Publisher: Pearson Longman
      • Publication Date: 2014
      • Text Edition: 8th
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Crucible of Struggle: A History of Mexican Americans from Colonial Times to the Present Era
      • Author: Zaragosa Vargas
      • Publisher: Oxford University Press
      • Publication Date: 2016
      • Text Edition: 2nd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.