Sachin SamalGOVT 2306Jonathon York25 Mar 20183. The last century has seen three significant migrations that have directly affected Texas: The Great Depression, the Northern Migration from Central and South America, and the Southern Migration from the Midwest.
Given the historical context of Texas’ political development, which of these migrations have had the greatest impact on the current political landscape of the State of Texas? Why? Immigration in United States has always been a significant factor to public attention. Every year, different people belonging from different geography enter USA with different motives. Some people come with the motive to get a good life, some as refugees to get shelter and some for other benefits. No matter what motive the people carry to enter the US, the country must bear the effect of immigration; economically, socially, politically and geographically as well. Despite of never ending immigration in US, Texas has been a hot spot for migrating people which has been a key factor to shape the political landscape in the present.
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Texas has a long history of immigration, with majority of the immigrants from Mexico. Immigrants now account for 17 percent of the state’s total population and support the local economy in a growing number of industries. Construction is one of the state’s largest growing industries which pulls nearly 30 percent of its workers from immigrants in the community. As workers, taxpayers, business owners and neighbors, immigrants are an integral part of Texas’ diverse and prosperous communities and make substantial contributions that benefit all. During the last century, there has been three significant migrations that have directly affected Texas: The Great Depression, the Northern Migration from Central and South America, and the Southern Migration from the Midwest.
Due to the unequal distribution of the wealth, high tariffs and war debts, the nation was unable to control its production in industry and agriculture, as a result it has got to bear stock market crash and financial panic. During the worldwide economic crisis at the period of Great depression, the American public chose Franklin D. Roosevelt as a president in 1932, after dissatisfying leadership from Herbert Hoover. The democratic party won over the Republican. The Northeast Mexico-South Texas border region has been one of the principal corridors for Mexican migration to the United States since the late 19th century. It was the single most important migratory corridor between the two countries until the 1960s, when a variety of factors combined to redirect majority of the flow of migrants toward California through the Tijuana-San Diego corridor. Over the past several years, the migration from central America has been a key topic to talk about.
In 2015, approximately 3.4 million Central Americans resided in the United States, representing 8 percent of the 43.3 million U.S. immigrants (Lesser and Batalova).
Eighty-five percent of Central Americans in the United States were from the Northern Triangle, formed by El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (Lesser and Batalova).In the 20th century, from 1916 to 1970, African Americans in the South, moved on a large scale from rural communities. While initially living mostly in the Southern states, during the Great Migration nearly six million African Americans moved to the large urban cities in the North, West and Midwest. The reason for the Southern migration from the Midwest were low wages, lynching, racism.
The political culture of Texas is well described by the combination of three main philosophical streams: classical liberalism, social conservatism and populism. Classical liberalism is the concept of political arrangement that prioritizes the individual liberty as long as the liberties of others are not unreasonably restricted. In the history of Texas, the value of classical liberal idea has always fueled the support for religious tolerance and civil liberties, for both individualism and entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the expression of classical liberal ideas in Texas as a clutch of the individual’s right to “do your own thing” has been tempered by the enduring influence of social conservatism. It supports the use of government to reinforce the traditional social relations.
Socially conservative views were associated mainly with the Republic party. Also, on the other side, populism is the political value that is concerned with the well-being of the ordinary people. It has both, social and political dimensions. Politically, it tends to support the involvement of government in regulating the society and economy. Socially, populism even serves as a vehicle to defuse the tensions between the influence of classical liberalism and social conservatism.
Thus, these forms of political landscapes are different from each other. The Great Depression, the Northern Migration from Central and South America, and the Southern Migration from the Midwest took place at different times. Nevertheless, the impact of these migrations has changed the fate of the state at different level. The size of the state, its unique history, and the resulting political and cultural variety of Texas society; all of these have contributed to the development of what might be called a “practical center.
” Regarding the political history and its development in Texas, Great migration might have affected the state more. The widespread migrations that took place during this period left a great impact on city life in the United States. After reconstruction, the Democratic Party enjoyed electoral dominance on all levels of the state government including the Lone Star State’s representation in the national government. Democratic rule was dominated by a conservative white political elite that strongly promoted economic development. This resisted the change either in race relations or social programs for the poor. Rigidity within the party over these matters were muted until the civil rights movement and ascending tensions in national politics finally erupted into state politics in the 1950s. Though the Republicans were not completely absent during this period, their electoral victories were fewer.
The most common successes were at the presidential level, that happened where Texas supported Republican candidates in 1952, 1956, 1972, and in every election after 1980 as Republican strength grew.The history of the Texas party system reflects the political heritage of the rest of the old South, including racial segregation and nationally mandated desegregation, the mobilization of conservative Christians, and continuing immigration of people from the northern states. But the party system is also shaped by other important political factors more commonly shared with other states in the Southwest, than the old South.
More specifically, the strong Spanish and Mexican traditions, and the long-term impact of Mexican culture have influenced the state in intense ways. There are many reasons and consequences of historical migration, but the most important thing is, it makes people integrated into different social units giving them varieties of opportunities. Freedom and Cultural equality are the primary characteristics for the democratic society, which is the main priority to shape the state and modern US as a whole.Works Cited.Spener, David. “The Unfolding of Apartheid in South Texas: Domination, Resistance, and Migration.” Clandestine Crossings: Migrants and Coyotes on the Texas-Mexico Border, 1st ed.
, Cornell University Press, 2009, pp. 28–59. JSTOR, www.
jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt7z8dn.6.
Accessed 08 April 2018.Lesser, Gabriel and Jeanne Batalova. “Central American Immigrants in the United States”.
Migration Policy Institute. 5 April. 2017.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-american-immigrants-united-states. Accessed 02 April 2018.American Immigration Council. “Immigrants in Texas”. 4 Oct.
2017. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-in-texas. Accessed 29 Mar 2018.
