History of Mexican Americans in Texas

Most job opportunities for them involved working on a ranch or a farm starting from South Texas and moving north and northeast.

Mexican immigrants, frequently working in harsh conditions for little pay, were instrumental in the late 19th-century construction of the railroad network that linked Texas to the rest of the United States.

Hispanics of Mexican descent dominate southern, south-central, and western Texas and form a significant portion of the residents in the cities of Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

[11] Many more Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans living in the Texas-Mexico border were killed during this period, now designated as La Matanza.

[12] Post Mexican-American War the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which extended the racial category of white to Mexican Americans,[13] as well as the Texas Constitution which guaranteed equal rights to Mexican-Americans such as the right to free public education.

This differential treatment towards Mexican-American student included (but was not limited to) the banning of speaking Spanish on school grounds, in which violators could legally be punished through beatings.

[16] Mexican-American groups led the push for bilingual education in Texas in the 1970s, claiming that keeping the Spanish language was important for preserving cultural legacy as well as improving academic performance for Hispanic students.

[3] TAMACC which stands for Texas Association of Mexican Americans Chamber of Commerce is an organization founded in 1975 to promote business, economic, and legislative opportunities for the Hispanic communities in Texas[17].TAMAAC have supported many bills that will help small hispanic business such as the 1991 Workers Compensation Bill and the free trade agreement with Mexico in 1992.