MACRI TALK – The US-Mexico War and Identities Along the Frontier

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. In the year of this milestone, we are called to reflect: What does the United States semiquincentennial mean to Mexican Americans? How have Mexican Americans shaped this country, and what do we want to see for our communities in the future?

Join us for the second of a series of special MACRI Talks for America 250. In this series, we will highlight the ways Mexican Americans have been essential threads to the national fabric. The series continues with a virtual talk with Dr. Andrés Reséndez, an expert in the colonization of the Americas and US-Mexico border history, who will present on The U.S-Mexico War and Identities along the Frontier. After the Mexican American War, Indigenous people and Spanish- and Mexican-descent residents of the frontier found themselves living in another country – the United States of America. How did residents of the frontier experience their entry into the United States? How did these changes affect the ways in which people thought about themselves and their national and ethnic identities?  

This virtual MACRI Talk is being held on Segundo de Febrero, the day of the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, also known as National Mexican American Heritage Day.

Monday, February 2, 2026  |  6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Central Time

OJO! This is a virtual event. The talk will livestream via Facebook at https://bit.ly/FB-MACRI and YouTube at https://bit.ly/YT-MACRI

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About our guest

Andrés Reséndez is a professor of history and author who grew up in Mexico City and currently teaches at the University of California at Davis. His specialties are early European exploration and colonization of the Americas, the U.S-Mexico border region, and the early history of the Pacific Ocean. His previous book, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award and winner of the 2017 Bancroft Prize from Columbia University. His latest book, Conquering the Pacific (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021), is about the first expedition to go from America to Asia and back, thus transforming the Pacific Ocean into a vital space of contact and exchange.

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MACRI’s programs are funded in part by the City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture, Bexar County, the Mellon Foundation, the John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation, Spurs Give, and individual donors like you! Gracias!

As always, views and ideas shared by presenters do not necessarily reflect those of the MACRI, its staff, board, or funders.