National Hispanic Heritage Month

Spanish Influence on American History

The Spanish influence on American history is significant, complex, and diverse, spanning more than three centuries of cooperation between Spain and the United States. Learn more about this story through our suite of resources developed in conjunction with the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute and the Royal Academy of History of Spain.

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World map showing pathway of Columbus' voyages

Featured Lesson Plans

Explore three five-lesson units on Twentieth-Century Latino History developed in partnership with UnidosUS.

Photo shows the shop called Olveritas Village, with a "Da̕ de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) window sign, Catrina painted on a chair back, and calaveras visible through the window and above the store. The street is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, and referred to by Latinos as "La Placita Olvera" for a prominent local judge.

Latino Immigration to the United States in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

The five lessons in this unit explore Latino and Latina immigration to the United States in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, emphasizing how immigrants understood and experienced this process.

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Latino and Latina Civil Rights, 1930–1970

The objective of the unit is to have students recognize the economic, social, and political challenges faced by Latinas and Latinos throughout the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s, as well as the triumphs they achieved.

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The Supreme Court of the United States as composed June 30, 2022.

Prominent Latinos and Latinas in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century United States

The objective of the unit is to have students recognize the economic, social, and political challenges faced by Latinas and Latinos throughout the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s, as well as the triumphs they achieved.

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Additional Resources

Courses

History U

History U offers free, self-paced courses for high school students.

American Immigration History: People, Patterns, and Policy with Professor Madeline Y. Hsu, University of Maryland, College Park
History of Latina and Latino People in the US with Professor Geraldo Cadava, Northwestern University

Self-Paced Courses

Self-Paced Courses offer graduate-level online instruction in American history by eminent historians. Courses are available to watch or listen to on your own time and at your own pace. Teachers can also get certificates for CEU credits.

American Immigration History: 1820 to the Present led by Professor Vincent Cannato, University of Massachusetts, Boston
American Immigration History: People, Patterns, and Policy led by Professor Madeline Y. Hsu, University of Maryland, College Park
History of Latina and Latino People in the US led by Professor Geraldo Cadava, Northwestern University

Essays

History Now

History Now, the online journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, features essays by the nation’s leading historians.

Full Issues

Essays

“American Sabor: A Guided Playlist of Latino Music” by Marisol Berrios-Miranda and Shannon Dudley (History Now 53, “The Hispanic Legacy in American History,” Winter 2019)
“Antonia Pantoja, a Nuyorican Builder of Institutions” by Lourdes Torres (History Now 66, “Hispanic Heroes in American History,” Spring 2023)
“Hispanics in the United States: Origins and Destinies” by Rubén G. Rumbaut (History Now 53, “The Hispanic Legacy in American History,” Winter 2019)
“Immigration Policy, Mexican Americans, and Undocumented Immigrants, 1954 to the Present” by Eladio Bobadilla (History Now 52, “The History of US Immigration Laws,” Fall 2018)
“The Puerto Rican Experience in World War I” by Harry Franqui-Rivera (History Now 53, “The Hispanic Legacy in American History,” Winter 2019)
“Voices of Democracy: Jovita Idár, the Idár Family, and the Struggle against Juan Crow” by Gabriela González (History Now 66, “Hispanic Heroes in American History,” Spring 2023)

Exhibitions

Online Exhibitions

The Gilder Lehrman Institute has more than eighty online exhibitions that cover American history from the colonial era to the present day.

Hamilton Cast Read Alongs

Hamilton Cast Read Alongs feature Hamilton cast members reading award-winning children’s books followed by a discussion of the history behind the story led by Keisha Rembert, a Gilder Lehrman master teacher.

Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreňo Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle (Author) and Rafael López (Illustrator); read by Marc delaCruz
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh (Author and Illustrator); read by Cherry Torres
Soldier for Equality: José de la Luz Sáenz and the Great War by Duncan Tonatiuh (Author and Illustrator); read by Javier Muñoz
The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos by Lucía González (Author) and Lulu Delacre (Illustrator); read by Nick Negron

Historical Documents

Spotlights on Primary Sources

Each Spotlight on a document from the Gilder Lehrman Collection provides explanatory text, a transcript, and an image of the featured document.

Lesson Plans

Middle and High School Students

Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Immigration: History through Art and Documents
Spain and the American Revolution: Contributions to the Patriot Cause (with student handouts available in English and Spanish)
War, Immigration Policies, and Dissent: Landmark Moments in Latina/o History

High School Students

The Mexican-American War: Arguments for and against Going to War

Public Programs

Book Breaks

Book Breaks is a free weekly public program where hosts interview scholars about their new books.

South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War by Alice Baumgartner
Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer
El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America by Carrie Gibson
Unveiling Memories: Spain and the Hispanic Contribution to U.S. Independence by José Manuel Guerrero Acosta
A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community by Natalia Molina
An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
California, A Slave State by Jean Pfaelzer
The Ballad of Roy Benavidez: The Life and Times of America’s Most Famous Hispanic War Hero by William Sturkey

Inside the Vault

Inside the Vault highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection each month.

Texas Declaration of Independence