By 1920, 72 years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought hostilities between Mexico and the United States to an end, Mexican American exclusion from virtually every area of participation in the mainstream of American life had become institutionalized. With two cultures in conflict and new political power at stake, a series of legal actions had taken place which to this day affect the Mexican American. Thus, the legal history of the Southwest has enormous significance today. Presenting insights into the past, this book briefly discusses the extent to which the laws of the prior sovereign, Mexico, became or were incorporated into the laws of the Southwestern states. Topics covered are: the context and arrangement of California Codes, Mexican civil and municipal laws, Mexican county jurisdiction, water rights laws, community property laws, the cow-town marshal as a Mexican institution, Texas constitutions, education in Texas, Texas Common Law adoption, Mexican legal influence on mining laws, land titles in New Mexico, Spanish language use in legal proceedings and in schools, the admission of Mexican Americans to citizenship, and Mexican civil and human rights procedures. (NQ)