Mexico The Colonial Era

Abstract

This book is the second in a three-volume history of Mexico, a major work that conveys the full sweep of Mexican history in all its social, economic, and political diversity, from the first human settlement of Mesoamerica down to the post-PRI politics of our day. Focusing on the period from 1521 to 1821, Volume 2 offers a comprehensive narrative and analysis of colonial Mexico following the Spanish conquest. In explaining colonial patterns of development, Alan Knight pays particular attention to the political economy of the colony: the formation and growth of the hacienda and its impact on the Indian peasantry; the dynamics of the colonial state and its relationship to the church; the role of trade, demography, warfare and taxation; and contrasting patterns of regional development, of class and ethnic conflict, and of popular protest in both city and countryside. Global comparisons and theoretical perspectives inform the analysis. The author also addresses the processes of ethnic formation, religious conversion, and acculturation which gave New Spain its distinct and diverse identity. The book concludes with an analysis of the accumulating tensions of the Bourbon era and of the bloody struggle for Mexican independence.