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El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America
Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots—ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century, and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation as it exists today.
El Norte chronicles the sweeping and dramatic history of Hispanic North America from the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century to the present—from Ponce de Leon’s initial landing in Florida in 1513 to Spanish control of the vast Louisiana territory in 1762 to the Mexican-American War in 1846 and up to the more recent tragedy of post-hurricane Puerto Rico and the ongoing border acrimony with Mexico. Interwoven in this stirring narrative of events and people are cultural issues that have been there from the start but which are unresolved to this day: language, belonging, community, race, and nationality. Seeing them play out over centuries provides vital perspective at a time when it is urgently needed.
In 1883, Walt Whitman meditated on his country’s Spanish past: “We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them,” predicting that “to that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts.” That future is here, and El Norte, a stirring and eventful history in its own right, will make a powerful impact on our national understanding.
El Norte chronicles the sweeping and dramatic history of Hispanic North America from the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century to the present—from Ponce de Leon’s initial landing in Florida in 1513 to Spanish control of the vast Louisiana territory in 1762 to the Mexican-American War in 1846 and up to the more recent tragedy of post-hurricane Puerto Rico and the ongoing border acrimony with Mexico. Interwoven in this stirring narrative of events and people are cultural issues that have been there from the start but which are unresolved to this day: language, belonging, community, race, and nationality. Seeing them play out over centuries provides vital perspective at a time when it is urgently needed.
In 1883, Walt Whitman meditated on his country’s Spanish past: “We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them,” predicting that “to that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts.” That future is here, and El Norte, a stirring and eventful history in its own right, will make a powerful impact on our national understanding.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published February 5, 2019
About the author
Carrie Gibson
6 books38 followersCarrie Gibson is the author of the acclaimed Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean From Columbus to the Present Day. She received a PhD from Cambridge University, focusing on the Spanish Caribbean in the era of the Haitian Revolution, and has worked as a journalist for the Guardian and contributed to other publications, as well as the BBC. She has done research across Mexico, the West Indies, and North America. She lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
May 15, 2019
As I started this book, I was swept back to grade school, where every year we began our history lessons with the exploits of the Conquistadors, so I knew of Ponce de Leon, Hernán Cortés, and all the others who had help carve out an American Empire for Spain. But then the lessons turned to the American colonies and we never returned to the West.
Given that, it’s impossible to state how much I’ve learned from this book. It’s well written and highly readable, so though there is much to get through I never lost interest. So much of the Spanish exploration of the Americas, and then later the birth of Mexico, was left out of any history class I ever took. Did I know that Spain had helped the colonies in their war against Britain? No, I did not. Granted, it was for Spain’s own good, (though they probably came to regret it,) but the same could be said for France.
Even the colonization of what would become the American Southwest was glossed over. Maybe because so much of the West was built on the backs of those its white inhabitants deemed their inferior, and on the land taken from other peoples and countries.
The blending of the two populations is much of the story told here. So many times the reader is faced with the ugliness it brings out: in the 1840s, when, having gained the land of its neighbor, the country sought to discard itself of those who lived there; some families had been there for centuries. Then again in the 1930s when, as today, the immigrant is blamed for the loss of jobs. So anyone thinking that using flimsy excuses to start wars, to deny people their rights because of the color of their skin, to demonize the population of a neighboring country because they aren’t white, is something new, something invented by the current administration, has another think coming. No matter that it was the US’s aid in toppling the regime in Guatemala, backing a coup in Chili, funding the Contras in Nicaragua, and abetting the civil war in El Salvador that created the problem behind its citizens flight from their country in the first place.
It’s a highly interesting history, but so much of that history is of war and land grabs and the disenfranchising of populations. In that respect it was a hard book to read. But I highly recommend it, especially to those who grew up in the Southwest.
Given that, it’s impossible to state how much I’ve learned from this book. It’s well written and highly readable, so though there is much to get through I never lost interest. So much of the Spanish exploration of the Americas, and then later the birth of Mexico, was left out of any history class I ever took. Did I know that Spain had helped the colonies in their war against Britain? No, I did not. Granted, it was for Spain’s own good, (though they probably came to regret it,) but the same could be said for France.
Even the colonization of what would become the American Southwest was glossed over. Maybe because so much of the West was built on the backs of those its white inhabitants deemed their inferior, and on the land taken from other peoples and countries.
The blending of the two populations is much of the story told here. So many times the reader is faced with the ugliness it brings out: in the 1840s, when, having gained the land of its neighbor, the country sought to discard itself of those who lived there; some families had been there for centuries. Then again in the 1930s when, as today, the immigrant is blamed for the loss of jobs. So anyone thinking that using flimsy excuses to start wars, to deny people their rights because of the color of their skin, to demonize the population of a neighboring country because they aren’t white, is something new, something invented by the current administration, has another think coming. No matter that it was the US’s aid in toppling the regime in Guatemala, backing a coup in Chili, funding the Contras in Nicaragua, and abetting the civil war in El Salvador that created the problem behind its citizens flight from their country in the first place.
It’s a highly interesting history, but so much of that history is of war and land grabs and the disenfranchising of populations. In that respect it was a hard book to read. But I highly recommend it, especially to those who grew up in the Southwest.
August 29, 2020
This is a very informative book about the Hispanic role in North American history, from the first arrival of the Spanish in the western hemisphere, through their colonization of what is today Florida, Texas, California and much of the rest of the American West, to the U.S.’s wars with Mexico and Spain and its troubled relationship with Puerto Rico, to the role of Hispanic culture in the U.S. and the treatment of Hispanic citizens and immigrants. At 437 pages of text (followed by endnotes etc.), it covers a lot, though it also has to keep moving fairly quickly to get through it all. It’s written to be accessible to the general reader, though I found it more interesting when I was able to devote larger amounts of time to keep all the facts straight.
There are a lot of facts here, and not a lot of analysis, which is a little bit too bad because I have the feeling the author has a lot more to say but was trying to keep her opinions out of it. It’s definitely a big-picture approach, a view of all of post-contact American history side-by-side with the history of the nearest Spanish-speaking colonies and countries, but with a fair amount of detail about key events and players. The author also accomplishes a rare feat in a book focused on a particular disadvantaged group in American society, which is that she doesn’t forget about the others: some of this history overlaps quite significantly with the U.S.’s treatment of Native Americans and African-Americans, which Gibson doesn’t shy away from (and treatment of Asians is touched on as well). While little of the history was entirely new to me, I was still struck by, for instance, the extent to which southern slaveowners hoped to take over Cuba, several Mexican states, and possibly other southern neighbors in order to extend slavery. My biggest complaint is that the book could have been clearer about the implications of how the Mexican-American War got started. But I particularly appreciated the way the author relates the history of Mexico side-by-side with the U.S.; although we're neighbors, I'm not sure I've actually seen these histories in the same work before.
