Read more
A study of the legal, religious and demographic aspects of the transfer of European family organizations to new environments in overseas colonies. The text illustrates the impact of contact with other ethnic groups, covering topics such as marriage and inheritance, with a focus on women's roles.
List of contents
Contents: Introduction; Parents and daughters: change in the practice of dowry in São Paulo (1600-1770), Muriel Nazzari; The church and the patriarchal family: marriage conflicts in 16th- and 17th-century New Spain, Patricia Seed; Marriage and the family in colonial Vila Rica, Donald Ramos; Divorce and the changing status of women in 18th-century Massachusetts, Nancy F. Cott; Honour, sexuality and illegitimacy in colonial Spanish America, Ann Twinam; Les naissances illégitimes sur les rives du Saint-Laurent avant 1730, Lynne Paquette and Réal Bates; Women and the family in 18th-century Mexico: law and practice, Edith Couturier; Women and means: women and family property in colonial Brazil, Alida C. Metcalf; Ownership and obligation: inheritance and patriarchal households in Connecticut, 1750-1820,Toby L. Ditz; The spiritual conquest re-examined: baptism and Christian marriage in early 16th-century Mexico, Sarah Cline; The black family in the Americas, A. J. R. Russell-Wood; Marriage patterns of persons of African descent in a colonial Mexico City parish, Edgar F. Love; The anatomy of a colonial settler population: Cape Colony, 1657-1750, Leonard Guelke; Index.
About the author
Maria Beatriz Nizza da Silva, Universidade Portucalense, Portugal
Summary
A study of the legal, religious and demographic aspects of the transfer of European family organizations to new environments in overseas colonies. The text illustrates the impact of contact with other ethnic groups, covering topics such as marriage and inheritance, with a focus on women's roles.
Additional text
'European and Non-European Societies and Christianity and Missions along with the other volumes in An Expanding World should become a standard collection for any academic library. The invaluable bibliography, the variety of themes, and the historical problems will engage students of all levels, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral, in many aspects of early modern and world history for years to come.' Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. XXX, No. 1
