Spanish Americans

by Vicky Franchino

From an empire exploring the New World to immigrants who came for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Spanish Americans traces the roots of Spanish immigration to the US and examines the many... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592961835
• ISBN13: 9781592961832
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Child's World
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.5" x 9.5"
• Age Range: 8 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 6

Customer Reviews

The history of immigration to the United States from Spain

In January of this year the Census Bureau announced that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as the nation's largest minority group. When you think about what this has come to pass the two obvious reasons that come to mind are immigration from Mexico and other Latin American countries as well as the birth rate of a predominantly Roman Catholic population. What might not come to mind would be that some Hispanic immigration has come from across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. That is why this Our Cultural Heritage volume on "Spanish Americans" is one of several new volumes in this series devoted to the history of immigration to America from nations that do not easily spring to mind on that subject, such as Canada, Greece, and Spain.However, the first two chapters of Vicky Franchino's book does look at how Spain established settlements and an empire in the New World that eventually broke away from its homeland. The sidebar at the end of the second chapter looks at the states with ties to the Spain, which includes not only the obvious ones like California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Florida but also surprising ones like Massachusetts and South Carolina. The third chapter looks at immigration from Spain in the 20th century. Such immigration was fairly limited, especially after the U.S. government set up a quota system in 1921, and in providing details about it Franchino shows why immigration from Spain has indeed been a minor consideration. I really thought there would be more to this story, but Franchino can only talk about what there is and this appears to be it with regards to the topic of Spanish immigration.The final chapter details Spanish contributions to American culture, which consists of cities with Spanish names, words with Spanish roots, authentic Spanish foods (not to be confused with tacos adn burritos), and the sport of Jai alai. Franchino also lists a few important Spanish-Americans, such as singer Enrique Iglesias, actor Antonio Banderas, and astronaut Miguel Lopez Algeria. The back of the book includes a Time Line, Glossary Terms from "ceremonies" to "refugees," various places to go For Further Information, and an Index.