Overall, this is an interesting and accessible history that provides as comprehensive a view of the long history of Spanish-speaking people and their descendants in the U.S. as I’ve ever seen. It’s a useful perspective and a worthwhile read.
There are a lot of facts here, and not a lot of analysis, which is a little bit too bad because I have the feeling the author has a lot more to say but was trying to keep her opinions out of it. It’s definitely a big-picture approach, a view of all of post-contact American history side-by-side with the history of the nearest Spanish-speaking colonies and countries, but with a fair amount of detail about key events and players. The author also accomplishes a rare feat in a book focused on a particular disadvantaged group in American society, which is that she doesn’t forget about the others: some of this history overlaps quite significantly with the U.S.’s treatment of Native Americans and African-Americans, which Gibson doesn’t shy away from (and treatment of Asians is touched on as well). While little of the history was entirely new to me, I was still struck by, for instance, the extent to which southern slaveowners hoped to take over Cuba, several Mexican states, and possibly other southern neighbors in order to extend slavery. My biggest complaint is that the book could have been clearer about the implications of how the Mexican-American War got started. But I particularly appreciated the way the author relates the history of Mexico side-by-side with the U.S.; although we're neighbors, I'm not sure I've actually seen these histories in the same work before.
Overall, this is an interesting and accessible history that provides as comprehensive a view of the long history of Spanish-speaking people and their descendants in the U.S. as I’ve ever seen. It’s a useful perspective and a worthwhile read.
December 29, 2019
Like how the author begins ... quoting Walt Whitman and going to Nogales ... book is too fat with info for reading now, and it covers an array of history I've previously devoted many, many hours.
Here be quotes:
" ... Whitman, writing in 1883 to decline an invitation to speak at the anniversary of the founding of Santa Fe* ... 'We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them,' he wrote. 'Thus far, impressed by New England writers and schoolmasters, we tacitly abandon ourselves to the notion that our United States have been fashioned from the British Islands only, and essentially form a second England only--which is a great mistake."
page 1 -
"The drive down Interstate 19 in Arizona from Tucson to Nogales ... a flat, dusty affair. Craggy mountains seduce from a distance, while scrubby bush blurs past. As the road nears the small city,
the flatness gives way to a gentle undulation. Houses appear, dotting one steep hillside in bright pinks, blues, and oranges. Then, when the road rounds a corner, something else comes into view--the sudden shock of it is like seeing a snake in the bushes. It is long and copper-colored, slithering along the hills. It is the United States-Mexico security fence, visible from miles away.
"As the presidential election campaign of 2016 made clear, a section of the U.S. public felt this barrier was no longer sufficient. There are in fact two cities called Nogales, one on each side of the border, separated by a fence consisting of giant poles. These allow families to see each--though the addition of mesh panels along parts of the fence now stop them from reaching through--making it feel like a large outdoor prison. Nogales, Mexico, like many other places along the frontera, has seen the arrival of drug gang-related violence and the departure of tourists, giving it an air of quiet resignation. Even the colorful Mexican tiles and crafts sold in the shops near the border crossing do not banish the gray atmosphere.
"For someone standing at the fence, it is difficult to imagine what Nogales was like before the 1880s, when the city was a celebrated connection point between the Sonora Railway and the Arizona and New Mexico Railway ... "
(I'm grateful for my memories of Nogales from trips made in the 1960s and 70s. Don' want to ever see the 'wall.')
***
Regional library has this cataloged 327.7308 - puts it far from the history shelving section of the library.
Multiple subject entries, mostly themed North American--Civilization--Spanish Influences.
327's include book by Kissinger and Brzezinski
There are six entries about Donald Trump, and eight Obama pages listings.
Nine citations for Creek Indians (I've been considering a reread of Dee Brown's Creek tale
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
p96 - "... the Creeks helped the British fight the Spanish ... but the Spanish ... played to the Creeks' anxieties by telling them they might be enslaved by the British ... The Creeks also participated in slave raids for the British, who had started giving them goods--including arms and alcohol--on credit ... The Creek people were angry about their treatment--not only what they considered trickery in allowing the debts to accumulate, but also the British habit of punishing indebted Indian men with humiliating public floggings."
***
Gibson has a couple brief entries about Onate, the Last Conquistador, quotes to be added to that review.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
***
Overall, it's a bit TMI, too much info for a quick read, and the library has a waiting list ...
Here be quotes:
" ... Whitman, writing in 1883 to decline an invitation to speak at the anniversary of the founding of Santa Fe* ... 'We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them,' he wrote. 'Thus far, impressed by New England writers and schoolmasters, we tacitly abandon ourselves to the notion that our United States have been fashioned from the British Islands only, and essentially form a second England only--which is a great mistake."
page 1 -
"The drive down Interstate 19 in Arizona from Tucson to Nogales ... a flat, dusty affair. Craggy mountains seduce from a distance, while scrubby bush blurs past. As the road nears the small city,
the flatness gives way to a gentle undulation. Houses appear, dotting one steep hillside in bright pinks, blues, and oranges. Then, when the road rounds a corner, something else comes into view--the sudden shock of it is like seeing a snake in the bushes. It is long and copper-colored, slithering along the hills. It is the United States-Mexico security fence, visible from miles away.
"As the presidential election campaign of 2016 made clear, a section of the U.S. public felt this barrier was no longer sufficient. There are in fact two cities called Nogales, one on each side of the border, separated by a fence consisting of giant poles. These allow families to see each--though the addition of mesh panels along parts of the fence now stop them from reaching through--making it feel like a large outdoor prison. Nogales, Mexico, like many other places along the frontera, has seen the arrival of drug gang-related violence and the departure of tourists, giving it an air of quiet resignation. Even the colorful Mexican tiles and crafts sold in the shops near the border crossing do not banish the gray atmosphere.
"For someone standing at the fence, it is difficult to imagine what Nogales was like before the 1880s, when the city was a celebrated connection point between the Sonora Railway and the Arizona and New Mexico Railway ... "
(I'm grateful for my memories of Nogales from trips made in the 1960s and 70s. Don' want to ever see the 'wall.')
***
Regional library has this cataloged 327.7308 - puts it far from the history shelving section of the library.
Multiple subject entries, mostly themed North American--Civilization--Spanish Influences.
327's include book by Kissinger and Brzezinski
There are six entries about Donald Trump, and eight Obama pages listings.
Nine citations for Creek Indians (I've been considering a reread of Dee Brown's Creek tale
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
p96 - "... the Creeks helped the British fight the Spanish ... but the Spanish ... played to the Creeks' anxieties by telling them they might be enslaved by the British ... The Creeks also participated in slave raids for the British, who had started giving them goods--including arms and alcohol--on credit ... The Creek people were angry about their treatment--not only what they considered trickery in allowing the debts to accumulate, but also the British habit of punishing indebted Indian men with humiliating public floggings."
