| Preface | p. ix | |
| The Birth of a People | p. 3 | |
| The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Colonial Racial System | p. 33 | |
| The Spaniards Venture North | p. 55 | |
| Mexicans and the Limits of Slavery | p. 80 | |
| The Anglos Move West | p. 98 | |
| Caught Between North and South | p. 122 | |
| Becoming Mexican American | p. 159 | |
| The Chicano Movement | p. 201 | |
| Mongrel America and the New Assimilation | p. 224 | |
| Acknowledgments | p. 263 | |
| Notes | p. 265 | |
| Index | p. 305 |