Latinos

History -  Sept. 30, 1822  Joseph Marion Hernandez becomes the first Hispanic member of Congress, serving during the 17th Congress until March 3, 1823. (Florida became a territory in 1822.) A prominent plantation owner born in St. Augustine, Spanish Florida, Hernandez fought first for Spain to stop U.S. encroachment into the state, but later for the United States, eventually running unopposed and serving as Florida’s first territorial delegate. He later served in the U.S. military during the Second Seminole War and was mayor of St. Augustine in 1848. 

1609-1610 - Conquistador Don Pedro de Peralta settles Santa, Fe New Mexico, making it the oldest capital city in North America, the oldest European community west of the Mississippi River and the first foreign capital captured by the United States, in 1846, during the Mexican-American War. The original capital of New Mexico had been established by Don Juan de Onate in 1598 at San Juan Pueblo, but it was moved to Santa Fe in 1610.