***
Gibson has a couple brief entries about Onate, the Last Conquistador, quotes to be added to that review.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
***
Overall, it's a bit TMI, too much info for a quick read, and the library has a waiting list ...
February 8, 2019
(Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley)
At present it feels like more people are emboldened about aggressively pushing a message that amounts to this - the US, a nation that started as a bunch of mainly English settlers on the east coast who pushed west into the wilderness, is in danger from those who come from south of the Rio Grande, whose distinct otherness threatens to undermine the identity of the United States.
Of course this is all absolute nonsense, as should be made clear by any decent grasp of American history, and is made especially and undeniably obvious in Carrie Gibson's new book, "El Norte." In this comprehensive work, Gibson provides a sweeping and also eminently readable overview of Hispanic North America. Not only is it incredibly informative with its multi-leveled coverage, but from start to end this book strives to make it perfectly plain in every way possible that these regions, their peoples, and various cultures are very, very, very, very much a part of the United States, and that to try and argue otherwise (in good faith, at least) is simply not possible. "El Norte" is exactly the kind of book we currently need more of, and I greatly look forward to recommending it to others whenever possible.
At present it feels like more people are emboldened about aggressively pushing a message that amounts to this - the US, a nation that started as a bunch of mainly English settlers on the east coast who pushed west into the wilderness, is in danger from those who come from south of the Rio Grande, whose distinct otherness threatens to undermine the identity of the United States.
Of course this is all absolute nonsense, as should be made clear by any decent grasp of American history, and is made especially and undeniably obvious in Carrie Gibson's new book, "El Norte." In this comprehensive work, Gibson provides a sweeping and also eminently readable overview of Hispanic North America. Not only is it incredibly informative with its multi-leveled coverage, but from start to end this book strives to make it perfectly plain in every way possible that these regions, their peoples, and various cultures are very, very, very, very much a part of the United States, and that to try and argue otherwise (in good faith, at least) is simply not possible. "El Norte" is exactly the kind of book we currently need more of, and I greatly look forward to recommending it to others whenever possible.
May 30, 2024
3 stars because while I found it very interesting and insightful, it covered too much in too little time so it felt shallow. It reads like one of the “history of western civilization” textbooks, you get kinda fatigued with the jumping around in time and space.
November 12, 2018
A comprehensive exploration of the "Spanish" experience in North America, from the days of Columbus to Trump and his wall.
The author begins with Columbus' expedition and the conquistadores, pointing out the major themes of the story as they relate to Central and South America but focusing on the attempt to establish "Florida": not just the present peninsula, but as much of North America as could possibly be obtained. The author chronicles the difficulties the Spaniards faced in establishing colonies in North America, but ultimately how they were able to establish St. Augustine in Florida and New Mexico. Interactions with other nations building colonies are described; I, personally, had not been aware of Spanish settlements established in the South Carolina area that would eventually be abandoned.
The discussion of the 18th and 19th centuries described the missions in California, how Spain obtained and lost territory in eastern North America (including their establishment of New Madrid, MO), ceding West and East Florida to the British and getting it back again, giving up all of "Missouri" to Napoleon, who sold it to America, and ultimately the selling of Florida to the United States and the loss of all territory in eastern North America. The story then shifts to the independence of Mexico, the settling of Texas and the war for Texas, the Mexican War, the Gadsden purchase, and all of it in terms of how it looked to the Spanish speaking population. The late 19th and 20th century discussions, having discussed Cuba, the Spanish-American War, and the elimination of Spanish dominion in the New World, do speak some to the relations between Mexico and the United States but focuses primarily on the experience of Spanish speaking Americans, especially of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage.
The author does well at providing the American reader with a very different perspective on American history, and that is very useful for Americans attempting to grapple with our nation's current situation.
The only critique I would offer would involve the book's perspective. The story seems to be about the experience of those who spoke Spanish - mostly Spaniard at the beginning - and only later the Latino population as we would understand it now. It features an odd shift, for the Spaniards were ruthless conquerors and oppressors of natives, and one can reasonably see what ends up happening to Spanish control as the oppressor getting his just deserts and getting oppressed and defeated by a stronger power. Some commentary is made regarding the tiered cultural system of New Spain based on "whiteness", but not much. Starting in the middle of the 19th century the subject seems to shift to being the Latino population as currently constructed, the mixed populace of Spaniard and indigenous. It seemed a bit fuzzy.
Otherwise, though, a different way of seeing North American history.
**-galley received as part of early review program
The author begins with Columbus' expedition and the conquistadores, pointing out the major themes of the story as they relate to Central and South America but focusing on the attempt to establish "Florida": not just the present peninsula, but as much of North America as could possibly be obtained. The author chronicles the difficulties the Spaniards faced in establishing colonies in North America, but ultimately how they were able to establish St. Augustine in Florida and New Mexico. Interactions with other nations building colonies are described; I, personally, had not been aware of Spanish settlements established in the South Carolina area that would eventually be abandoned.
The discussion of the 18th and 19th centuries described the missions in California, how Spain obtained and lost territory in eastern North America (including their establishment of New Madrid, MO), ceding West and East Florida to the British and getting it back again, giving up all of "Missouri" to Napoleon, who sold it to America, and ultimately the selling of Florida to the United States and the loss of all territory in eastern North America. The story then shifts to the independence of Mexico, the settling of Texas and the war for Texas, the Mexican War, the Gadsden purchase, and all of it in terms of how it looked to the Spanish speaking population. The late 19th and 20th century discussions, having discussed Cuba, the Spanish-American War, and the elimination of Spanish dominion in the New World, do speak some to the relations between Mexico and the United States but focuses primarily on the experience of Spanish speaking Americans, especially of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage.
The author does well at providing the American reader with a very different perspective on American history, and that is very useful for Americans attempting to grapple with our nation's current situation.
The only critique I would offer would involve the book's perspective. The story seems to be about the experience of those who spoke Spanish - mostly Spaniard at the beginning - and only later the Latino population as we would understand it now. It features an odd shift, for the Spaniards were ruthless conquerors and oppressors of natives, and one can reasonably see what ends up happening to Spanish control as the oppressor getting his just deserts and getting oppressed and defeated by a stronger power. Some commentary is made regarding the tiered cultural system of New Spain based on "whiteness", but not much. Starting in the middle of the 19th century the subject seems to shift to being the Latino population as currently constructed, the mixed populace of Spaniard and indigenous. It seemed a bit fuzzy.
Otherwise, though, a different way of seeing North American history.
