A Bibliography of Early California
and Neighboring Territory Through 1846:
An Era of Exploration, Missions, Presidios, Ranchos, and Indians
Compiled by
Robert LeRoy Santos
California State University, Stanislaus
University Library
Alley-Cass Publications
Turlock, CA
2002
Chapter Eight
GOVERNMENT
This chapter contains works about Spanish and Mexican government in California, Baja California, Mexico and
the Southwest through 1846.
[H1]
Abad y Queipo, Manuel. Coleccion de los Escritos Mas Importantes Que en Diferentes Epocas Dirigio al Gobierno D.
Manuel Abad y Queipo . . . Edited by Estela Guadalupe Jimenez Codinach. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura
y las Artes, 1994. 173 pp. Notes: A reprint of the writings of Governor Queipo (1751-1825) who served during the
War of Mexican Independence of 1810. In Spanish.
[H2]
Archer, Christon I. "Discord, Disjunction, and Reveries of Past and Future Glories: Mexico's First Decades
of Independence, 1810-1953." Mexican Studies-Estudios Mexicanos 16(Winter 2000): 189. Notes: Considers the
confusion felt by the Mexican people after Mexico's independence from Spain.
[H3]
Barrientos Grandon, Javier. La Cultura Juridica en la Nueva Espana: Sobre la Recepcion de la Tradicion Juridica
Europea en el Virreinato. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1993. 286 pp. Notes: The history
of the reception and practice of Spanish law in New Spain. In Spanish.
[H4]
Benavides, Adan. "Loss by Division: The Commandancy General Archive of the Eastern Interior Provinces."
Americas 43(1986): 203-219. Notes: Explores the reasons for the loss of the archive through division and transfer.
[H5]
Benson, Nettie Lee. The Provincial Deputation in Mexico: Harbinger of Provincial Autonomy, Independence, and Federalism.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992. 225 pp. Notes: A discussion of local provincial governments and the Mexican
federal government in the nineteenth century.
[H6]
Bertrand, Michel. Grandeur et Miseres de l'Office: Les Officiers de Finances de Nouvell-Espagne, XVIIe-XVIIIe Siecles.
Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1999. 458 pp. Notes: Evaluates public finance and the finance ministers of
New Spain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In French.
[H7]
Bosch Garcia, Carlos. La Polarizacion Regalista de la Nueva Espana. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autonoma
de Mexico, Instituto de Investigaciones Historicas, 1990. 186 pp. Notes: An assessment of the interaction between
the local and central governments controlling New Spain, 1540-1810. In Spanish.
[H8]
Caneque, Alejandro. "The King's Living Image: The Culture and Politics of Viceregal Power in Seventeenth-Century
New Spain." Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1999. 518 pp. Notes: An examination of the extent of the viceroy's
power in a colonial society discovering that its bearing was more complex that normally conceived because of the
strength of the ruling class.
[H9]
Cardenas, Mario Alberto. "Jose de Escandon, the Last Spanish Conquistador: A Study of Royal Service and Personal
Achievement in 18th Century New Spain." M.A. thesis, Texas A&M University, Kingsville, 1999. 109 pp. Notes:
Assesses the achievements of Escandon in commerce, government and other colonization institutions through his ability
and his connections.
[H10]
Castaneda Garcia, Carmen. Circulos de Poder en la Nueva Espana. Mexico City: CIESAS, 1998. 239 pp. Notes: Discusses
the power elite in New Spain. In Spanish.
[H11]
Commons de la Rosa, Aurea. Las Intendencias de la Nueva Espana. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
1993. 253 pp. Notes: An analysis the various governmental agencies in New Spain. In Spanish.
[H12]
Cortina Portilla, Manuel. Veintitres Virreyes y un Siglo. Mexico City: Con, S.A. de C.V., 1995. 101 pp. Notes:
A history and biography of 23 New Spain viceroys. In Spanish.
[H13]
Cutter, Charles R. "The Administration of Law in Colonial New Mexico." Journal of the Early Republic
18(1998): 99-115. Notes: Proposes that colonial law was flexible, accessible and adapting to the surrounding cultural
environment.
[H14]
____________. "Community and the Law in Northern New Spain." Americas 50(April 1994): 467-481. Notes:
A reconsideration of the effect law in colonial New Spain had on society and found that it was simple, effective
and manageable.
[H15]
____________. The Legal Culture of Northern New Spain, 1700-1810. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
1995. 227 pp.
