Based on the belief that people--not institutions--make history, this book looks at the challenges that the Mexican people have faced since independence, and tells the story of their resiliency and creative character during the years of political and economic change, resulting in a book that reveals the Mexican experience not only in Mexico, but in what is today the southwestern United States. Topically, this book examines national boundaries not as barriers, but as the setting of complex interactions resulting in the convergence of cultures. It discusses the Mexican experience according to the major political, economic, cultural, and social watersheds that have occurred through time. For employees in corporations and businesses that deal with Mexican trade, as it provides understanding of the Mexican people and their culture.