**-galley received as part of early review program
September 27, 2021
A staggeringly comprehensive history of Spanish speakers in North America -- primarily Mexico and the mainland United States, but also Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other islands nearby -- from the first conquistadors all the way up to the middle of Donald Trump's presidency when this was published. In reading this book, I've been astonished again and again by how much is new to me: excluded by the curriculum of various classes and generally unremarked upon by our broader popular culture. Traditional accounts of America's past may cite the circumstances of states like Texas or Florida joining our nation, but rarely look in-depth at life in these regions before they entered the union. Author Carrie Gibson has done a tremendous job compiling this text to fill that gap, detailing as indigenous lands were conquered by Spain, traded among its rival colonial powers, and later formed into an independent Mexican country, which subsequently went through political shifts of its own, both until and after ceding certain territories up north.
All of that is prelude to where tellings of the American story often begin, but necessary for a fuller picture of the historical dynamics at play, which in many ways continue to inform our shared present. This title is important in that sense and as a history of Mexico alone, but the writer goes further to track major developments for Hispanic and/or Latinx peoples in the U.S. as well. This represents a conscious pushing back against the forces that try to sell an ahistoric view of Anglo Protestant uniformity here, not to mention a racial system that can sometimes seem built to sort everyone as either black or white without room for additional nuance. The intersection of such identities with Jim Crow discrimination, the differences across communities of varying national origin, the surprisingly recent cultural conversation about immigration and border control: these are complicated topics, yet always traced out with great precision and care. I have learned a lot, as I think most readers would.
[Content warning for rape, genocide, gore, and racism including slurs.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
All of that is prelude to where tellings of the American story often begin, but necessary for a fuller picture of the historical dynamics at play, which in many ways continue to inform our shared present. This title is important in that sense and as a history of Mexico alone, but the writer goes further to track major developments for Hispanic and/or Latinx peoples in the U.S. as well. This represents a conscious pushing back against the forces that try to sell an ahistoric view of Anglo Protestant uniformity here, not to mention a racial system that can sometimes seem built to sort everyone as either black or white without room for additional nuance. The intersection of such identities with Jim Crow discrimination, the differences across communities of varying national origin, the surprisingly recent cultural conversation about immigration and border control: these are complicated topics, yet always traced out with great precision and care. I have learned a lot, as I think most readers would.
[Content warning for rape, genocide, gore, and racism including slurs.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
March 2, 2019
In a timely and ambitious volume, Carrie Gibson has given us an alternate history of the United States from the perspective of the Spanish conquerors of the New World all the way to the present day, with the disjuncture in the American understanding of the Hispanic roots of this country. Gibson's work is impressive, examining both the early Spanish colonialism in America and the role of language and race. I'd encourage anyone who wants a better understanding of the Latino presence and influence in this country to check out this book, which is lengthy at 576 pages. Carefully researched and annotated, this is certainly a book of American history that will disabuse the reader of the idea that we presently have an invasion of Hispanic Americans. From Florida to South Carolina to New Mexico, California and Texas, you're bound to see that Hispanic America has been here for centuries, in concert with British and Dutch America.
A lengthy but rewarding non-fiction read.
I received a copy of this book from Atlantic Monthly Press via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
A lengthy but rewarding non-fiction read.
I received a copy of this book from Atlantic Monthly Press via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
November 26, 2019
A well written and researched book that gives a solid overview of the complicated history of Hispanic North America. The author has given me much to think about and a thorough bibliography to help me find more information. Worth reading if you've never been aware of the impact of Hispanic people upon the United States throughout history or are curious where to start.
As a descendant of Californios it was interesting to read and I'm looking forward to reading more about my ancestors.
As a descendant of Californios it was interesting to read and I'm looking forward to reading more about my ancestors.
November 16, 2020
I discovered when I started teaching my kids history that my own education had slanted heavily towards the New England colonies, and that I had missed much of the early French and Spanish colonial history in the USA. This book is sweeping and extensive, covering early American history up to modern-day issues in the Caribbean, on the border, and with questions of ethnicity and race. Highly recommended.
January 19, 2021
US
El Norte is an excellent road map of American history that reminds us of how much we are defined by our Spanish, as well as our Anglo European heritage. What is exceptional about this work is that the author does not split hairs and skin cells. Much of the influence of African Americans and that of many Native American peoples is expressed through the book as well. Rather than the picture of Hispanic peoples crossing illegally into an Anglo country that is often misconceived, the book illustrates a continent already peopled with Hispanics more than a century before the Anglos arrived.
The information is not a ‘re-imagining’ of history, but a true look at the facts as we know them, even where they are often overlooked by modern Americans. Ms. Gibson covers everything from the Alamo to Zorro in this thick volume of history, and so much in between. Just to give a brief summary of topics:
Not only does the book cover a full survey of the ‘Hispanic’ history that makes us ‘Americans,’ it delves into the questions of race, ethnicity, and skin colors which vary across the spectrum. It accomplishes all this as a well-researched history book, rather than a political rant. Interestingly to me, the author is from Dalton, Georgia. I grew up in Dalton, leaving after graduation probably the year the author was born. I was well-aware of the transformation that came over my hometown over the years after I moved away. By then, I was already learning Spanish myself to speak with my immigrant students and their parents in the Atlanta area, so I was delighted to see the new Spanish language billboards in Dalton. In the times I have been back there since, I have enjoyed the many expressions of Hispanic Culture I found. Things in Dalton seem to be slowly changing for the better, with ingrained racism giving way as the latest generation is exposed to new cultures and other ways of life.
The book was published early 2019, before the Corona Pandemic. But, the author pulled in strengths and weaknesses of presidents from our early history and modern history; including Clinton, Obama, Reagan, and Trump. There are several excellent maps of US exploration and a nice photo section. My first thought was that more photos would have been better. But, after counting more than 40, I realized they were just all grouped in one section. Photos add so much to a look at history and America.
I read this in the hardback format from Barnes & Noble, after which I bought the Kindle whisper-sync, so I could use the search features on the Kindle app for different topics. I recommend this book for every American, regardless of race or ethnicity. It is a must read and is a work of great relevance and insight. I am so glad I found this, and I look forward to exploring her other works. I will restrain myself to sharing only a couple of quotes from the Introduction. You will want to read the book.
El Norte is an excellent road map of American history that reminds us of how much we are defined by our Spanish, as well as our Anglo European heritage. What is exceptional about this work is that the author does not split hairs and skin cells. Much of the influence of African Americans and that of many Native American peoples is expressed through the book as well. Rather than the picture of Hispanic peoples crossing illegally into an Anglo country that is often misconceived, the book illustrates a continent already peopled with Hispanics more than a century before the Anglos arrived.
