Different Cultures of Spanish America
Introduction
Spanish Americans are the eighth-largest group in the United States of America. This was mainly attributed to the Spanish colonialism. The origin of Spanish Americans is Spain, and they are the longest common European Americans. During the colonial era, many Spanish immigrants established settlements in America. The Spanish immigrants increased the European influence in the United States of America. In northern Mexico, there was also Spanish settlers who came in the early years of colonials. The Spanish Americans has brought much conflict between Americans and Spanish. It is therefore important to critically examine how division in various backgrounds were manifested which include differences in gender, race, class and even occupation.
Most of the Spanish immigrants were explorers, and their migration had been triggered by their desire to find out a wealthy civilization. Some of them went to America to look for fertile land to practice agriculture. Another percentage of Spanish settlers went to America as Spanish Muslim converts and some as Spanish Jewish converts. As Spanish settlers were exploring America, the well-established civil service and colonial administration forced them to travel overseas. The immigration of Spanish settlers to the United States of America was steady and minimal in the 19th century. During 1850’s there was an increase of Spanish immigrants to United States of America and this was due to disruptions and civil wars in their Country. In the 20th century, the much greater population of Spanish Americans migrated to American due to the urban congestion and poverty as well as civil wars and insecurity in Spain (Joseph, 1996). During 1940’s many Spanish Americans moved back to Spain after the good political stability in their country. During 1970’s economic development and growth was evident in Spain. Spain immigrants to the United States reduced significantly.
Occupation and the Urban Structure in Colonial Spanish America
Spanish American urban structure involved differences in race and class. The Spanish colonialists came up with a social structure that was mainly centralized on the race differences, with many of the Spanish being favored and dominant. The Spanish colonial rulers came up with strict rules that could cut across all urban centers that included town and cities layout as well as site location (Mills, 1963).Wealthy families settled in urban centers and these families took advantage of the business opportunities present in towns. They used the economic ventures present in those towns to make large sums of money while the socialists who lived in the rural areas and the periphery of the cities provided labor for the capitalists (Burkholder & Johnson, 1990).Race and Class in Spanish America.
Traditional attitudes about the difference in class and race was predominant in Spanish America society more so in the land sector, land use, and also on the planning of the town. Spanish America class structure entails the dominance of the social perceptions concerning race, estate structures and most importantly the economic status. During the Spanish America colonial …
