Title: 
Headings: American Latino Theme Study
American Latino Theme Study
The Making of America National Park Service

Content: As a nation of immigrants, many newcomers, particularly northern Europeans, have been successfully integrated with full citizenship into the U.S. polity. Spanish-descent peoples in the U.S., by contrast, have often had to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and to petition for relief from the government to secure equity in schooling. Through consistently and continuously insisting upon treatment as full citizens, Latinos have reminded the nation that "equal treatment under the law" is a democratic concept that is not contingent upon land, territory, country of origin, language, or skin color. Schools have often been sites of political, racial, and linguistic conflict between the majority population and Latino groups. [ 1] Latinos today are underrepresented in key indicators of school achievement such as high school and college graduation rates, standardized tests, and college entrance examinations. Most experts agree that these indicators are not a reflection of ability; rather, as explored in this essay, Latinos have faced social, economic, and political barriers embedded in their historic presence in the U.S. Despite these obstacles, Latino communities have always demonstrated the capacity to act independently and to make their own choices in the struggle to gain access to quality schooling. Latino parents, students, and communities have fought for education rights and schooling opportunities through the creation of advocacy organizations, the establishment of independent private schools, by enrolling their children in Catholic schools and colleges, through litigation, walkouts, and by leveraging political and economic power for equitable or appropriate legislation. The Colonial Era
The unique educational histories of the various Latino subgroups in the U.S. are reflected through a historical chronology from the presence of European Spaniards in the 16 th century to the later acquisition of Spanish territories through war, colonization, and annexation in the independent United States of America. [ 2] Latino peoples are the descendants of a complex mix of Europeans, indigenous peoples, and Africans brought to the Americas as slaves during the colonial period. [