Includes bibliographical references (p. [481]-516) and index.

Introduction: Worlds overseas. -- Intrusion and empire. Hernán Cortés and Christopher Newton ; Motives and methods. -- Occupying American space. Symbolic occupation ; Physical occupation ; Peopling the land. -- Confronting American peoples. A mosaic of peoples ; Christianity and civility ; Coexistence and segregation. -- Exploring American resources. Plunder and 'improvement' ; Labor supply ; Transatlantic economies. -- Crown and colonists. The framework of empire ; Authority and resistance. -- The ordering of society. Hierarchy and control ; Social antagonism and emerging elites. -- America as sacred space. God's providential design ; The church and society ; A plurality of creeds. -- Empire and identity. Transatlantic communities ; Creole communities ; Cultural communities. -- Societies on the move. Expanding populations ; Moving frontiers ; Slave and free. -- War and reform. The Seven Years War and imperial defence ; The drive for reform ; Redefining imperial relationships. -- Empires in crisis. Ideas in ferment ; A community divided ; A crisis contained. -- A new world in the making. The search for legitimacy ; The end of empire ; The emancipation of America ; Contrasting experiences.