Colonial Latin America: A Documentary History centers on people from different parts of the world who came together to form societies by chance and by design in the years after 1492. This text encourages detailed exploration of the cultural development of colonial Latin America through a wide variety of documents and visual materials, most of which have been translated and presented originally for this collection. Religion and society are the integral themes of Colonial Latin America. Religion becomes the nexus for much of what has been treated as political, social, economic, and cultural history during this period. Society allows students to meet a variety of individuals-not faceless social groups. This sourcebook collects the thoughts and actions of a wide range of people who were making choices and decisions, pursuing ideals, misperceiving each other, experiencing disenchantment, absorbing new pressures, breaking rules as well as following them, and employing survival strategies of both reconciliation and opposition. The book is an excellent tool for Latin American history survey courses and for seminars on the colonial period.