Latino Presence in America: From 16th-Century Explorers to Modern Migration

Latinos have been part of what is now the United States since the 1500s—long before the nation existed.

Timeline

• 1513: Juan Ponce de León lands in Florida.
• 1565: St. Augustine founded — oldest continuously occupied European settlement in US.
• 1598: Juan de Oñate establishes Nuevo México (Santa Fe 1610).
• 1769: Junípero Serra begins California missions.
• 1821: Mexico independent; Southwest becomes Mexican territory.
• 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo — Mexico cedes 55% of its territory (CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, CO, WY) to US. ~80,000 Mexican citizens become Americans overnight.
• 1898: Spanish-American War → Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines acquired. Puerto Ricans become US citizens (1917).
• 1910–1930: Mexican Revolution drives 1M+ refugees north.
• 1942–1964: Bracero Program — 4.6M Mexican labor contracts.
• 1965–present: Family reunification, economic migration, asylum (Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela).

Why They Came/Come

Push: Violence, poverty, dictatorship, disasters, landlessness.
Pull: Jobs, wages, family, freedom, education, safety.

Today

• 63.7M Latinos (19% US pop., 2022).
• Mexican origin: 60%; Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan next.
• Not a monolith: citizens, residents, undocumented; indigenous, African, European ancestry; Spanish-dominant, bilingual, English-dominant.

Latino history is American history—from before the Mayflower to today's classrooms, Congress, and culture.