The information is not a ‘re-imagining’ of history, but a true look at the facts as we know them, even where they are often overlooked by modern Americans. Ms. Gibson covers everything from the Alamo to Zorro in this thick volume of history, and so much in between. Just to give a brief summary of topics:
Afro-Cubans, the Black Legend, Citizenship, DACA and DREAM, Education, Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) and Fair Housing Act (1968,) the Gold Rush and Elian Gonzalez, Hispanic Identity, I Love Lucy, Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson, the Know-Nothing Party, Latinx, the Mambo, New Orleans and Nuyoricans, Operation Wetback, Puerto Rico Revolt, the legend of Queen Calafia (California,) the Revolutionary War (and Spain’s support,) Slavery, Spanish Settlements, the Spanish American War and Spanish Harlem, Tennessee, Texas, Tallahassee, Tampa, and Tucson, Urban Renewal, Pancho Villa, Whiteness, Colonel Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl, Ybor City, and the Zoot Suit Riots.
Not only does the book cover a full survey of the ‘Hispanic’ history that makes us ‘Americans,’ it delves into the questions of race, ethnicity, and skin colors which vary across the spectrum. It accomplishes all this as a well-researched history book, rather than a political rant. Interestingly to me, the author is from Dalton, Georgia. I grew up in Dalton, leaving after graduation probably the year the author was born. I was well-aware of the transformation that came over my hometown over the years after I moved away. By then, I was already learning Spanish myself to speak with my immigrant students and their parents in the Atlanta area, so I was delighted to see the new Spanish language billboards in Dalton. In the times I have been back there since, I have enjoyed the many expressions of Hispanic Culture I found. Things in Dalton seem to be slowly changing for the better, with ingrained racism giving way as the latest generation is exposed to new cultures and other ways of life.
The book was published early 2019, before the Corona Pandemic. But, the author pulled in strengths and weaknesses of presidents from our early history and modern history; including Clinton, Obama, Reagan, and Trump. There are several excellent maps of US exploration and a nice photo section. My first thought was that more photos would have been better. But, after counting more than 40, I realized they were just all grouped in one section. Photos add so much to a look at history and America.
I read this in the hardback format from Barnes & Noble, after which I bought the Kindle whisper-sync, so I could use the search features on the Kindle app for different topics. I recommend this book for every American, regardless of race or ethnicity. It is a must read and is a work of great relevance and insight. I am so glad I found this, and I look forward to exploring her other works. I will restrain myself to sharing only a couple of quotes from the Introduction. You will want to read the book.
"...the historian George J. Sanchez has described ethnicity as being 'not a fixed set of customs surviving from life in Mexico, but rather a collective identity that emerged from daily experience in the United States.'"
"Are you still 'Hispanic' if you speak only English, are Protestant, and don't care for tacos?"
"...'alien citizens'... persons who are American citizens by virtue of their birth in the United States but who are presumed to be foreign by the mainstream of American culture, and at times by the state."
January 1, 2021
The highest praise I can give this book is to say that having read it courtesy of my local library, I decided to buy my own copy. I admit it sat on my “to read” list for quite a while, perhaps because the cover art and the broad scope of the work suggested a school textbook. But we should be so lucky as to get such interesting texts in school. Gibson’s account of the exploration and settlement of North America by Spaniards and their social, cultural, and political legacy up to the present day (actually, 2017) is encyclopedic, but always engaging and accessible. The scope of the story is amazing— I had never before realized that some of the very first Spanish settlements were in modern-day South Carolina and Canada, rather than Florida or Mexico. Gibson brings to life countless communities, from lost colonies to the contemporary United States, and places them in the context of historical movements. At times, the plethora of names and dates is a bit overwhelming (which is why I decided to buy the book for future reference). But the author always held my interest with new (to me) details about famous figures and many brief biographical sketches of obscure journalists, novelists, musicians, athletes, artists, rebels and ordinary people in the Spanish-speaking diaspora. This book isn’t a quick read, but it is a very good one.
March 1, 2022
The stories of English and French colonizations in North America tend to dominate American history books. "El Norte" by Carrie Gibson (2019) sheds an expanse light on what the Spanish contributed to our history and culture. It's a very interesting story well told. You might be surprised that the Spanish not only settled in Florida but explored as far north as what is now Missouri. I was. Their early exploration and colonization of the American southwest are also a fascinating story. The founding of Texas and the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 is also covered in some detail. The book outlines how immigration, especially from Latin American countries, has been a burning issue throughout our history. Trump's crazed denunciation of immigrants is nothing new. In later chapters, how immigration has impacted New York, Florida, and California in the modern day is also explained. Anyone interested in American history, particularly the American southwest, will find the book very informative.
April 28, 2020
As the subtitle of the book says, this is a history of Hispanic North America - a largely ignored and forgotten legacy of Spanish culture in North America (most people think only of Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico . . . but often ignore that Florida and some of the southern coast of the "original 13 colonies" were first settled by the Spanish, or don't really think about Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, California, etc. as Spanish possessions or areas of Spanish activity until the United States expanded into and annexed those areas). I certainly learned more about the history of my own current state of residence (Arizona), and the southwest region's history. It was interesting, having just finished the book Silver, Sword, and Stone, how many themes were repeated in early chapters of this book.
Read
January 3, 2023This is the one-volume overview history of Hispanic North America I hoped it would be. It’s quite readable without getting over simplistic, which it achieves by not delving much into analysis. As a result it can feel a little disjointed as it shifts between places and topics, but this seems like the best compromise to make to cover so much in just one book. Over the course of the 19th century the focus shifts more toward the US, with less comprehensive coverage of Mexico and the Caribbean, which I imagine is another tough compromise the author chose to manage this as one volume. Of the (modern) Hispanic Caribbean, it covers Puerto Rico the most, then Cuba, with comparatively little about the Dominican Republic or US Virgin Islands.
August 23, 2021
US history that I was taught in school focused on the British colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. Carrie Gibson focuses this history on Spanish colonies—Florida, New Mexico (which includes the current states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California), Puerto Rico, Cuba. This shift of focus is fascinating. It gave me historic background for many of the challenges faced by the US in my lifetime.
This is a very readable and thought provoking history.
This is a very readable and thought provoking history.
June 18, 2024
probs one of my fave books of the year tbh. pretty eye opening look at my family's own history I hadn't given a lot of thought to
hot takes - now I get why this Mexican guy I dated would get so salty about the 🇲🇽-🇺🇸 War from like 200 years ago lol. also I was an avowed TX hater before this, now even more so. NM needs to liberate El Paso from the scourge of TX 😤 lastly, totally makes sense now why people in north NM get pissed when you call them Mexican and not Spanish
un abrazo grande a mis herman@s de américa latina
hot takes - now I get why this Mexican guy I dated would get so salty about the 🇲🇽-🇺🇸 War from like 200 years ago lol. also I was an avowed TX hater before this, now even more so. NM needs to liberate El Paso from the scourge of TX 😤 lastly, totally makes sense now why people in north NM get pissed when you call them Mexican and not Spanish
un abrazo grande a mis herman@s de américa latina
February 5, 2019
El Norte by Carrie Gibson is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late December.
