Jesse Flecha

Jesse Flecha is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of History. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from Texas A&M University—Central Texas in 2024, graduating summa cum laude. He specializes in the Civil War and Reconstruction, and his current research examines U.S.-Latin American relations during Reconstruction, with a particular focus on the political, social, and legal consequences of these interactions across the Americas. Jesse’s research has received support from the American Historical Association, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, among others. Jesse is the Chair of the Society of Civil War Historians’ Graduate Student Connection Committee and is a convenor for the Glasscock Center’s Civil War Era Working Group.

His master’s thesis, titled “International Slavery, International Freedom: The Grant Administration’s Effort to End American Slavery Abroad,” explores how the federal government and the American public responded to revelations that U.S. citizens continued to participate in slavery in Brazil and Cuba despite the restrictions imposed by the Thirteenth Amendment. The project challenges conventional interpretations of the Thirteenth Amendment by demonstrating how American slavery persisted through transnational networks beyond the United States' borders.

In his dissertation, Jesse seeks to further explore these topics, particularly by examining Black and Latino perspectives and analyzing how these transnational struggles shaped the collective memory of Reconstruction.