Yes, Niels was! And I realized after I wrote that I may have insinuated you meant only that. I totally did love seeing your thread. Thank you!
12.02.2026 01:39
👍 1
🔁 0
💬 0
📌 0
Yes, Niels was! And I realized after I wrote that I may have insinuated you meant only that. I totally did love seeing your thread. Thank you!
I was glad to update all the links and add alt text to the images of my old thread from another platform. Thanks for the encouragement friends, students, and family.
There is much more. Please read my book if interested.
It is historically inaccurate to see Spanish as solely an immigrant language in the United States. It has served as a language of politics for over 150 years. /fin
Clip from the New Mexico State Constitution "Sec. 3. The right of any citizen of the state to vote, hold office, or sit upon juries, shall never be restricted, abridged or impaired on account of religion, race, language or color, or inability to speak, read or write the English or Spanish languages..."
When New Mexico became a state in 1912, New Mexico included considerable protections of the Spanish language, including this one in Article VII, Section 3. catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/10032... /12
Spanish-language newspapers covered what was occurring in politics across the country and in Congress. Spanish-speaking New Mexicans were very invested in the US political system in large part because it was accessible in the Spanish language. /11
Spanish-language newspaper front page from Albuquerque, NM.
Both Republicans and Democrats recognized they had to use Spanish to win elections. You can see this in Spanish-language partisan newspapers—eg "La Bandera Americana" from 1903 (digitalrepository.unm.edu/bandera_amer... ). LOC’s Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov ) has more. /10
New Mexico became accustomed to seeing a translator on stage during political rallies, as seen in this 1910 photo of interpreter Luis Armijo onstage with L. Bradford Prince. econtent.unm.edu/digital/coll... /9
Screenshot of Laws of the Territory of New Mexico from 1869-1870. English-language version of laws on left. Spanish-language version of the laws is on the right.
In New Mexico, the overwhelming majority of residents spoke Spanish. The federal government paid for the translation of the territorial legislature’s journal and laws into English—often publishing them with English on one side & Spanish on the other. books.google.com/books?id=4ow... /8
Section 8 in script with some red underlining. "The General Assembly shall provide for the publication of the Laws passed at each session thereof. And until the year 1900 they shall cause to be published in Spanish and German, a sufficient number of copies of said Laws, to supply that portion of the inhabitants of the State who speak those languages, and who may be unable to read and understand the English language.
Article XVIII, Section 8 of Colorado’s 1876 constitution included the publication of laws into both Spanish and German until 1900. archives.colorado.gov/sites/archiv... (page 44) /7
California State Laws of 1850. "An Act Creating the office of State Translator. The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: §1 There shall be a State Translator..to make correct translations in Spanish of all laws, decrees, and documents required to be translated, by any law or any order of his office, shall take oat prescribed."
California employed a translator in its first legislative session and allocated money for translations until the second California Constitution was implemented in 1879. clerk.assembly.ca.gov/historical-i... (page 51) /6
Mr. GWIN. In support of the section offered by the gentleman from Santa Barbara, I would state that it has been nearly fifty years since Louisiana came into the Union, and they have published laws there in English, French, and Spanish, ever since.
The promise to publish documents in English and Spanish in the 1849 California Constitution was passed after delegates discussed how Louisiana also paid for the publication of documents in more than just English. The entire proceedings can be read at loc.gov/item/10013983/ /5
Official English-language script version of the CA Constitutional Convention, including Section 21.
The 1849 California Constitution included Article XI, Section 21 that promised, “All laws, decrees, regulations, and provisions, which from their nature require publication, shall be published in English and Spanish.” sos.ca.gov/archives/col... /4
Spanish-language version of the California State Constitution.
Mexican settler colonists helped secure the U.S Southwest over Indigenous Nations (both politically & geographically). In the 1849 California Constitution Spanish-speaking delegates advocated for constitutionally-supported bilingual publications. sos.ca.gov/archives/col... /3
Displays text tied to Article IX of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Spanish-language on the left and English-language on the right.
When the U.S. took over what became the nation’s Southwest in 1848, it extended U.S. citizenship to the former Mexican citizens through Article IX of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. There was no requirement in the treaty to learn English. (National Archives: NAID 299809) /2
A quick thread about the long use of the Spanish language in the politics of the U.S. Southwest, which includes some of the readily accessible documents I used to write my book. www.ucpress.edu/books/an-ame...
/1
The debates surrounding Bad Bunny & the Spanish language Super Bowl halftime show have led many friends and family to encourage me to respond. I will take this opportunity to migrate my 2019 thread to this platform. It offers my arguments in the way I prefer to give them, with the receipts/sources.
Lovely to read this thread. I wrote a whole book on this. Spanish was more than place names but was a political language of the region. The 1849 CA constitutional convention had interpreters for the monolongual delegates www.ucpress.edu/books/an-ame...
We are so excited about the next Charla y Café☕on November 14 with historians Dr. Raevin Jimenez,
@rosinalozano.bsky.social, and Dr. Veronica Martínez-Matsuda!
Register at bit.ly/nov14charla or via QR code, and join us to learn about "protecting the flame" of our academic trajectories & community🔥
I will share your info with her!
Calling out to @chamberslopez.bsky.social! We have another Chicana historian. ¡Felicidades to Dra. Ana Guerrero Gallegos who successfully defended her dissertation on the history of mixed status families! Find her @ucsb for a postdoc.
***Attention fellow historians, scholars, and concerned individuals***
The California Digital Newspaper Collection is under financial threat, facing a $300,000 deficit.
If you would like to keep this essential resource afloat, please consider donating:
www.givecampus.com/campaigns/61...
I just used a food dehydrator that I got 20 years ago for my wedding. Sadly it is too humid in NJ to air dry.
Apply! I’m looking forward to attending and commenting this year.
Last stage of summer 2024 harvest. Super spicy chile powder and chile flakes for gifts (none of receivers are on BlueSky). It was a productive year!
Given that I just read in my son’s AP textbook about settlers on “virgin lands” just yesterday I’m sadly not surprised.
🙋🏻♀️
Lyrics and English translation: public.websites.umich.edu/~ac213/stude...
And as all Mexicanos know thanks to Los Hermanos Ortiz and Kelly Lytle Hernandez, “Superman es ilegal.” youtu.be/xKZ_1LAi8os?...
Agreed. So tough! I want my letter to not raise red flags and push the reviewers to their applications, not be a tie breaker.
Looking forward to seeing you!