Cuban Americans

Cuban Americans have made communities in Florida since the first half of the nineteenth century, but have remained in this country only in small numbers until relatively recently. Still, they have managed to achieve greater success in the United States than many other Hispanic groups by certain measures; Cuban Americans have higher college completion rates and are generally better off economically than most other Hispanic groups. In part due to the history of Cuba and the Communist regime established there -- and the backlash against this regime that caused much of the Cuban migration to this country -- many Cuban Americans also hold more conservative political views than do other Hispanic-Americans.

Central and South Americans

Though comprising a diverse group in and of themselves, Hispanic-Americans hailing from Central and South America make up a small yet growing proportion of the Hispanic-Americans living in the United States. Hispanics from countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, Brazil, and Chile are similar to other Hispanic-Americans in many ways, including having Catholicism as their dominant religion, but many have different family structures and other vast cultural differences. Political differences also exist in ways similar to the differences noted among Cuban Americans; political views of immigrant and immigrant descendants in this country can often depend on the different political backgrounds in these peoples' countries of origin, as many fled political upheaval and oppressive regimes.

Major Similarities...

Spanish is a native language common to the vast majority of Hispanic-Americans, especially immigrants who were not born in the United States and even many individuals who identify as Hispanic-Americans that were in fact born here. Catholicism is also a common religion among many of these people, and both the language and the religion are so common among these immigrant groups precisely because the Spanish were the earliest and the most extensive European force at work in the New World, especially south of what is now the United States.
Along with the many similarities that the different groups of Hispanic-American share, there are also many differences. There are Hispanic-American groups that do not speak Spanish as a native language, for instance -- Brazilian speak Portuguese, and non-European indigenous languages exist to some degree. There are also major differences in the cuisine prepared by different Hispanic-American groups, due to differences both in the food resources available in different regions to which these Hispanic-American groups are originally native and simple variances in customs. Political views also range somewhat widely, influenced not only by religion but by distinct historical trajectories in the modern era as well. Now, however, all of these groups are staunchly and definitively American, making the tapestry of American citizens ever more diverse.