North From Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States; New Edition, Updated by Matt S. Meier (Contributions in American History) [Paperback]

Carey McWilliams (Author), Matt S. Meier (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275932249 | ISBN-13: 978-0275932244 | Publication Date: March 9, 1990 | Edition: 2

Carey McWilliams' North From Mexico, first published in 1949, is a classic survey of Chicano history that continues to have a major influence on studies of the Mexican-American experience today. Widely used in college courses on Chicano and Southwestern history and culture, the volume provides a comprehensive general history of the Mexican experience in the United States, beginning with the early aboriginal inhabitants. Now fully updated by Matt S. Meier to cover the period 1945 through 1988, North From Mexico explores all aspects of the Chicano experience in the United States including family, employment, education, assimilation, political, cultural, and economic issues. Particularly valuable is the inclusion of current statistical and census data on immigration patterns, educational and voting characteristics, and social and economic trends in the Hispanic population. Material new to this edition includes an overview of the development of Mexican-American organizations and leaders and the struggle for greater acceptance in American society that has characterized the Mexican-American experience in recent decades. Particular attention is focused on the movimiente, the movement for civil and political equality with other Americans. Meier stresses the cultural aspects of the movement and profiles key leaders. Among the other issues central to the Mexican-American experience since 1945 which receive detailed coverage are the immigration and naturalization of Mexicans, the social and economic role of undocumented workers from Mexico, and the effects of the Simpson-Rodino Immigration Reform and Control Act. Meier also contrasts the considerable achievements of Mexican-Americans in the political and cultural spheres with the persistently high rates of unemployment and poverty that continue to plague the Hispanic population. With the addition of Meier's perceptive analysis of the past four decades, North From Mexico stands once again as the definitive source on the historical experience of Chicanos in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“McWilliams' survey of Chicano history was first published in 1948 and quickly became a classic. He added a new introduction in 1968 and Matt S. Meier has now brought the work up to date by adding three chapters on the Chicano experience since World War II.”–Journal of the Early Republic --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

CAREY McWILLIAMS was editor of The Nation, 1951-1975, and author of Ambrose Bierce, Brothers Under the Skin, Factories in the Field, and Witch Hunt among other classics of American labor, ethnic, and political history.

MATT S. MEIER is Patrick A. Donohoe Emeritus Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Santa Clara.

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Paperback; 2 edition (March 9, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275932249
• ISBN-13: 978-0275932244
• Product Dimensions: 3.9 x 2.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best on the Border, January 31, 2010

By 

Robert J. Melton (Carmel, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: North From Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States; New Edition, Updated by Matt S. Meier (Contributions in American History) (Paperback)

After more than fifty years this is still the best study of the US-Mexico border region. It is THE foundational work - covering history, culture and politics of the border in a vivid and unforgettable way. Carey McWilliams was a wonderful writer and storyteller and had an encyclopedic understanding of the history of the Spanish in the Southwest, the US expansion into the region, and the long and tragic history of the later Mexican migration back into the border States. The book is as fresh today as if written this year, and it is more important than ever as the US will once again take up immigration reform. The book is a must-read, not just as a textbook, but for everyone interested in really understanding the history of our relations with Mexico.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Mexico Native's Review, March 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: North From Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States; New Edition, Updated by Matt S. Meier (Contributions in American History) (Hardcover)

I first read McWilliams book in the 1960s. It put into persepective the contribution of my heritage and explained how my family's origins differed from the expanse of "Hispanics" that came later to populate various aspects of the United States.

McWilliams understood the contribution and the resulting plight early on, before the Civil Rights movement, before Ceasar Chavez. McWillaims did us all a favor by not becoming the outside spokesman for what developed as a cause that he understood and elequently outlined in history and in ethic.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mixture of LA noir and frontier history, October 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: North From Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States; New Edition, Updated by Matt S. Meier (Contributions in American History) (Paperback)

I really take issue with the dismissive review of the reader from Washington, I think they missed the point. This book was written in the late 40's as a response to the Zootsuit murders which brought to the attention of the American people the marginalized situation of Chicano people. McWilliams pieced together the little that was known about the history of the settlement of the southwest by Spanish subjects who were mainly people of mixed descent in order to establish that these people were not "immigrants" but rather more native to the land than the Anglo population. The mixture of history, sociology, and news was ahead of its time, making it accessible to people from different backgrounds. I think it was a wonderful example of the gritty style of American writers that has been lost in our times where passion has no place in the public sphere.