Paula,
>From the east coast perspective, probably the best source would be Wilma
A. Dunaway's _First American Frontier_ (1996 U NC Press). From the
direction of Mexico, my first book _Social Change in the Southwest,
1350-1880_ [U. Press of Kansas 1989] locates colonial actionn in a
world-system perspective. James Lang's two books _Commerce and
Conquest_[1975] and _Portuguese Brazil_ [1979] both academic are also
useful. I have an article in JWSR Vol2 that reviews much of the relevant
literature--the bib, not the article, could be quite useful..
tom
Thomas D. [tom] Hall
thall@depauw.edu
Department of Sociology
DePauw University
100 Center Street
Greencastle, IN 46135
765-658-4519
HOME PAGE:
http://www.depauw.edu/~thall/hp1.htm