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

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This is comparative history at its very best. Elliott superbly describes and chronicles the history of the British and Spanish exploration and colonization of the Americas, as well as the process whereby both the British American and Spanish American colonial societies brought about their independence from the imperial governments. It is a comprehensive, detailed, and yet highly readable overview of the political, economic, social, military, and religious forces at play in the Americas during the time period. Elliott goes beyond the telling of historical events and facts, to provide analysis and interpretation of why history unfolded as it did. The writing is excellent and clearly reflects a highly learned historian who has the ability to tell history in a an engaging manner. His juxtaposition and comparison of British and Spanish America in a single volume results in a very interesting and stimulating way to learn about the two empires. The book contains very attractive end papers, a number of excellent maps and numerous color plates. Very highly recommended.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the history of the Americas, colonial history or comparative studies of the American countries. Although it is based largely on secondary sources it reflects the enormous amount of work that the author has carried out in his previous books on Spain. The most interestin feature of the book is how Elliott points out the similarities between the British and Spanish Empires in the Americas; a fact that most historians have previously tended to ignore.

This was an eye-opener for me as I knew very little on Spain's American territories, besides brief descriptions of some of the conquistadors such as Cortes and Pizzarro. What Elliott has done in this book is to show the comparisons and contrasts between England's New World Colonies and Spain's. There are many fascinating facets underlaying the reasons for acquiring these territories, how both sides viewed their mission and goals, and how they governed them. This is without a doubt a remarkable book that revealed a lot for me.

The first colonization was begun by the Spanish in the early 16th Century. The English made their first successful attempt in the early 17th Century. Both South and North America posed different challenges for both governments, i.e. the size of the indigenous populations, the geography and climate, natural resources and so forth. For me, the real fascination was learning more about the Spanish colonies and the establishment of the viceroyalties of New Spain (based in Mexico City) and Peru (based in Lima) with additional ones developing over time. The interaction with the natives, the attempts at Christianization, trade, and many other aspects of Spain's colonization were quite enlightening.

Being more familiar with United States history, I felt more familiar with the material covered on England's planting of settlers in Jamestown and later in New England. However, the real education was in Elliott's efforts to show how each of these two powers (Spain and England) confronted the realities and challenges of establishing their presence in these very different regions. The differences were often quite stark. Some of the points of contrast that most differentiated the two powers included each nation's attitude towards the Indians (including the attempts or lack of evangelization) and the extent of imperial bureaucracy brought over from the mother countries.

Elliott also describes how world events had helped to shape and or guide the developments that occurred in both country's territories. The Reformation, the British Commonwealth under Cromwell, the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution, the French and Indian War, the French Revolution and so forth, all served as factors in shaping the events that transpired in North and South America. The role of various monarchs, religious, military and political leaders, as well as indigenous leaders, are also discussed.

Elliott does try to take an even-handed approach in acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of both government's endeavors. Of course it goes without saying that the notion of empire, with the connotations of exploitation of natives and their cultures, is unpopular in most peoples minds nowadays. Yes, it was and remains a blot on the records of all nations that engaged in replacing the livelihoods and cultures (sometimes more like extermination) of indigenous peoples, or those who engaged in the slave trade, but we must keep in mind that we have to try to keep modern standards in check for historical purposes.

This is such a broad subject that I find it hard to even begin to touch on more specific details found in this book; I'm just trying to outline the broader contours of Elliott's book. Having some introduction to this time period will help you, but you need not be an expert on this particular topic. An illuminating read.

Elliott delivers the masterpiece that those who study the Atlantic World have been waiting for. The idea of studying history from the perspective of the Atlantic has been growing in popularity and worth taking a further look at. Britain and Spain established mammoth empires and Elliot looks at their rise and fall. He also considers other powers including the French and Dutch but focuses mainly on the first two mentioned. The age of exploration is put in context and in true Atlantic fashion the slave trade and development in Latin America are very important. The revolutions of the Atlantic world are very clearly explained in this book and Elliott leaves you wondering where else this field can go. Elliott writes very well and this book is a must read for those who want to consider how the Atlantic world impacted Europe and the United States.

