This article examines religion in Mexico beginning with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and some of the changes since then.

Mission churches, which followed a similar architectural plan but varied in terms of decoration, are among the earliest examples of colonial architecture. View pictures and read the history of these mission churches, or conventos, in New...

A huge website that provides a virtual field trip exploring the Spanish adventurers who quested for gold and land in the New World. The site has information on Pizarro, Orellana, Cabeza de Vaca, Cortes as well as extensive information...

After a brief introduction, you can read the full text of the Adams-Onis Treaty negotiated with Spain by John Quincy Adams.

The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first elected legislature in the New World. Find out why the governmental conditions in England led to this representative government and how it was so different from the governing of colonies in...

When the Spanish Crown (the monarchy) learned of the promise of wealth offered by vast continents that had been previously unknown to Europeans, they sent forces to colonize the land, convert the indigenous populations, and extract...

The history of early ranching during the westward expansion and the cattle boom from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.

Champagne, noise makers and confetti are all New Year's Eve staples. But, in some parts of the country and the world, so are black-eyed peas, lentils, grapes and pickled herring. Hailing from the Low Country of South Carolina to Japanese...

A very good explanation of how early English settlements were financed, and why the English government refused to invest in such ventures. See who led such companies, who were willing to go to the New World, and why English colonies were...

Find out about the early nineteenth century armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish rule.

The influence of Asian art on colonial Latin America is particularly evident in viceregal textiles, ceramics, and furniture. Some examples are the resplendent biombos, or folding screens, made in Mexico beginning in the seventeenth...

View pictures and read descriptions of the oldest surviving featherwork from colonial Mexico in this essay.

After the Conquest, Spanish colonizers' first task was to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity and eliminate their religious beliefs. Painted murals within their missions demonstrate the great fear and urgency of the...

The Franciscan monastery of Huejotzingo is a landmark in the development of sixteenth-century art in central Mexico. View pictures of this mission and read details about the architectural elements in this essay.

Miguel Cabrera was one of the most celebrated and prolific artists of viceregal Mexico in the eighteenth century. View pictures of "The Virgin of the Apocalypse" and read about the iconography in this essay.

Across Europe, many powerful individuals sought to acquire objects taken from the Americas, as a way to know the unknown, to exert some control over the colonial processes underway, and to possess exotic and rare things. The Medici...

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Father Damian Massanet's first-hand account of Spain's first occupation of East Texas in the year 1690.

This award-winning website from the University of Calgary's History Department is both impressive and extensive. It focuses on Portuguese and Spanish expeditions of the 15th and 16th centuries (the sitemap provides a good outline of...

A look at the different traditions and ways Christmas is celebrated around the world. Experience Christmas from Australia to Zambia, Italy to China, and many more countries.

Paintings that celebrated St. Joseph as a youthful, caring father skyrocketed to popularity during the 16th and 17th centuries, both in Spain and throughout the Spanish Empire. This particular painting of the lively, vigorous St. Joseph...

This letter written by Guaman Poma is the most famous manuscript from South America dated to this time period in part because it is so comprehensive and long, but also because of its many illustrations. View pictures of the illustrations...

The Brooklyn Museum of Art has in its collection a series of fourteen portraits of Inka rulers. View pictures of this collection and read the history of Inkan ruler Atahualpa in this essay.

Read about the Mexican War of Independence, an armed conflict which was the culmination of a political and social process which ended the rule of Spain in the territory of New Spain.