American Experience

The Story of Texas

Objective
To understand the key events by which Texas passed from Spanish control and eventually joined the United States.

Activity
View the film chapter titled “Pepper Bellies,” which mentions the United States’ takeover of large areas of Mexican territory, including Mexico. What events led Texas to become part of the United States — and how might CNN have reported them on TV if it had existed back then? To find out, divide the class into eight groups and assign each group one of these events:

• Mexico declares independence from Spain (1821)
• Mexico grants Stephen Austin the right to bring Anglo settlers to Texas (1821)
• Texas declares independence from Mexico (1836)
• Battle of the Alamo (1836)
• Battle of San Jacinto (1836)
• United States annexes Texas (1845)
• Mexican-American War begins (1846)
• Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo signed (1848)

Each group should imagine that it is a CNN crew covering its assigned event and should prepare a brief (3-5 minute) news story for viewers on the event. These stories should answer the five basic questions of a good news report: Who? What? Where? When? Why? Groups should write the script for their story and then act it out for the class, going in chronological order.

Assessment
Discuss the following questions:
• Based on what you have learned about these events, do you think it was inevitable that Texas would become part of the United States? Why or why not?
• Do you think any of these events helped lead to the discrimination Mexican Americans suffered in Texas? Explain.

“Impeach Earl Warren”

Objective
To examine the Hernandez v. Texas case in the context of the Warren Court’s other landmark decisions.

Activity
View the film chapter titled, “Arriving in Washington.” Hernandez v. Texas was just one of a number of decisions the Supreme Court issued under Chief Justice Earl Warren that caused great controversy — so much controversy that many conservatives called for Warren’s impeachment. To learn more about these decisions, divide the class into small groups and assign each group one of the following cases to research: Abington School District v. Schempp, Brown v. Board of Education, Engel v. Vitale, Escobedo v. Illinois, Gideon v. Wainwright, Griswold v. Connecticut, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, In Re Gault, Mapp v. Ohio, and Miranda v. Arizona.

Have each group give a brief report to the class on (a) the specific circumstances of the case, (b) how it reached the Supreme Court, (c) what constitutional issues were involved, and (d) the Court’s ruling and why it was important. As each group makes its presentation, list the case on the board along with a one-sentence summary of the Court’s ruling.

Assessment
Discuss as a class:
• Do the Court’s decisions in these cases appear to reflect the same values and priorities as its decision in Hernandez v. Texas? Why or why not?
• What might have happened if Hernandez v. Texas had come before the Supreme Court at a time when the Court had different values and priorities? How might that have affected the lives of Mexican Americans across the country?

“To this much, he is entitled by the Constitution”

Objective
To understand the Court’s decision in Hernandez v. Texas and the reasons for it.

Activity
View the film chapter titled, “The Decision.” As a class, examine the written opinion of the Court by Chief Justice Warren. Have volunteers read portions of the decision as outlined below, and discuss the following questions for each segment:

• Paragraph 1 (“The petitioner, Pete Hernández. . . .”): On what did Hernández’s lawyers base their appeal to the Supreme Court — was it the outcome of the trial, or the way the trial was conducted? On what passage do you base your answer?
• Paragraphs 2-3 (“In numerous decisions . . . between ‘white’ and Negro.”): Does the Court see this case as a question of whether there has been discrimination on the basis of race or color? Explain your answer.
• Paragraph 4 (“As the petitioner. . . .”): Is Hernandez charging that Texas’s system for selecting jurors is flawed? Explain your answer.
• Paragraph 5 (“The petitioner’s initial burden. . . .”): List four pieces of evidence demonstrating that Mexican Americans were discriminated against.
• Paragraphs 6-7 (“Having established . . . and/or petit jury.’ ”): Have Hernández’s lawyers provided examples of Mexican Americans who were denied the right to serve on juries? Explain.
• Paragraphs 8-10 (“The petitioner met . . . must be reversed.”): How did the jury commissioners from Texas respond to the charge of discrimination in jury selection? Why did the Court not accept their arguments?
• Paragraph 11 (“To say that. . . .”): What is proportional representation? According to the Court, how many Mexican Americans must be on the jury in Hernández’s case?

Assessment
As the film notes, Hernández received a second trial following the Court’s decision, but the outcome of the second trial was the same as for the first trial. Why, then, is this case considered important?

Hispanics Today

Objective
To learn about the current status of Hispanics in areas such as population, income, and health care.

Activity
View the film chapter titled, “ Epilogue.” Today Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. To learn more about them, look as a class at tables from the Census Bureau showing the number of Hispanics in each state and in
major U.S. cities, as well as how Hispanics compare with other population groups in health coverage and areas such as education and income.

Using the data in these tables, work together as a class to prepare a series of graphics on the state of Hispanics today. For example, you might prepare a U.S. map with the states color-coded according to their Hispanic population, or a bar graph comparing Hispanics with other racial/ethnic groups in terms of the share of the population who are uninsured or poor. You might also want to compare one of the above tables with comparable Census data from previous years.

Assessment
Review the graphics as a class. Which of your findings surprised you? What do they suggest about some of the issues facing Hispanics today?

Hispanics and Immigration

Objective
To examine how issues related to immigration might affect Hispanics’ rights.

Activity
View the film chapter titled “Epilogue.” In recent years, the controversial issue of illegal immigration has raised civil rights concerns among many Hispanics. Because many illegal immigrants are Hispanic, efforts to combat illegal immigration could have the side effect of harming Hispanic citizens. (For example, Hispanic citizens might be turned down for jobs because employers fear they might not be in the country legally.)

Explore this issue by having each student bring in a news article, editorial, or research report dealing with illegal immigration that was published within the past three months and summarize it for the class. Using this material, discuss the following questions:

• What are some ideas for dealing with illegal immigration that have recently been proposed or enacted at the local, state, or federal level?
• What are the main arguments for and against these ideas?
• Do any of the articles suggest that efforts to fight illegal immigration are harming Hispanic citizens? If so, how?

Assessment
Ask students to look at the issue of illegal immigration from the perspective of Hispanics. What special reasons might some Hispanics have for supporting proposals that would allow illegal immigrants to stay in this country permanently and legally? On the other hand, what special reasons might some Hispanics have for supporting a crackdown on illegal immigration? Can you come up with a way to address illegal immigration that takes both of these views into account?