Mexican American History Standards
13.1Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regionsin Mexico.
13.1.1 Explain and use the coordinate grid system of latitude and
longitude to determine the absolute locations of places in
Mexico.
13.1.2 Distinguish the 6 different regions of Mexico.
13.1.3 Identify the states and state capitals including the Federal District. Describe the various regions of Mexico, including how their characteristics and physicalenvironments (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate) affecthuman activity.
13.1.4 Identify the locations of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Pacific Ocean, rivers, valleys, and volcanoes and explain their effects on the growth of towns.
13.1.5 Use maps, charts, and pictures to describe how communities inMexico vary in land use, vegetation, wildlife, climate,
population density, architecture, services, and transportation.
13.2 Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of Mexico from the pre-Columbian societies to Modern Mexico. Understand California development from the Spanish missions and Mexican rancho periods through today.
13.2.1. Discuss the major nations of Mexican Indians, including their
geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment.
13.2.2 Identify the early land and sea routes to, and Spanish
settlements in, Mexico with a focus on the exploration of
North America (e.g., by Christopher Columbus, Hernan Cortez, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, Ferdinand Megellan, JuanCabrillo), noting especially the importance of mountains, deserts,ocean currents, and wind patterns.
13.2.3. Describe the Spanish exploration and colonization of California,including the relationships among soldiers, missionaries, andIndians (e.g., Juan Crespi, Junipero Serra, Eusebio Kino, Juan Bautista de Anza, Gaspar de Portolá).
13.2.4. Describe the mapping of, geographic basis of, and economic factorsin the placement and function of the Spanish missions; andunderstand how the mission system expanded the influence of Spainand Catholicism throughout New Spain and Latin America.
13.2.5. Describe the daily lives of the people, native and nonnative,whooccupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and pueblos.
13.2.6. Discuss the role of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustins & Jesuits in New Spain.
13.2.7. Describe the effects of the Mexican War for Independence on Mexico & AltaCalifornia, including its effects on the territorial boundaries ofNorth America.
13.2.8. Discuss the period of Mexican rule in California and its
attributes, including land grants, secularization of the
missions,and the rise of the rancho economy.
13.3Students explain the economic, social, and politicallife in California from the establishment of the Bear FlagRepublic through the Mexican-American War, the Gold Rush,and the granting of statehood.
13.3.1. Identify the locations of Mexican settlements in California andthose of other settlements, including FortRoss and Sutter's Fort.
13.3.2. Compare how and why people traveled to California and the routesthey traveled (e.g., John C.Fremont, Pio Pico).
13.3.3. Analyze the effects of the Gold Rush on settlements, daily life,politics, and the physical environment (e.g., using biographies ofJohn Sutter, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo).
13.3.4. Discuss how California became a state and how its new governmentdiffered from those during the Spanish and Mexican periods.
13.3.5. Discuss immigration and migration to California between 1848 and1900, including the diverse composition of those who came; thecountries of origin and their relative locations; and conflictsand accords among the diverse groups (e.g., the 1882 ChineseExclusion Act).
13.3.6. Describe rapid American immigration, internal migration,
settlement, and the growth of towns and cities (e.g., Los Angeles).
13.4Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations ofMedieval Europe.
13.4.1. Demonstrate an understanding of the conflict and cooperationbetween the Papacy and European monarchs (e.g., Ferdinand & Isabella, Charlemagne, Gregory VII, Emperor Henry IV).
13.4.2. Discuss the causes and course of the religious Crusades and theireffects on the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations in Spain, with emphasis on the increasing contact by Europeans withcultures of the Eastern Mediterranean world.
13.4.3. Know the history of the decline of Muslim rule in the Iberian
Peninsula that culminated in the Reconquista and the rise ofSpanish and Portuguese kingdoms.
13.5Students compare and contrast the geographic, political,economic, religious, and social structures of theMesoamerican civilizations.
13.5.1. Study the locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central America and their effects on Olmec, Mayan, Toltec, Teotihuacano, Mexica (Aztec), andPurepecha (Tarascan)economies, trade, and development of urban societies.
13.5.2. Study the roles of people in each society, including class
structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefs andpractices, and slavery.
13.5.3. Explain how and where each empire arose and how the Mexica (Aztec) and Mayan empires were defeated by the Spanish.
13.5.5. Describe the Mesoamerican achievements in astronomy andmathematics, including the development of the zero, calendar and theMesoamerican writing, knowledge of seasonal changes to the civilizations'agricultural systems.
13.6Students analyze the historical developments of theScientific Revolution and its lasting effect on religious,political, and cultural institutions.
13.6.1. Describe the Golden Age of cooperation between Jewsand Muslims inmedieval Spain that promoted creativity in art, literature, andscience, including how that cooperation was terminated by thereligious persecution of individuals and groups (e.g., the SpanishInquisition and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in1492)
13.7Students analyze political and economic change in thesixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).
13.7.1. Know the great voyages of discovery, the locations of the routes,and the influence of cartography in the development of a newEuropean worldview.
13.7.2. Discuss the exchanges of plants, animals, technology, culture, andideas among Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas in thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the major economic andsocial effects on each continent.
13.8Students analyze U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic and the divergent paths of the American people in the West from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.
