Culture y Cultura

When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the U.S.–Mexican War in 1848, vast territories were officially within the borders of the United States. This bilingual volume, with all text printed in both English and Spanish, accompanies a major special exhibition at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage and presents an overview of how that major shift of both border and culture has continued to affect the people of the United States and Mexico for 150 years.

Iris Engstrand, a professor of history at the University of San Diego, sets the historical stage for the war. She describes the first encounters between Spain and the New World and discusses the impact of colonialism on indigenous peoples, up to the twentieth century, when U.S. troops commanded by General John Pershing entered Mexico during the 1916 Revolution. The plight of peoples in border regions and especially of the many people who suddenly became “Mexican Americans” in 1848 is addressed along with the emergence of other transnational populations in the region.

In the second essay, Richard Griswold del Castillo, a professor of Mexican American studies at San Diego State University, connects provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to present-day issues in the American Southwest, including Texas and California. Included in his discussion is a view of how the war and its aftermath were critical elements in the creation of a new ethnic identity—Mexican Americans.

The book includes reproductions of thirty-two paintings contemporaneous with the war period as well as other illustrations. As an overview for the general public rather than an in-depth study for scholars, Culture y Cultura also includes a list of suggested readings that would be ideal for students.