Oop, this’ll likely have some carryover from reading América…. somewhat: the chapters are about the outcomes of individual cities between 1492 and the present day, though not quite from where you’d expect (i.e. obviously San Antonio, Nogales, and New Orleans, but also Santa Elena, SC, and New Madrid, MO). Gibson questions concepts of cultural ethnography, American multiculturalism alongside travelling through the bottom south of the United States, looping up to Alaska, then going back through the Midwest and into the East Coast. The cities in the chapters make up a shaky, loose, symbolic framework of the goings-on up until the 1800s when it becomes much more area-specific when talking about borrowing Cuban and Mexican culture, like art, music, dance and Zorro, Chicano activism for unionization, NAFTA, and politics and the immigration of refugees.
Oop, this’ll likely have some carryover from reading América…. somewhat: the chapters are about the outcomes of individual cities between 1492 and the present day, though not quite from where you’d expect (i.e. obviously San Antonio, Nogales, and New Orleans, but also Santa Elena, SC, and New Madrid, MO). Gibson questions concepts of cultural ethnography, American multiculturalism alongside travelling through the bottom south of the United States, looping up to Alaska, then going back through the Midwest and into the East Coast. The cities in the chapters make up a shaky, loose, symbolic framework of the goings-on up until the 1800s when it becomes much more area-specific when talking about borrowing Cuban and Mexican culture, like art, music, dance and Zorro, Chicano activism for unionization, NAFTA, and politics and the immigration of refugees.
June 18, 2019
Good, thorough history of the Spanish in the American continent, somewhat scholarly but very readable and pertinent to the current political climate.
January 20, 2020
A fascinating history of Hispanic influence in North America, all the way from the conquistadores to the Trump administration.
I knew a lot of the Arizona/southwest history, but some of Missouri/Louisiana/Florida was new to me, and extra interesting.
I knew a lot of the Arizona/southwest history, but some of Missouri/Louisiana/Florida was new to me, and extra interesting.
May 2, 2019
Good book. American history is in large part Hispanic. We forget that, if we ever knew.
March 5, 2020
Read it and then read it again!
July 2, 2019
I liked this book, but I was a little disappointed in it. Even though it's 800 pages long, it can't quite cover the vast history of Spanish conquest in the Americas. Many parts were skipped over, or discussed very quickly, most especially history pertaining to the Indigenous tribes of the Americas. Like many books that talk about Indigenous history this book relies very heavily on sources that are written or compiled by non-Native writers and historians. I was disheartened to have the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 rushed over so quickly, and told from the point of view of Spanish conquestadores which are skewed at best, although I do understand how difficult it would be to condense the entirety of Spanish history into one book. Read anything by Joe S. Sando or Alfonso Ortiz to get a great history of the Pueblo people, as told by the Pueblo people.
I was also disappointed that the history of the Spanish in the Philippines was barely mentioned. Again, I get that this book focuses on the Spanish in the Americas, but when the Filipino manongs immigrated to the United States, their fates became intertwined with the fates of people who were similarly colonized by Spain. Carrie Gibson mentions very briefly the migrant farmers strikes led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, yet she completely fails to mention Larry Itliong who led the first strikes of Filipino farm workers, strikes that were later joined by Mexican farm workers led by Cesar Chavez. Chavez and Huerta were inspired and influenced by Itliong and the manongs, and worked side by side with them during the strikes. Mexican American and Filipino American civil rights advocates found common ground with each other, partly because their Spanish based common cultures were so similar. I really wish this had been mentioned, especially because Gibson makes a point to mention that Manila galleons that were on an trade route between the Philippines and the Americans established by Spain.
Despite these quibbles, the book is very interesting, and I did learn a lot, although I would recommend a bunch of other books written by people of color about this same history before I would recommend this one.
I was also disappointed that the history of the Spanish in the Philippines was barely mentioned. Again, I get that this book focuses on the Spanish in the Americas, but when the Filipino manongs immigrated to the United States, their fates became intertwined with the fates of people who were similarly colonized by Spain. Carrie Gibson mentions very briefly the migrant farmers strikes led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, yet she completely fails to mention Larry Itliong who led the first strikes of Filipino farm workers, strikes that were later joined by Mexican farm workers led by Cesar Chavez. Chavez and Huerta were inspired and influenced by Itliong and the manongs, and worked side by side with them during the strikes. Mexican American and Filipino American civil rights advocates found common ground with each other, partly because their Spanish based common cultures were so similar. I really wish this had been mentioned, especially because Gibson makes a point to mention that Manila galleons that were on an trade route between the Philippines and the Americans established by Spain.
Despite these quibbles, the book is very interesting, and I did learn a lot, although I would recommend a bunch of other books written by people of color about this same history before I would recommend this one.
July 27, 2020
This is a solid history of Spanish speaking North America. It covers a lot of ground from Columbus to the Trump presidency.
It seemed a little uneven to me. At some points I was drawn in by an interesting story while, at other times, it felt like the author was just making sure she covered everything and it got rather dry.
Nevertheless, this seems to me an essential addition to a well round understanding of world history, since this is a subject that is often overlooked. I learned a lot and I’m glad I read it.
It seemed a little uneven to me. At some points I was drawn in by an interesting story while, at other times, it felt like the author was just making sure she covered everything and it got rather dry.
Nevertheless, this seems to me an essential addition to a well round understanding of world history, since this is a subject that is often overlooked. I learned a lot and I’m glad I read it.
December 3, 2018
A comprehensive history of the Spanish history of the United States from Columbus to Trump.
I wondered if maybe this book might be too ambitious but I was mistaken. Gibson has clearly done a lot of research and she manages to make it very readable to the layperson. She covers U.S.-Spanish relations without whitewashing the topic as so many have done before her. I found this book incredibly readable and topical.
I wondered if maybe this book might be too ambitious but I was mistaken. Gibson has clearly done a lot of research and she manages to make it very readable to the layperson. She covers U.S.-Spanish relations without whitewashing the topic as so many have done before her. I found this book incredibly readable and topical.
June 6, 2020
Didn't finish. 400 pages with no conceptual framework.
Read
October 7, 2023This book, about “The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America” has a subject almost too big to handle. It is organized roughly chronologically, beginning with Columbus, and ending at the present day, but also by geographical area, with the author, in journalist style, visiting locations where historical events occurred. She describes the markers, the parks and plazas, and then backs up to tell what happened there in the past.
