Essay On Mexican Repatriation

*Nevertheless, the number of repatriates was minuscule compared to those who returned to Mexico during the Great Depression. With the deterioration of the United States economy after 1929, between 400,000 and 500,000 Mexicans and their American-born children returned to Mexico. More than half of these departed from Texas. (The term Mexican is used in this article to refer to all Mexican-heritage repatriates, although a significant number of them were Mexican Americans since they had been born in Texas. For Mexican Americans, the term repatriate is actually inaccurate, for one cannot be repatriated to a foreign country.) Depression-era Mexican repatriation from Texas began in 1929, gained momentum in 1930, and peaked in 1931. In the last quarter of 1931 repatriation reached massive proportions; the roads leading to the Texas-Mexico border became congested with returning repatriates. Mexican border towns were also crowded as thousands of returning Mexicans awaited transportation to the interior of Mexico. The number of repatriates declined in 1932 and again in 1933. During the middle years of the depression - 1934 to 1938 - only occasional
If they wanted something new then they would go to second hand shops or stalls in markets for clothes. When it came to the children the oldest child's clothes would be passed down to the next child to wear until eventually they wore out. If they could afford to buy material or wool then perhaps they might have made clothes themselves or knitted jumpers, cardigans, scarves etc. The women's dresses would have been very simple and made of material that was made to last as they could not afford to go out and buy new clothes. If they were lucky they would have one dress for every day wear and perhaps another dress for either going to church/weddings etc. They would always wear aprons in the house to protect the clothes that they had