BACKGROUND

There are many factors we have to mention if we want to talk about the origin of Chicano English. Is very common to hear a lot of different reasons about how it began. Many people say that it was because of the need of the families to find a job. Others may say that it was because of the poverty that Mexico lives every day, etc. And maybe these are true reasons which made possible the growth of this phenomenon, but here we want to explain the main reason of it.

As we know, the South of USA was once part of Mexico. According to Moore (1972), it all started with the colonization of Spaniards in the Texas territory until 1821. In this year, Mexico declared his independence from Spaniards, which led to series of events that came to USA-Mexico war, and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. In that year, Mexico recognized the annexation of Texas to the United States, ceded the Upper California, and nearly all of the present American Southwest between California and Texas. This means that the population that used to live there (around 100k of people) was considered later as Americans, giving way to this phenomenon we are going to explain with details. (p. 28-30)