The present article is trying to find and link the work of the 19th‑century Mexican historiography with the emergence of the national identity of the society of Mexico. Contextualizing this process, the paper recalls the main events of the political scene of a newly independent and sovereign country, also involved in a whole series of international conflicts. The purpose is to find, in the works of Teresa de Mier, Bustamante, Ramírez, Icazbalceta, Paso and Troncoso, Alemán, Orozco and Berra, those contributions that had a relevant impact on the vision of the historical past related to both the independence process and the pre‑Hispanic period, that is, Mesoamerican and colonial history. These contributions are perceived mainly in the rescue of the masterpiece of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún and the confrontation with the foundational narration of both the Creole culture and the indigenous culture that was formed after the conquest, i.e. the miraculous appearance of the Virgin from Guadalupe.