This well written and well organized book is a careful synthesis of the enormous secondary literatures on colonial British America and colonial Spanish America. Elliott provides a pair of parallel narrative overviews of British and Spanish America from their foundings to the revolutions that severed ties to their home nations. The narratives provide the basis for some comparative analysis that recurs throughout the book.

Knowledgeable readers will probably be familiar with much of the narrative about British North America. Much of the information about Spanish North American will probably be new to many readers (like me). For example, the small British settlements of the 17th century were dwarfed by the scope of the Spanish colonial enterprise. When Boston and Philadelphia were modest seaports, Spanish America boasted several large cities. At the time of Harvard's foundation, Spanish America already possessed several universities.

Elliott divides this book into three sections; Occupation, Consolidation, and Emancipation. Occupation is devoted to the initial experience of exploration, colonization, and encounters with the native peoples of the Americas. The chapters in Consolidation describe the development of mature colonial economies and imperial government, the challenge of developing European style societies in radically different circumstances, and the sense of identities developed in these new societies. Emancipation describes the 18th century conflicts between the metropolitan centers and the colonies, particularly as London and Madrid attempted to develop closer control and upset traditional arrangements. All chapters are particularly good combinations of political, economic, and social history.

Elliott points out the common problems faced by both British and Spanish colonial efforts but also how the different features of the home nations and different circumstances in the Americas produced different outcomes. The Spanish, for example, were confronted with very large native populations that they attempted to incorporate into their empire. This fact, plus traditions inherited from the Reconquista, would contribute to the generation of the very racially differentiated society in much of Spanish America. The existence of enormous silver deposits in Mexico and Peru drove the Spanish Crown to exercise considerably closer control of its colonies than the British monarchy would exercise over its colonies.

In his comparative analysis, Elliott deals with the major differences in British and Spanish America, and implicitly how they led to such differing outcomes after the revolutions at the end of the 18th century. Elliott's answers are surprisingly traditional. He stresses the centralized bureaucratic nature of the Spanish empire, the more 'commercial' nature of British settlements, the religious pluralism of the British colonies, and the more liberal/representative political traditions that the British brought with them. Elliott is careful to point out that many of these ultimately beneficial features were essentially inadvertant. If the English crown had been stronger or if rich gold mines had been found in the Blue Ridge mountains, the path of British colonization might well have been closer to the Spanish model.

In Empires of the Atlantic World, Professor Elliot compares and contrasts Spanish colonial America with British colonial America. I am not aware of any other books that take this is their subject, and I think that it is worthy of attention. Elliot presents 2 very different experiences in terms of government, economy, and culture. For instance, the Spanish conquistadors came upon a very highly centralized political structure, which they were able to penetrate (and co-opt for their own rule) with relative ease. This enabled them to retain the tributary labor system of the Aztecs and Incas, which they labeled the encomienda system. The British in North America did not have the same experience, as the Indians there tended to be far more decentralized. This forced the British to pursue a far different strategy in their efforts at conquest. Also, the scarcity of gold and silver in North America forced the British to diversify the colonial economy, leading to a more developed economic scene.

Additionally, I found Elliot's side-by-side discussion (between the British and the Spanish) of various other colonial themes to be well-developed. In particular, he goes into considerable detail in contrasting Spain's Catholic-only policy in the Americas with the religious diversity that existed in the British colonies. At the same time, he also explores the very different attitudes that the British and the Spanish had toward the Indians, and how those differing attitudes shaped political and social orders in the 2 regions (look at the large "Mestizo" population that exists in many parts of Latin America today, in contrast to the relatively small population within the United States). For instance, the Spanish sought to bring the Indians into the Catholic Church (witness the significant presence of the Catholic Church in the colonies), and even (theoretically) included a measure of legal protection for Indians within the encomienda system. On the other hand, the British did not make christianizing the Indians a high priority, nor did they concern themselves wth any legal protections for the Indians (a notable exception to this was William Penn).

