The United States is still typically conceived of as an offshoot of England, wit
h our history unfolding east to west beginning with the first English settlers i
n Jamestown. This view overlooks the significance of America s Hispanic past. Wi
th the profile of the United States increasingly Hispanic, the importance of rec
overing the Hispanic dimension to our national story has never been greater.
Th
is absorbing narrative begins with the explorers and conquistadores who planted
Spain s first colonies in Puerto Rico, Florida, and the Southwest. Missionaries
and rancheros carry Spain s expansive impulse into the late eighteenth century,
settling California, mapping the American interior to the Rockies, and charting
the Pacific coast. During the nineteenth century Anglo-America expands west unde
r the banner of Manifest Destiny and consolidates control through war with Mexic
o. In the Hispanic resurgence that follows, it is the peoples of Latin America w
ho overspread the continent, from the Hispanic heartland in the West to major ci
ties such as Chicago, Miami, New York, and Boston. The United States clearly has
a Hispanic present and future.