[H16]
____________. The Protector de Indios in Colonial New Mexico, 1659-1821. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press, 1986. 129 pp.
[H17]
Ebright, Malcolm. "Sharing the Shortages: Water Litigation and Regulation in Hispanic New Mexico, 1600-1850."
New Mexico Historical Review 76(2001): 3-45. Notes: Examines water rights litigation, 1598-1850.
[H18]
Elazar, Daniel J. "Land and Liberty in American Civil Society." Publius 18:4(1988): 1-29. Notes: Part
of the article discusses the Spanish system of land ownership in the Southwest.
[H19]
Endfield, Georgina H. and Sarah L. O'Hara. "Degradation, Drought, and Dissent: An Environmental History of
Colonial Michoacan, West Central Mexico." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 89(September 1999):
402-419.
[H20]
Engstrand, Iris H.W. "The Legal Heritage of Spanish California." Southern California Quarterly 75(1993):
205-236. Notes: Addresses the Spanish colonial legal apparatus in regard to pueblos, missions and presidios and
describes Spanish land settlement policy in California, 1769-1850.
[H21]
Gomez-Quinones, Juan. Roots of Chicano Politics, 1600-1940. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994.
540 pp.
[H22]
Goode, Catherine Tracy. "Corrupting the Governor: Manuel San Juan de Santa Cruz and Power in Early Eighteenth-Century
Nueva Vizcaya." M.A. thesis, Northern Arizona University, 2000. 136 pp.
[H23]
Grases, Pedro. "Las Relaciones Americanas entre el Norte y el Sur del Continente." Historia [Chile] 21(1986):
275-288. Notes: Presents the dichotomous nature of North and South America and the influence of democratic ideas
beginning in the sixteenth century with Spanish colonization. In Spanish.
[H24]
Gunther, Vanessa Ann. "Red Land - White Law: Native Americans in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties and
the Legal System in the Nineteenth Century." M.A. thesis, California State University, Fullerton, 1998. 100
pp. Notes: Assesses the damage done by the Spanish, Mexican and American legal systems to the Native American through
its laws and courts by continuously debasing its position in society.
[H25]
Herrera, Carlos Raul. "The King's Governor : Juan Bautista de Anza and Bourbon New Mexico in the Era of Imperial
Reform, 1778-1788." Ph.D. diss., University of New Mexico, 2000. 326 pp. Notes: Argues that the region of
New Mexico did play an important role in Spain's governmental plans to maintain control of New Spain and to expand
its territories.
[H26]
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informatica. Division Territorial del Estado de Baja California
de 1810 a 1995. Aguascalientes, Mexico: The Author, 1997. 95 pp. Notes: History of government in Baja California,
1810-1995.
[H27]
Langum, David J. "The Legal System of Spanish California: A Preliminary Study." Western Legal History
7(1994): 10-23. Notes: Details Baja California's legal system, 1769-1822, which used local governmental authorities
to apply Spanish law.
[H28]
Mazin Gomez, Oscar, ed. Mexico en el Mundo Hispanico. 2 vols. Zamora, Mexico: El Colegio de Michoacan, 2000. Notes:
Collection of papers from XXI Coloquio de Antropologia e Historia Regionales, held at Zamora, October 27-29, 1999.
The papers addressed intergovernmental relations between Spain and New
Spain, 1521-1812.
[H29]
McKnight, Joseph W. "Law Books on the Hispanic Frontier." Journal of the West 27:3(1988): 74-84. Notes:
Locates and describes legal sources used by the Spanish government, 1750-1845.
[H30]
____________. "Law Without Lawyers on the Hispano-Mexican Frontier." West Texas Historical Association
Year Book 66(1990): 51-65. Notes: Discusses the lack of professional judges and lawyers in the Southwest, 1750-1848,
where the shortage was injurious to legal practice afterwards as well.
[H31]
Mundy, Barbara Elizabeth. "The Maps of the Relaciones Geograficas of New Spain, 1579-C.1584: Native Mapping
in the Conquered Land." 2 vols. Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1993. 629 pp. Notes: A presentation and analysis
of the maps derived from the 1577 Spanish government request that maps be drafted of the settlements in New Spain.
[H32]
Museo Nacional de Historia. El Otro yo del Rey: Virreyes de la Nueva Espana, 1535-1821. Mexico City: The Author,
1996. 79 pp. Notes: An exhibition catalog of the portraits of New Spain viceroys. In Spanish.
