Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction. Roots (Las raíces): Conquerors and victims, the image of América forms (1500-1800); The spanish borderlands and the making of an empire (1810-1898); Banana Republics and bonds: taming the empire´s backyard (1898-1950)- Branches (Las ramas): Puerto Ricans: citizens yet foreigners; Mexicans: pioneers of a different type; Cubans: special refugees; Dominicans: from the Duarte to the George Washington Bridge; Central Americans: intervention comes home to roost. Colombians and Panamanians: overcoming division and disdain. Harvest (La cosecha): The return of Juan Seguín: Latinos and the remaking of American politics. Inmigrants old and new: closing borders of the mind; Speak spanish, you´re in America!: El Huracán over language and culture; Free trade: the final conquest of Latin America.; Puerto Rico, U.S.A.: possessed and unwanted. Epilogue, Acknowledgments, Notes, Acknowledgments, Notes, Glossary, Bibliography, Interviews, Index.

The first new edition in ten years of this important study of Latinos in U.S. history, Harvest of Empire spans five centuries-from the first New World colonies to the first decade of the new millennium. Latinos are now the largest minority group in the United States, and their impact on American popular culture-from food to entertainment to literature-is greater than ever. Featuring family portraits of real- life immigrant Latino pioneers, as well as accounts of the events and conditions that compelled them to leave their homelands, Harvest of Empire is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the history and legacy of this increasingly influential group.