And there is So Much History. I could never remember all the generals, and treaties, and battles, and settlements, and massacres. But isn’t that the point? That Spanish speaking peoples have hundreds of years of being here and doing stuff, and that, apart from the names of a few conquistadores, American schoolchildren are taught about very little of this. If you believe that your country’s history begins with the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, and then their descendants spreading westward, then it is easy for a person today to view Spanish-speaking people who live within the borders of the United States as foreigners, intruders who have invaded, to disrupt and destroy the American way of life. But Hispanic peoples were not only here first, but they have lived among Anglos the entire time, as Florida was once Spanish territory, and Louisiana, and Texas, and Arizona, and New Mexico, and California were all Spanish.
Since there was too much history for me to summarize, let me merely tell some of my impressions. Spain’s “business model” in the new world was different from England’s. It focused more on resource extraction than settlement. Spain sent mostly men, mostly as governors and soldiers and priests. It’s an exaggeration to say that the Spanish spent their whole time in the New World looking for gold, but they did look for gold, and they set up mines when they found any metals, mostly silver, with the work being done by enslaved Native Americans.
The early years of conquest were brutal. This makes me sad. But, given the climate of the times, I don’t know how it might have happened differently. I can’t imagine a scenario where any Europeans met the Native Americans with respect, and treated them as equals. It is striking that the Native peoples were not “primitive savages” as the Spanish (and also the English) thought them, but had advanced societies, with prosperous cities larger than the major cities of Europe. The conquistadores conquered through a combination of technology, deceit, cruelty, and smallpox.
And yet the Spanish were not a monolithic force. Soldiers, who were months away from the homeland, and from getting approval for their plans, could go rogue, and act on their own. Sometimes that caused the crown to say, “Wait. What are you doing over there? Come back and give an account of yourself.”
The Spanish tramped all over the continent, reaching farther up the East coast, and up the West coast, and into the interior than we think, claiming for the crown areas that we don’t think of as “Spanish lands.” But they were always spread thin. There were never enough boots on the ground to hold all that territory.
I was surprised to learn that when the English established their first settlements in Virginia, the Spanish said, “Wait a minute. That’s ours. We own that.” And the English said, “But you aren’t here.” And the Spanish contemplated going to war, over it but nothing came of it. They were busy elsewhere.
The English spread their farms and cities. The Spanish also had farms, or ranches, and cities, but as the years passed, they let much of their North American territory go.
Through the years I was struck with the way Anglo prejudice toward Hispanic peoples has changed very little. Americans of a century ago or more viewed themselves as industrious, civilized, self-controlled, brave, honorable, and thrifty, while Mexicans and others were lazy, cowardly, superstitious, dirty, noisy, and criminal. And also carriers of disease. I was even more struck by the way it used to be acceptable to say these things right out loud, to publish them in a national magazine say, or in a speech in congress.
The earlier parts of the book are mostly straightforward history: this happened, then that happened. The Mexican revolution happened. Texas happened. The Cuban revolution happened. Puerto Rico struggled with what it was going to be.
The later parts of the book explore culture as much as history: Hispanic food and music, Hispanics in sports and on television. Many questions are asked that don’t have simple answers. What does it mean to be an American? Who gets to call themselves an American? Are Hispanics white? What should Hispanics be called? Should they aim to assimilate or celebrate their diverse cultures? The final word is just that most Americans think of Spanish-speaking people as “alien” or “other,” but they are not as other as we think, because our history of living together goes back centuries.
And there is So Much History. I could never remember all the generals, and treaties, and battles, and settlements, and massacres. But isn’t that the point? That Spanish speaking peoples have hundreds of years of being here and doing stuff, and that, apart from the names of a few conquistadores, American schoolchildren are taught about very little of this. If you believe that your country’s history begins with the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, and then their descendants spreading westward, then it is easy for a person today to view Spanish-speaking people who live within the borders of the United States as foreigners, intruders who have invaded, to disrupt and destroy the American way of life. But Hispanic peoples were not only here first, but they have lived among Anglos the entire time, as Florida was once Spanish territory, and Louisiana, and Texas, and Arizona, and New Mexico, and California were all Spanish.
Since there was too much history for me to summarize, let me merely tell some of my impressions. Spain’s “business model” in the new world was different from England’s. It focused more on resource extraction than settlement. Spain sent mostly men, mostly as governors and soldiers and priests. It’s an exaggeration to say that the Spanish spent their whole time in the New World looking for gold, but they did look for gold, and they set up mines when they found any metals, mostly silver, with the work being done by enslaved Native Americans.
The early years of conquest were brutal. This makes me sad. But, given the climate of the times, I don’t know how it might have happened differently. I can’t imagine a scenario where any Europeans met the Native Americans with respect, and treated them as equals. It is striking that the Native peoples were not “primitive savages” as the Spanish (and also the English) thought them, but had advanced societies, with prosperous cities larger than the major cities of Europe. The conquistadores conquered through a combination of technology, deceit, cruelty, and smallpox.
And yet the Spanish were not a monolithic force. Soldiers, who were months away from the homeland, and from getting approval for their plans, could go rogue, and act on their own. Sometimes that caused the crown to say, “Wait. What are you doing over there? Come back and give an account of yourself.”
The Spanish tramped all over the continent, reaching farther up the East coast, and up the West coast, and into the interior than we think, claiming for the crown areas that we don’t think of as “Spanish lands.” But they were always spread thin. There were never enough boots on the ground to hold all that territory.
I was surprised to learn that when the English established their first settlements in Virginia, the Spanish said, “Wait a minute. That’s ours. We own that.” And the English said, “But you aren’t here.” And the Spanish contemplated going to war, over it but nothing came of it. They were busy elsewhere.
The English spread their farms and cities. The Spanish also had farms, or ranches, and cities, but as the years passed, they let much of their North American territory go.
Through the years I was struck with the way Anglo prejudice toward Hispanic peoples has changed very little. Americans of a century ago or more viewed themselves as industrious, civilized, self-controlled, brave, honorable, and thrifty, while Mexicans and others were lazy, cowardly, superstitious, dirty, noisy, and criminal. And also carriers of disease. I was even more struck by the way it used to be acceptable to say these things right out loud, to publish them in a national magazine say, or in a speech in congress.
The earlier parts of the book are mostly straightforward history: this happened, then that happened. The Mexican revolution happened. Texas happened. The Cuban revolution happened. Puerto Rico struggled with what it was going to be.
The later parts of the book explore culture as much as history: Hispanic food and music, Hispanics in sports and on television. Many questions are asked that don’t have simple answers. What does it mean to be an American? Who gets to call themselves an American? Are Hispanics white? What should Hispanics be called? Should they aim to assimilate or celebrate their diverse cultures? The final word is just that most Americans think of Spanish-speaking people as “alien” or “other,” but they are not as other as we think, because our history of living together goes back centuries.