13.8.1Know the changing boundaries of the United States and describe therelationships the country had with Mexico, including the influence of the MonroeDoctrine, and how those relationships influenced westwardexpansion and the Mexican-American War.
13.8.2. Describe the purpose, challenges, and economic incentivesassociated with westward expansion, including the concept ofManifest Destiny.
13.8.3. Discuss Mexican settlements and their locations, cultural traditions, attitudes toward slavery, land-grant system, and economies.
13.8.4. Describe the Texas War for Independence and the Mexican-AmericanWar, including territorial settlements, the aftermath of the wars,and the effects the wars had on the lives of Americans, includingMexican Americans today.
13.9Students analyze patterns of global change in the eraof New Imperialism in at least two of the following regionsor countries: Mexico and LatinAmerica.
13.9.1. Discuss the locations of the colonial rule of such nations asEngland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
13.9.2. Explain imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and thecolonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by thepeople under colonial rule.
13.9.3. Describe the independence struggles of the colonized regions ofthe world, including the roles of leaders, such as Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico, Simon Bolivar in South America and the roles of ideology and religion.
13.10 Students will analyze the development of the Mexican Republic through the Revolution.
13.10.1 Understand the rise the Mexican Republic after the
War of Independence.
13.10.2 Review the separation of Texas from Mexico (The
Alamo, San Jacinto, Goliad)
13.10.3 The Mexican War
13.10.4 Benito Juarez and rise of the Federal Government
13.10.5 French Intervention.
13.10.6 Porfiriato and the Mexican Revolution
13.11Students analyze the causes and consequences of World
War I and World War II on Mexico.
13.11.1. Understand the consequences of World War I on Mexico by the U.S. sending troops twice into Mexico.
13.11.2. Describe the political, diplomatic influence of the United States in Latin America.
13.11.3. Understand Mexico’s involvement in World War II, military and economic help to the U.S. (Braceros)
13.12Students analyze role Mexico has in the international developments in the post World War II world.
13.12.1. Understand the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the, which established the pattern for America's postwar policyof supplying economic and military aid to prevent the spread ofCommunism and the resulting economic and political competition inarenas such as Southeast Asia (i.e., the Korean War, Vietnam War), Cuba, Latin America and Africa.
13.12.2. Discuss the establishment and work of the United Nations and thepurposes and functions of theOrganization of American States.
13.13Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions orcountries: Mexico and otherparts of Latin America.
13.13.1. Understand the challenges in Mexico & Latin America, including theirgeopolitical, cultural, military, and economic significance andthe international relationships in which they are involved.
13.13.2. Describe the recent history of the regions, including politicaldivisions and systems, key leaders, religious issues, naturalfeatures, resources, and population patterns. (Single party system, devaluation of the peso and student rebellion)
13.13.3. Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether theyappear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy. (Guerra Sucia)
13.14 Students analyze the major political, social, economic,
technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s and 1930s.
13.14.1. Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, andphilosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties, includingtheKu Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses oforganizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, LULAC, to those attacks.
13.15Students analyze the different explanations for the
Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changedthe role of the federal government.
13.15.1. Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from thecreation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress ofIndustrial Organizations to current issues of a postindustrial,multinational economy, including the United Farm Workers inCalifornia.
13.16 Students analyze Mexican American's participation in World War II.
13.16.1 Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers,as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces.
13.17Students analyze the economic boom and social
transformation of post-World War II America.
13.17.1. Describe the significance of Mexican immigration and itsrelationship to the agricultural economy, especially in California.
13.18Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.
13.18.1 Examine the effect of the Vietnam War on the Hispanic community.
13.18.2 Understand the Latin American policy of the U.S.
13.18.3 Examine relations between the United States and Mexico in thetwentieth century, including key economic, political, immigration,and environmental issues.
13.19Students analyze the development of federal civil
rights and voting rights.
13.19.1. Explain how demands of Hispanics & African Americans helped produce a stimulusfor civil rights, including President Roosevelt's ban on racial discrimination in defense industries in 1941, and how AfricanAmericans' service in World War II produced a stimulus forPresident Truman's decision to end segregation in the armed forcesin 1948.
13.19.2. Examine and analyze the key events, policies, and court cases inthe evolution of civil rights for Hispanics, including Mendez /v. Board of Education 1 & 2, Brown /v. /Board of Education,/andCalifornia Proposition 209.
13.19.3. Discuss the diffusion of the civil rights movement of AfricanAmericans how the advances influenced the agendas,strategies, and effectiveness of the quests of American Indians,Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans for civil rights and equalopportunities.
13.20Students analyze the major social problems and
domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.
13.20.1. Discuss the reasons for the nation's changing immigration policy,with emphasis on how the Immigration Act of 1965 and successoracts have transformed American society.
13.20.2 Students analyze the origins, characteristics, anddevelopment of different political systems across time, withemphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances,and its obstacles.
13.20.3 Identify the forms of illegitimate power that twentieth-centuryLatin American leaders used to gain and holdoffice and the conditions and interests that supported them.
13.20.4 Examine the effect of immigration on the dynamics of the Hispanic family, both recent arrivals and those that have been in the United States over generations. Understand the evolution and uniqueness of the Hispanic culture and its effect on the American society.