Based on contextual essays from the book "Hispanic Americans in Congress," four lesson plans examine the Hispanic pioneers who served on Capitol Hill from 1822 to 2012. The first lesson features materials from the Louisiana Purchase to the Spanish American War that detail how the history of the United States is intertwined with the story of Hispanic Americans. In the second lesson, young historians consider the American role in colonialism and its impacts on Hispanic Americans through the first part of the twentieth century. Looking through the lens of Hispanic Americans in Congress, lesson three explores the community's issues in the second part of the twentieth century. Topics include the civil rights movement and the rise of grassroots organizations, such as the Chicano Movement of the 1960s. Bilingual education, voting rights, and Congressional redistricting are explored in the final lesson in the module.
