Mexican American History  
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Chronology of Mexican American History

1527  Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first European to explore North America and leave a written record. 
1598  Spain plans permanent missions, military posts, towns, and ranchos in New Mexico 
1632  The Zuni pueblo of Hawiku revolts against Spanish colonialis; it is followed by the Hopi pueblo of Awatovi in 1633 and the Taos pueblo in 1639 
1680  Pope leads a major revolt against Spanish colonialism in New Mexico, expelling the Spanish for a dozen years 
1700  Spanish settlement of Arizona begins 
1716  Spanish settlement of Texas begins 
1769  Spanish settlement of Alta California begins; the first California mission is built 
1781  The Yuma revolt expelling all Spanish missions from Arizona 
1810  Mexico's struggle for independence against Spain begins 
1821  Mexico wins its independence from Spain; William Becknell opens the Santa Fe Trail, tying the Southwest to the United States 
1825  Mexico gives land to American land agents who bring settlers to Texas 
1834  The California Indian population falls to just 100,000; the Mexican government begins to confiscate California mission properties and exiles Franciscan friars 
1835  The Texas Revolution begins 
1842  Mexico twice attempts to invade Texas 
1845  Magazine editor John L. O'Sullivan uses the phrase "Manifest Destiny" to describe American expansion; the United States annexes Texas; the U.S. offers Mexico $5 million to recognize the Rio Grande river as Texas' southwestern boundary, $5 million for New Mexico, and $25 million for California 
1846  The Mexican War begins 
1847  Disaffected Mexicans and Pueblo Indians in Taos, New Mexico, stage an unsuccessful revolt 
1848  The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican War; gold is discovered in California 
1853  Through the Gadsden Purchase, the United States acquires 30,000 acres in southern Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico 
1859  Juan N. Cortina leads a raid on Brownsville, Texas 
1861  Congress creates Colorado territory out of New Mexico 
1862  Congress creates Arizona territory out of New Mexico 
1884  Helen Hunt Jackson publishes Ramona 
1894  The Alianza Hispano-Americana is founded in Arizona 
1903  Mexican beet workers carry out a successful strike in Ventura, California 
1911  The Mexican Protective Association is founded in Texas, and becomes one of the first successful Mexican American agricultural unions 
1920  Over two years, nearly 100,000 Mexicans are shipped across the border or forced to leave voluntarily 
1929  LULAC is formed in Corpus Christi, Texas, from three earlier Texas organizations; the U.S. government requires Mexicans to obtain visas to enter the country 
1930  Repatriation of 400,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans begins 
1942  Bracero program begins, providing for Mexican laborers to enter the United States as short-term contract workers; the program ends in 1964; Sleepy Lagoon incident in Los Angeles 
1943  Zoot Suit Riots take place in Los Angeles 
1947  Mendez decision prohibits school segregation on the basis of Mexican descent 
1950  "Operation Wetback" begins to deport undocumented workers 
1966  Cesar Chavez forms the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee 
1968  Chavez initiates a grape boycott 
1970  National Chicano Moratorium to protest the Vietnam War 
1974  Two Mexican Americans are elected to governorships, Jerry Apodaca in New Mexico and Raul Castro in Arizona 
1986  The Immigration and Reform Act prohibits hiring undocumented aliens and proclaims an amnesty for those in the country since 1982 
1994  California Proposition 187 would prevent undocumented immigrants from using public services 

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