Elliot gives a great deal of space to discussing how the political and religious regimes that existed in Great Britain and Spain were transferred to these nation's respective American colonies. For example, the British colonists were nurtured, to some degree, by the growing "liberal" ideas that were coming out of Great Britain at the start of the 1700s, while Spanish colonists had no such ideas to turn to (at least none in Spanish). Moreover, British control over its colonies was relatively decentralized (many of the colonies were private or corporate, and all enjoyed a measure of self-government), though Spanish colonies were under the tight grip of the Spanish monarchy. Finally, Elliot demonstrates how both Great Britain and Spain began to "reform" their administrative policies vis-a-vis the colonies, and how those reforms triggered colonial resentment (though the 2 nations had different results in quashing this resentment).

I will keep this very short. I had to read this for a graduate seminar. I was pleased with the text. It was very easy to read and very interesting. Elliot does a nice job of interweving the experience of both the Spanish and English together. Now, I was somewhat skeptical at first because many people make the mistake of questioning why one state could nto accomplish what another could, or why one colony suceeded and another did not. ELliot stays clear of these ridiculous comparisons and quite simply places each expeirence next to each other without any links. FOr example, he doesn't question why the English were not unable to do what Spain had done in terms of land. He simply explains why England's expeirence is different.As a PHD in English hsitory, I really enjoyed thsi book. It is a comparative, but in a way Elliot has combined two books. On one side you have the Spanish experience, and on the other the English....The readeris left to interpret or grasp the difference.

If you're not a history major, or graduate student in history, this book is still a great book. It is easy to read and is not bogged down by endless theoretical findings. If you are a history major, either of western European history, US, or Latin American then i would reocmmend this text.

P.S. Please dont comment on my spelling, i dont have time to spell check thisreview, i have more important things to do.

Elliot offers us a very solid comparative history of England and Spain in the Americas and attempts to give some answers as to why the great distinctions arose between Latin America and Anglo America. France and Portugal, the two other main European powers active in the Americas, are perhaps short-shrifted in this history, but I don't feel that it was a substantial detriment to the work that those two powers were largely absent from it. He relates both similarities and dissimilarities in the two imperial experiences. For example, both nations were informed by their prior histories of expansion and colonization in their American efforts: England has it's model in Ireland against the native Irish, and Spain in Andalucia against the Muslim population. In regards to differences, Spain's strongest holding in the Americas were those that had previously had relatively strong, populous, native state systems in place (notably the Inka in the Andes and the various states of Mesoamerica), which had not only existing bureaucratic classes that the Spanish crown could rule through and provide stability in the early years of colonial endeavors, but also a workforce that didn't require transport across the Atlantic. As a result, a complex racially-based hierarchy evolved in Latin America, with Europeans at top, Africans and Natives at bottom, people of mixed ethnic (and indeed cultural) background in the middle. England on the other hand colonized land that was more sparsely settled, which meant that labor had to be imported (in the form of African slaves and European indentured servants), which lead to a simpler hierarchy and a more thoroughly European culture in English colonies. Spanish control tended to be more hands-on throughout the Latin American colonial experience, whereas the weaker English state could rarely muster the power to direct its colonies. Elliot essentially argues that the conditions set up by pre-Columbian demographics and altered by European and African diseases led to the social structures which inherited the reigns of power from their former colonial powers, and that the differing attitudes of those powers towards their colonies (and capacities of those powers to direct colonial policy from Europe) strongly shaped how those colonies were ruled after they won independence. Written in a very balances and informative way, but not necessarily in a easy way. It will take you a good deal of time to read this sucker! But if you're interested in the subject, it's definitely worth it.

J.H. Elliott's massive and groundbreaking Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830 (2006) describes specific details in the interplay of time, place, people, religion, geography, economics, and environment in two key Atlantic empires as they developed in both similar and unique ways. Told chronologically and divided into three sections--"Occupation," "Consolidation," and "Emancipation"--Empires of the Atlantic World reveals that both colonial areas developed in many similar and in many different ways. More importantly, the careful analysis and use of Atlantic World methodologies demonstrate that, although they were separated by thousands of miles, people were very aware of events throughout the New and Old Worlds.

