Immigration, Gender, and Community: Mexican Migration and Americanization (1880s–1930s)

A set of vocabulary flashcards detailing the historical causes of Mexican migration, gender dynamics, survival strategies, Americanization programs, and 1930s repatriation.

Mexican Revolution (1910–1917)

A seven-year bloody civil war in Mexico that erupted after the re-election of Porfirio Diaz, causing massive destruction, loss of life, and the migration of over 1.5 million people (10%+ of Mexico's population) to the United States.

Porfiriato

The period of Porfirio Diaz's rule (1876–1910) marked by conditions of violence, poverty, and political persecution from which working-class, middle-class, and elite Mexicans fled.

Dolores del Rio

An elite Mexican actress who, as a child, fled Mexico with her family to escape the political persecution and violence of the Mexican Revolution.

Immigration Law of 1924

Federal legislation that ended the exemption of Mexican immigrants from U.S. labor immigration restrictions that had previously targeted Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian, and Southern European laborers.

Border Journeys

A term used by historian Vicki Ruiz to describe the migration paths of Mexican women who traveled alone (solas) or with family in search of labor and economic stability.

Double Day

The dual burden endured by working women who engaged in wage labor in workplaces and followed it with unpaid domestic responsibilities at home.

The "Mexican Problem"

A racialized label used by social workers and reformers depicting Mexican people as non-white, possessing racial defects, and being unwilling or unable to assimilate into American society.

Family Oligarchy

A concept identified by Vicki Ruiz describing women who uphold patriarchal norms and male authority within the household and family structure.

Triple Oppression

The intersecting forms of discrimination—race, class, and gender—experienced by racialized Mexican women, resulting in lower wages than white men, white women, and Mexican men.

Mutualistas

Community mutual aid societies established by Mexican immigrants to provide members with collective financial support, life insurance, and a system of 'social security.'

Cultural Coalescence

A survival and community strategy where Mexican immigrants selectively borrowed and integrated distinct cultural practices to create unique, blended cultural forms and claim public spaces.

Americanization

A program of civic and cultural transformation led by white, middle-class Progressive reformers to inculcate American values, English language, citizenship, and capitalist work habits into immigrant communities.

Home Teacher Act of 1915

A California state law allowing teachers into private homes to specifically target Mexican women and girls for Americanization under the premise of 'going after the women.'

Inner Colonization

An Americanization method seeking total transformation of the immigrant's mind, body, and soul in order to solve the 'Mexican problem' and create efficient, compliant capitalist workers.

Repatriation (1930s)

The forced and 'voluntary' removal of 500,000 to 1 million Mexican-origin individuals (approximately 60% of whom were U.S.-born citizens) to Mexico during the Great Depression to reduce welfare relief rolls and open jobs for whites.

Wagner Act (1935)

A New Deal legislative act that excluded domestic and agricultural workers from the right to unionize, leaving many Mexican-origin laborers who remained in the U.S. without labor protections.