hispanic+heritage+essay+cj15

It is important that we keep Hispanic culture alive in America because the Spanish have played a key role in the history of our country. If we allowed ourselves to lose parts of Hispanic culture then we would lose a part of our own culture.

In 1492 Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain on an expedition backed by the Spanish crown and arrived at what is now the Bahamas(Christopher Columbus). In 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon set foot at what is now Saint Augustine Florida, being the first European to land in Florida He gave Florida its name in honor of the Easter Feast, or Pascua Florida (Juan Ponce) . Then in 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed along the California coast and claimed it as a territory of Spain( Juan Rodriguez ). Florida and much of what is now the south west United States was originally explored and settled by the Spanish. The United States of America can find its bases in these Spanish explorers and many more. As a result of this the histories of Spanish and American cultures in America often find themselves intertwined, and so the two cultures have become intermixed in many places. One of the greatest examples of this intermixing is the state of Texas which has adopted many aspects of Mexican and Spanish culture. This is largely due to the fact that Texas was captured from Mexico by Americans in 1848. Although Texas is a very distinct example of the mixed cultures there is also a Hispanic influence in many other states like Florida, New York, and large parts of the southwest. Because of this, just as we celebrate our own rich American culture and history proudly, we should also celebrate Spanish culture proudly.

Celebrating another culture gives many people a sense of sharing in that culture, and they feel good about themselves for celebrating and honoring another culture. Celebrating another culture does not only give Americans a sense of pride, it has been shown that if a Hispanic person is raised with a sense of pride towards his culture and nationality he probably will do better in life than one that does not have a sense of pride(Balkaraan). So if we got rid of Hispanic culture in America we would take away much more than tacos and fiestas, we would take away the sense of identity from a huge ethnic group here in America. If Hispanic culture has a positive influence on both the American and Hispanic cultures why would we want to get rid of it?

The gradual exchange of several aspects of one culture to another is known as acculturation Due to many commercial industries there are already a few aspects of Hispanic culture that have been embedded in American culture. It is very hard to finda person nowadays who doesn't know what a taco or a piñata is, and doesn’t speak a little bit of “Spanglish”. Some companies such as Taco Bell choose a Hispanic theme for their products as a result Hispanic culture has had a huge influence on commercial media. Hispanic influence doesn’t stop there; Hispanics also had less known influences on American culture and arts. For example many Hispanic American singers were pioneers for rock and roll during its early years, one of the first being Ritchie Valens with his famous song “La Bamba.” and the Hispanic surrealist Salvador Dali had a large influence on modern art(Hispanic).

The Spanish built the first settlement here in America about 93 years before the first English colony was established, and they since that time they have been alongside us in history to this very day. Bernado De Galvez the Spanish governor of the Louisiana territory sent beneficial supplies to general george Washington and his armies to support the cause of the revolutionary war ( Balkaran). Admiral David Farragut is considered a hero in the war of 1812 and the American civil war, he is also the first notable man of Spanish descent to be in the military(David). While some Hispanics in American history did not make crucial contributions like fighting in wars, they did help shape the American spirit for example a well known Hispanic man who changed the future of baseball was Roberto clemente, known for his great baseball skills. Hispanics played a crucial role in the history of America by giving aide and contributions to society We owe Hispanics a lot for their contributions to us throughout history and it is the least we can do to share in their beautiful and rich culture.

Hispanic culture is all around us, it is in our art, our music, and many other things here in America. Celebrating Hispanic culture in the US give Americans a sense of sharing in another culture, and it gives Hispanics a sense of identity. In the history of our nations Hispanics have always been there with us, fighting alongside us or making contributions to society. There is more to Hispanic culture than meets the eye its not just ponchos and big colorful hats, there is a rich underlying culture that is just waiting to be explored by Americans. Many people still think of the Latinos as a minority group, but they are becoming less of a minority group and more of a large part of the US population, and as there numbers grow so does their influence.


 * Bibliography**

Balkaran, Stephen. "Hispanic Heritage Month: How Hispanics Are Defining and Redefining America." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. [|Hispanic Heritage Month: How Hispanics Are Defining and ...]
 * Stephen Balkaran is an instructor in the department of philosophy and political science at Quinnipiac university.

"Celebrate Hispanic Heritage! Home." Celebrate Hispanic Heritage! Home. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <[]>.
 * scholastic.com is considered the number one teaching website for teachers in the united states

"Christopher Columbus." //Wikipedia //. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. [|Christopher Columbus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
 * this page appears to be a good summary because it sites many reliable sources

"Hispanic and Latino Americans." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. . <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #660099; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5; text-decoration: none;">[|Hispanic and Latino Americans - Wikipedia, the free ...]
 * several contributors have corrected this article, no modifications since February 2015

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">"Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo." //<span style="font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">Wikipedia //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. [|Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">this page appears to be a good summary because it sites many reliable sources

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Juan Ponce De León." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">Wikipedia //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. [|Juan Ponce de León - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">this page appears to be a good summary because it cites many reliable sources

Paper, White. THE HISPANIC INFLUENCE (n.d.): n. pag.Http:conill.com/images/uploads/thinking/The_Hispanic_Influence_on_America.pdf//. Conill, 14 Sept. 2012. Web. 3 Apr. 2015. <[PDF]the hispanic influence on american culture - Conill>. <span class="_ogd b w xsm" style="color: #1a0dab; font-size: x-small;">PDF] [|the hispanic influence on american culture - Conill]
 * conill is one of the most awarded hispanic agencies, it was named multicultural agency of the year in 2007 and 2011 and is the only four time recipient of the o'toole multicultural award.

"Why Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month Is Important for Latino families." NBC Latino. Monica Olivera, 14 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <[]>.
 * Monica Olivera is the 2011 winner of the "best latina education blogger" award by LATISM.