Elliott’s work is a comparative history of the British and Spanish empires in the New World. As other historians are “unable to reach a common dialogue…pursuing their separate path,” Elliott stresses his comparative approach’s usefulness in “helping to reassemble the fragmented history of the Americas.” At the same time the author admits the difficulty of comparing all colonizing powers. Thus he describes the colonization patterns of the British and Spanish empires by presenting the differences and similarities between the two.
Elliott’s approach to colonization takes into account the affect of a dynamic political situation in Europe on the structure of British colonies in North America. Economic and religious changes in England had a visible impact on formation of their settlements. When the English colonies in North America attempted to follow the Spanish example and rake in the wealth of the New World, the planters soon realized the region they have settled was less populated than Mesoamerica and its decentralized power structure proved difficult to manipulate…