Elliot's account is not built on an overarching thesis. Rather, Empires of the Atlantic World establishes numerous arguments built on and only possible with a comparative investigation. Both countries established themselves in the New World with the expectation or hope that they would establish a growing empire of peoples; find gold, silver, or other products for the Crown at home; and both sought to conquer the environments, peoples, and places they encountered. Both New World societies sought to be self-subsistent. Both sought and found a commodity to make money for the respective mother countries and were steadily defined as unique and different. And perhaps most importantly, both empires thought that they had preordained rights and plans in the New World, and all colonial empires remained in competition. They were different in many other ways. Whereas the Spanish established a heavy presence and direct involvement, the English remained fairly independent and free of oversight from the mother country--although practices in both places eventually reversed. Similarly, the public image of Spanish and English colonists differed: The Spanish were destined to conquer and explore the area, whereas the English were primarily planters. The colonizers in both societies wanted other peoples, whether indentured servants, convicts, or slaves, to perform any necessary labor. Geographically, areas in Latin America lacked the geographic and environmental diversity, especially in terms of rivers, found in North America. Throughout their development from the 1500s until the early 1800s, Britain's colonial population remained more rural and small. While the development of both societies included an increasing diversity of different ethnicities, the two colonies responded differently. In terms of Native-Americans, the English sought to decimate or remove them and generally favored a more homogenous culture. In contrast, the Spanish sought to convert and integrate Native-Americans into everyday life. In other areas, Elliott discusses how the process of developing and maintaining the Atlantic World on both sides of the ocean proved much more difficult and costly, especially as European wars, immigrants, and Enlightenment philosophies spread to the Americas. The American Revolution was successful in the face of many similar and unsuccessful revolutions in Latin America because revolutions in the Spanish empire lacked a unified group of peoples and visions.

In terms of methodology, Elliott makes many important arguments and significant choices. By providing side-by-side analyses, he makes many important parallels and distinctions not readily present or possible in existing secondary literature. The book is very selective in regard to the peoples, places, and events it does include (for example there is very little discussion on the role of enslaved Africans), but those Elliott includes add to this comparative history informed by well over one thousand books, as indicated in his bibliography. One additional welcome feature found in this work is the discussion of Native-Americans and their individual agency when encountering Europeans. Empires of the Atlantic World is a valuable source: one that explores the push and pull factors that created the ever-present cycles of action and reaction in colonial Atlantic Worlds. Its methodology should be used more so that historians can have a sharper understanding of past times and places. There is much value in simply comparing and contrasting.

Elliot covers the colonial adventures and misadventures of the two dominant European powers in the western hemisphere, England and Spain, in the three hundred years following Columbus' landing. Upon her arrival, Spain's western possessions were populated by vast pools of indigenous peoples, where intermingling between the new arrivals and domestic peoples became commonplace, resulting, as it did, in a growing number of Creoles (individuals of mixed Indian/Spanish blood). Conversely New Englanders, for the most part, remained congregated in their Protestant clusters, ideologically and socially segregated from their native cousins.

At first blush, economic fortunes seemingly shone well on Spain, where a mother load of Peruvian silver, which, in spite of strict mercantile controls by the mother country, fueled a cultural colonial renaissance and resultant growth in universities, cathedrals, and regal cities far larger and exquisite than anything in Massachusetts or Maryland. Silver's blessing, however, also created a false-sense of Spanish invincibility; and it didn't take long for the conquerors to find themselves hard pressed scraping together the necessary resources to police such a vast and increasingly threatened empire. The English, in achieving supremacy over the seas, provided the American colonialists a cushion from outside interference which allowed them the sort of freedom to explore and develop hitherto unknown pluralistic political associations; yet while the English melting pot provided the experimental grounds to reconcile Euro-American inter-cultural and religious conflagrations, it was far less altruistic and tolerant and respectful toward its indigenous neighbors. Ironic as it sounds, one can easily make the case that the more regimented and Spanish regal/clerical hierarchy did far more than its European rival in giving voice to her native peoples.

It is intersesting to see how the French, both directly and indirectly, thwarted both Spanish and English hegemony. In the case of the Brits, it was the costs of underwriting the French and Indian War and the mother country's subsequent attempt to have the their colonies pay for that war which provided a key stimulus to the American Revolution. Spain's demise arrived more slowly and subtly; Napoleon's Iberian Peninsula adventures in the the early 1800s estranged Spain from her American colonies, creating in the process political independence in the form of Simone Bolivar.