May 28, 2019
“El Norte: the epic and forgotten story of Hispanic North America,” by Carrie Gibson (Grove/Atlantic Monthly, 2019). This was an eye-opener for me, although its foundation has always been in the back of my historical mind. In essence, the Spanish and their descendants have been in North America far longer and more widespread than we Estadunidencistas acknowledge or know. Americans tend to know about the English, French and German heritages, while the Spanish roots are buried or ignored. Spanish explorers and conquistadores had been doing both for more than a century before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. One very important difference: the Spanish were not very interested in settling here; they wanted either to spread Christianity (Catholicism) or to find treasure. But their explorers went just about everywhere, starting in the Caribbean, moving through the Gulf of Mexico, up the East Coast as far as Chesapeake Bay, west across Central America and then up to Baja California and as far as Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island in what is now British Columbia. The discoverers were brave, determined, greedy, fractious. Many died on their expeditions, or were lost for years (Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors found eight years after a disastrous mission to Florida led by Pánfilo de Narvaez). Much of their depredations were made easier by the Eurasian diseases carried by the explorers, diseases to which the natives were fatally vulnerable. Millions of Americans died, leaving empty cities and hollowed out civilizations that were a bit easier to conquer and destroy. The Spanish treated the locals with supreme brutality, despite efforts by the government to hold them back. They were used as slaves, tortured, raped, treated as barely human—despite the alleged motive of saving their souls. The Spanish did reap enormous wealth from the Americas, though far more of that came from the Andean areas of the Incas. There were never very large communities—few Europeans, or Spaniards, at least, were interested in becoming colonists. They wanted treasure, that’s all. The point is, the Spanish were traveling and leaving missions throughout North America, except for the East Coast eventually colonized by the British. Spain owned the Louisiana Territory before giving it to the French, who sold it to the Americans. Meanwhile, the English-Americans gradually pushed their way west, barging into Spanish territory everywhere. Spain was an important ally in the War for Independence—perhaps it did not send troops as the French did, but it entered the war with France. Gibson exposes the deeply interlocked history of English and Spanish North America right up to the Trump administration. The Americans viewed the Spanish/Mexicans as lower beings, lazy, thieving, treacherous, indolent, all things that the industrious Protestant Americans despised. I had not realized that the US took more than half of Mexico in the Mexican War. The racism became deeper and deeper, until those of Spanish descent were subject to the same type of Jim Crow laws as African Americans. Gibson spends a good deal of time discussing what the proper nomenclature might be: Hispanic, Latino, Spanish. The issue of immigration has been a contentious one for more than a century, not just in the Trump era. A very rich, deeply researched, and revealing book.
https://groveatlantic.com/book/el-norte/
https://groveatlantic.com/book/el-norte/
August 13, 2021
This was a good book, but it lost me in the end. The ending wasn’t quite enough to change my rating, but I did find myself wondering “how much left do I have?” Despite its flaws, though, I really felt like this book was worth my time.
El Norte is a history of Spanish America and it’s complicated relationship with the United States. The first section (before the US really got involved) was fantastic. Genuinely some of the most fascinating history I have ever read. After the United States was introduced, I still felt compelled by the narrative, but it slowly tapered off until the chapters that summarize our history post-WWII.
After WWII, America’s relationship with Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Central America gets really complicated and quite sloppy. This book drives that home. Once the author gets going, it’s obvious that it’s difficult to stop and the book becomes a political text rather than a historical one.
I want to emphasize that I agree with the points made in El Norte. I just really wanted to read a history rather than a political message at the end. This book is clearly a reaction to President Trump’s racist, anti-Hispanic rhetoric. I’m glad it was written, but I found myself wishing the book went in a different direction.
Despite all that, I think the first three-quarters of the book are great. I learned so much about Latin America and how Spain transformed the new world. The interactions between the native Americans and the Spanish were excellently described and explained. I really felt like I was learning a lot about the foundation of modern American culture. This book explained the origins of many American states and how Mexican culture merged with American culture to create the Tex-Mex culture that pervades the Southwest (and really the whole country). I was amazed at just how much of the world I know is thanks to Spain, Mexico, and Native Americans. It was very cool to internalize all that.
I awarded this book four stars. It deserves a read, I think. Especially if you’re looking for new perspectives or an education on just how influential Mexico is.
El Norte is a history of Spanish America and it’s complicated relationship with the United States. The first section (before the US really got involved) was fantastic. Genuinely some of the most fascinating history I have ever read. After the United States was introduced, I still felt compelled by the narrative, but it slowly tapered off until the chapters that summarize our history post-WWII.
After WWII, America’s relationship with Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Central America gets really complicated and quite sloppy. This book drives that home. Once the author gets going, it’s obvious that it’s difficult to stop and the book becomes a political text rather than a historical one.
I want to emphasize that I agree with the points made in El Norte. I just really wanted to read a history rather than a political message at the end. This book is clearly a reaction to President Trump’s racist, anti-Hispanic rhetoric. I’m glad it was written, but I found myself wishing the book went in a different direction.
Despite all that, I think the first three-quarters of the book are great. I learned so much about Latin America and how Spain transformed the new world. The interactions between the native Americans and the Spanish were excellently described and explained. I really felt like I was learning a lot about the foundation of modern American culture. This book explained the origins of many American states and how Mexican culture merged with American culture to create the Tex-Mex culture that pervades the Southwest (and really the whole country). I was amazed at just how much of the world I know is thanks to Spain, Mexico, and Native Americans. It was very cool to internalize all that.
I awarded this book four stars. It deserves a read, I think. Especially if you’re looking for new perspectives or an education on just how influential Mexico is.
September 15, 2020
This book looks at how the Hispanic past is remembered, forgotten or reinvented. It begins with the arrival of the Spanish in America, then looks at the relationship with the colonies from Spain. France, and England, moving on to examine the 20th century issues related to immigration from Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, and finishes dealing with public attitudes and government policies related to immigration post-World War II. Spain was never able to dominate North America due to low settlement populations and a lack of established commerce which allowed others to seize their territories. Unfortunately, the Spanish settlers did not fit into the concept of “Manifest Destiny” a racist based policy of expansion by the U.S. Further, the myth that emerged of the frontier in history books relegated Spanish settlers to a subservient level. Their contribution was usually noted only in the area of the cowboys or vaqueros. Wiped out from the narrative of the “Wild West” was the murders, executions, and lynchings of Hispanics. Best quote from the book, “By creating and promoting the Southwest on the basis of this mythical past, the Anglo world was able to control the image of Hispanics in the region, reducing their experience to a form of tourist spectacle.” So this myth was both romantic and exclusionary. This attitude carried right into the 20th century when many immigration exclusionary laws were written. Walls, real and imagined were created as well. Hollywood played a large part in this. Other than food, what is often overlooked is the Hispanic influence here in the U.S. to music, art, drama, literature, and sports. History is full of sore spots such as this national narrative. The Hispanic story is inescapably entwined with that of the U. S., not separate. This is what makes us part of the Americas. A very good read.
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