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Ernest Rodriguez' "Impressions," 1960s-1980s

""Historical Synopsis of the Mexican Americans of the Quint-Cities"" Page 1

HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS OF THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF THE QUINT-CITIES
We know, from data furnished us by our parents and from our own research, that the majority of the Mexican people came here from the state of Guanajuato, Michoacan and Jalisco in Mexico. We are speaking of the Mexican emigration to the U. S. that took place during the period between 1900 and 1930 when the first Mexican residents of the Quint-Cities arrived. 
The states of Guanajuato,Michoacan, and Jalisco are situated on the central plateau of Mexico where the principal occupation of inhabitants is agriculture.  These peasant people of Mexico cultivated large tracts of land owned by rich "hacendados", and inasmuch as they lived on scattered ranches, it was neither advisable or favorable for them to think of organizing into civic groups with a bent toward social progress. Add to this their lack of a fundamental education, the biggest majority of them being illiterate. 
Coming here from rural areas of Mexico and possessing a culture which poorly equipped them to transform themselves into city dwellers of an industrial center in a foreign country where a strange language was spoken, they were confronted consequently with a multitude of problems or adjustment. It was only natural that they settled in districts usually apart from their fellow citizens of Anglo-Saxon origin, whose traditions and customs were completely alien to them. The Anglos, for the most part, regarded them with contempt considering them as undesirable elements in their society. With that existing prejudice against

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HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS OF THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF THE QUINT-CITIES We know, from data furnished us by our parents and from our own research, that the majority of the Mexican people came here from the state of Guanajuato, Michoacan and Jalisco in Mexico. We are speaking of the Mexican emigration to the U. S. that took place during the period between 1900 and 1930 when the first Mexican residents of the Quint-Cities arrived. The states of Guanajuato,Michoacan, and Jalisco are situated on the central plateau of Mexico where the principal occupation of inhabitants is agriculture. These peasant people of Mexico cultivated large tracts of land owned by rich "hacendados", and inasmuch as they lived on scattered ranches, it was neither advisable or favorable for them to think of organizing into civic groups with a bent toward social progress. Add to this their lack of a fundamental education, the biggest majority of them being illiterate. Coming here from rural areas of Mexico and possessing a culture which poorly equipped them to transform themselves into city dwellers of an industrial center in a foreign country where a strange language was spoken, they were confronted consequently with a multitude of problems or adjustment. It was only natural that they settled in districts usually apart from their fellow citizens of Anglo-Saxon origin, whose traditions and customs were completely alien to them. The Anglos, for the most part, regarded them with contempt considering them as undesirable elements in their society. With that existing prejudice against