Empires of the Atlantic world : Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830

An enthralling account of the entwined histories of Britain, Spain, and their empires in the AmericasThis epic history compares the empires built by Spain and Britain in the Americas, from Columbus’s arrival in the New World to the end of Spanish colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. J. H. Elliott, one of the most distinguished and versatile historians working today, offers us history on a grand scale, contrasting the worlds built by Britain and by Spain on the ruins of the civilizations they encountered and destroyed in North and South America. Elliott identifies and explains both the similarities and differences in the two empires’ processes of colonization, the character of their colonial societies, their distinctive styles of imperial government, and the independence movements mounted against them. Based on wide reading in the history of the two great Atlantic civilizations, the book sets the Spanish and British colonial empires in the context of their own times and offers us insights into aspects of this dual history that still influence the Americas. This epic history compares the empires built by Spain and Britain in the Americas, from Columbus’s arrival in the New World to the end of Spanish colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. J. H. Elliott, one of the most distinguished and versatile historians working today, offers us history on a grand scale, contrasting the worlds built by Britain and by Spain on the ruins of the civilizations they encountered and destroyed in North and South America.
Elliott identifies and explains both the similarities and differences in the two empires’ processes of colonization, the character of their colonial societies, their distinctive styles of imperial government, and the independence movements mounted against them. Based on wide reading in the history of the two great Atlantic civilizations, the book sets the Spanish and British colonial empires in the context of their own times and offers us insights into aspects of this dual history that still influence the Americas.

Contents 5 Illustrations 7 Maps 11 Introduction. Worlds Overseas 13 Note On The Text 21 Part 1. Occupation 24 Map 24 Chapter 1. Intrusion And Empire 25 Chapter 2. Occupying American Space 51 Chapter 3. Confronting American Peoples 79 Part 2. Consolidation 139 Chapter 5. Crown And Colonists 139 Chapter 6. The Ordering Of Society 175 Chapter 7. America As Sacred Space 206 Chapter 8 Empire And Identity 241 Part 3. Emancipation 277 Chapter 9. Societies On The Move 277 Chapter 10. War And Reform 314 Chapter 11. Empires In Crisis 347 Chapter 12. A New World In The Making 391 Epilogue 425 Abbreviations 434 Notes 435 Bibliography 503 Index 539 "Elliott identifies and explains both the similarities and differences in the two empires' processes of colonisation, the character of their colonial societies, their distinctive styles of imperial government, and the independence movements mounted against them. Based on wide reading in the history of the two great Atlantic civilizations, the book sets the Spanish and British colonial empires in the context of their own times and offers us insights into aspects of this dual history that still influence the Americas."--Jacket A shrewd notary from Extremadura, turned colonist and adventurer, and a one-armed ex-privateer from Limehouse,in the county of Middlesex.