Before the English began active colonization, the Spanish had conquered most of the American continent, with the exception of the British North America, Brazil, the Caribbean and some small regions in South America. The Spanish were motivated by profits as well as the spread of Catholicism through the conversion of the indigenous groups. The Spanish empire would later disintegrate paving way especially to the expansion of the United States. The Spanish rule of its colonies was marked by several complexities particularly relating to race. The Spanish were ranked highly, followed by criollos, who were descendants of the Spanish born in the colonies, while native, mixed race and African groups ranked lowest in the caste system. Nevertheless, the Spanish influence in the United States presently is evident by the large number of people who speak Spanish, practice Catholicism and still maintain crucial cultural practices from the Spanish. Regarding the criollos, they declared independence from Spain because they were not given equal status as the Spanish but they risked losing their privileges considering that they were treated better than the other racial groups.
Spain’s influence in the present day United States is mainly evident by the large number of people who speak Spanish. The Spanish-speaking population is the second largest minority group presently and as of 1976, the group was approximately twelve million people with an annual increase of about half a million people 1 . The history of Spanish speaking people as well as their influence starts from the U.S expansionist policies especially in the 17 th century in what was popularly referred to as Manifest Destiny. It was perceived that the U.S was ordained by God to expand its territory to achieve prosperity. While some Spanish speaking territories such as Louisiana were purchased, others such as Florida were acquired through military action. Some of the other prominent Spanish speaking states or regions in the U.S today include California, Texas, Montana, Puerto Rico, Arizona, Kansas, and New Mexico. Currently, every state of the Union has Spanish speaking residents.
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The large number of people speaking Spanish in the U.S has led or influenced the development of policies to address their interests. Firstly, this number influences politics in the sense that states with many people speaking Spanish elect members of their own to various political seats who in turn influence policies impacting their members. For instance, a lot of efforts have been made to recognize the Spanish language in schools and important aspects of service delivery. Although the U.S is predominantly an English speaking country, Spanish is gaining significant recognition and it cannot be ignored.
Spain’s influence in the U.S is also manifested in the religion and cultural practices. Firstly, most of the Spanish-speaking people commonly identify themselves as Catholics, a religion mostly introduced to the native people during the Spanish invasion of the region. It is a Spanish influence because most of Anglo settlers in the U.S were Protestants fleeing from Europe to escape the religious persecution of Catholic rulers. Culturally, the Spanish speaking people in the U.S still adore Spanish diets and even family systems.
On the issue of the criollos and their declaration of independence from Spain, they were mainly compelled to do so because the Spanish failed to give them equal status and privileges. Gonzalez notes, “But the Cortes stopped short of full equality when it refused to permit the colonies, whose population far outnumbered Spain’s a proportionate share of delegates. That refusal angered the most radical criollo leaders who decided to break with the new Spanish government and declare their independence.” 2 In this case, Spain had previously been invaded by Napoleon’s troops, leading to the capture of their king, and that had caused its colonies to be ruled by juntas for a while. However, the Spanish citizens had defended their country, defeating Napoleon’s soldiers. When the king was installed back to power, he did not want to lose the former colonies, and therefore, wanted to continue with the previous oppressive system. It was this oppressive system and the failure to grant equal rights that angered the criollos and consequently compelled them to declare their independence from Spain.
The criollos declaration of independence was a risk in the sense that they would lose their special status. In the caste system established by the Spanish, the criollos was just below the Spanish, and that meant that they were granted special privileges and treated fairly. When they declared their independence, it meant that they would either treat the other racial groups fairly or risk getting into conflict with these groups. If they were to fight with these groups, they would not be guaranteed of full support from the Spanish because they had rebelled against the Spanish. Therefore, it was a difficult situation to balance between their supposed superiority status and the interests of the other racial groups.
To conclude, the influence of the Spanish is very much evident in the U.S currently. The most prominent influence relates to the Spanish language which is widely spoken, and consequently leading to Spanish speaking people being an important group in American politics. In relation to the criollos, the only reason that led to them declaring independence from Spain was because of the failure of the latter to give them equal status. However, the criollos risked getting into conflict with the other racial groups which were perceived to be inferior as per the caste system established by the Spanish.
Bibliography
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of empire: A history of Latinos in America . Penguin Group, 2001.
Worcester, Donald E. "The Significance of the Spanish Borderlands to the United States." The Western Historical Quarterly 7, no. 1 (1976): 5-18.
1 Worcester, Donald E. "The Significance of the Spanish Borderlands to the United States." The Western Historical Quarterly 7, no. 1 (1976), p.15
2 Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of empire: A history of Latinos in America . Penguin Group, 2001, p.32
