César Chávez Overview
In World History classes, we focus on the history that has happened around the world like the World Wars,, but it’s also important to dive into specific leaders. Learning about these leaders can help students to get a bigger picture of the things commanders face to win their war or challenges. Researching different leaders also helps students to get a better understanding of all things that happened around the world, creating the world we know today. Césarag Chávez is a labor and civil rights leader who should be studied in World History classes. César Chávez conducted marches, strikes, and boycotts to fight for change in the agriculture field. Agriculture is such an important aspect of World History, as that's where most trades and resources came from.
The way people bring about political change differs from person to person, situation to situation. Many aim towards non-violent solutions such as marches, strikes, and protesting, just like César Chávez. Although, others act on more violent solutions, such as during the Chinese Civil War. In the war, the Communists fought against the Nationalists resulting in over 4 million casualties; the majority of groups who fight for change and equality try to stay nonviolent. The Chinese chose to emphasize revolution and armed struggle, which ended up causing more damage than anyone would have liked. While both methods have their pros and cons, ultimately the methods that are most effective are the non-violent ones. When being non-violent, the struggles you face may feel unfair or take a while, but many of the strikes and protests tend to end up working for the better. When choosing violence, many times it is chosen to fast and many die for no good reason. You won’t always be hearing people praise the methods used in the Chinese Civil War, but you WILL hear people praise the methods inspirations such as César Chávez used.
Who is César Chávez?
César Chávez, was a labor leader and civil rights activist who brought about better conditions for agricultural workers. Chávez was a Mexican-American farmworker, and grew up on his family’s farm near Yuma, Arizona. Chávez witnessed the harsh conditions that farm laborers endured. They were routinely exploited, unpaid, lived in shacks in exchange for labor, and had no medical or basic facilities
Through inspiring and organizing other agriculture workers, they formed into the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. In order to create change, he organized 2 strikes, 3 marches, 23 boycotts, and at least 3 fasts. These numbers are just what he organized, but he also participated in many other activities led by others.
Chávez Timeline:
March 21st 1927
Chávez is born in Yuma, AZ
1944
Chávez joins the Navy at 17 y.o. and fights in WWII
1950’ s
Chávez began to study, working for better conditions for immigrant workers, joining the Community Service Organization (CSO)
1942
Chávez graduates 8th grade and works full time on farm
Sep 30th, 1962
Chávez Co- founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA)
1948
Chávez marries Helen Fabela
1974
Helen Chavez travels to Europe to promote Boycotting
Mar 31st, 1962
Chávez resigned from his CSO position to focus full time on the struggle of farm workers, holding his first house meeting in may
Apr, 23rd,1993
Chávez passed peacefully in his sleep
1970
Chávez first boycott, lasting till 1978
1990
Chávez signs a IMSS agreement with Mexico, gaining medical benefits for his family in Mexico
Other Things Chávez Did In Life
Chávez joined the US Navy in 1946 and served in the Western pacific. He served for a total of 2 years. He was enlisted in US Navy and went to Naval Training School in San Diego.
He was stationed in Saipan for 6 months, then re-stationed to Guam where he was promoted to Seaman First Class (S1c). After that he was re stationed again to San Francisco where he then decided to leave the navy. Chávez received an honorable discharge in 1946, and relocated to Delano, California, where his family had settled to return to working as an agricultural laborer.
Other Accomplishments in life:
Chávez in him summer blue uniform
● Chávez was responsible for the legislation enacting the first Bill of Rights for agricultural workers
● For his commitment to social justice and lifelong dedication to bettering the lives of others, Chávez was posthumously recognized with the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Chávez Fun Facts!
● César Chávez passed away in San Luis, a small village near Yuma, AZ
● Chávez had 8 children with his wife Helen (in 9 years, 19491958)
● Chávez has a total 4 siblings, 2 younger brothers, 1 younger sister, and 1 older sister
● The Military Sealift CommandUSNS César Chávez (T-AKE-14), was named in honor of Cesar Chavez
● Six days after Chávez’s death (1993 April 29th), 50,000 mourners attend his march witch stretched 2 ½ miles from Delano to Forty Acres
César Chávez and his wife Helen Chávez
USNS César Chávez (T-AKE 14)
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This specific site is short and concise; pointing out key details and achievements to help create a clear understanding of who Chavez is, what his goals were, how he achieved them, and what he did. The publishing organization (UHR) is dedicated to spreading the word about Human Rights and those who stood up for implementing those rights. The source “Champions of Human Rights César Chávez (1927–1993)” posted by the organization United for Human Rights (UHR) is reliable. The article “Cesar E. Chavez, An American Hero” by California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) corroborates the information listed in the UHR article. The two sources match when it comes to information about Chavez’s goals, accomplishments, how he created change, and more. Both sources also mention his desire for agriculture rights and his desire to make a difference. They then go on to mention Chavez’s accomplishments such as founding the National Farm Workers Association which later become the United Farm Workers. That shows that they are trying to spread true and important information out to others. I have also used their sources before, and all of their information has been very similar to the same information in other sources. That tells me that it is more likely to be true and reliable as it isn’t just random and not similar to anything else.