[H33]
Navarro Garcia, Luis. La Politica Americana de Jose de Galvez: Segun Su "Discurso y Reflexiones de un Vasallo."
Malaga, Mexico: Editorial Algazara, 1998. 171 pp. Notes: Examines the work of Galvez (1720-1789) in regard to his
"Discurso" which is on commerce of New Spain. The text of "Discurso" is included. In Spanish.
[H34]
Neve, Felipe de. Reglamento para el Gobierno de la Provincia de Californias, 1781. Edited by Salvador Bernabeu
Albert. Madrid: Doce Callas, 1994. 117 pp. Notes: Contains a copy of Neve's (1724-1784) original work of the regulations
for the administration of the Spanish colonies with commentary. In Spanish.
[H35]
Nuttall, Donald A. The Senoras Gobernadoras of Spanish Alta California: A Comparative Study. Santa Barbara: Santa
Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, 1998. 40 pp. Notes: A study of the wives of the Spanish governors in California.
[H36]
Rathbun, Lyon Oliver. "The Representation of Mexicans and the Transportation of American Political Culture,
1787-1848." Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1994. 392 pp. Notes: Assesses the images of Mexico
as seen in literature, histories and thought of the period and their impact on the question of annexing Mexican
lands into the U.S.
[H37]
Remacha, Jose Ramon. "Traces of the Spanish Legal System in New Mexico." New Mexico Historical Review
69:3(1994): 281-294. Notes: Stresses that Spanish laws administered in the West Indies were the same ones applied
in New Mexico, 1621-1821.
[H38]
Rosen, Deborah A. "Acoma v. Laguna and the Transition from Spanish Colonial Law to American Civil Procedure
in New Mexico." American Literature 73(2001): 513-546. Notes: The court case was decided in 1855 concerning
the rightful owner of a religious painting, but the article addresses the differences of Spanish law and American
law from 1540.
[H39]
Salazar Andreu, Juan Pablo. "Gobierno en Nueva Espana del Virrey Luis de Velasco, El Joven (1590-1595) y (1607-1611)."
DR. diss., Universidad de Navarra, 1996. 415 pp. Notes: Concentrates on Velasco's administration as viceroy and
in particular his application of royal orders, his legislative work and the courts he constructed. In Spanish.
[H40]
Salazar, J. Richard. Spanish-Indian Relations in New Mexico During the Term of Commandant General Pedro de Nava,
1790-1802. Guadalupita, NM: Center for Land Grant Studies, 1994. 26 pp.
[H41]
Salcedo y Salcedo, Nemesio. Instruccion Reservada de Don Nemesio Salcedo y Salcedo, Comandante General de Provincias
Internas, a Su Secesor. Edited by Isidro Vizcaya Canales. Chihuahua, Mexico: Centro de Informcion del Estado de
Chihuahua, 1991. 82 pp. Notes: A reprinting of the directive of Salcedo (1754-1814) who the chief administrator
of New Spain during the wars of independence beginning in 1814. In Spanish.
[H42]
Santos Arrebola, Maria Soledad. La Proyeccion de un Ministro Ilustrado en Malaga: Jose de Galvez. Malaga, Mexico:
Publicaciones de la Universidad de Malaga y Obra Social y Cultural CajaSur, 1999. 398 pp. Notes: An Examination
of the administration of Galvez (1720-1787), viceroy of New Spain. In Spanish.
[H43]
Sheridan, Thomas E. "The Limits of Power: The Political Ecology of the Spanish Empire in the Greater Southwest."
Antiquity 66(March 1992): 153-172.
[H44]
Silva Riquer, Jorge. La Administracion de Alcabalas y Pulques de Michoacan, 1776-1821. Mexico City: Instituto Mora,
1993. 153 pp. Notes: Discusses tax collection in Michoacan with sources and Bibliography. In Spanish.
[H45]
Simmons, Marc. Spanish Government in New Mexico. 2d ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990. 238
pp.
[H46]
Tateiwa, Reiko. La Rebelion del Marques del Valle: Un Examen del Gobierno Virreinal en Nueva Espana en 1566. Nagoya,
Japan: Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos, Universidad de Nazan, 1997. 45 pp. Notes: Addresses the revolt of 1566
in New Spain and the government's role in its suppression. In
Spanish.
[H47]
Torre Villar, Ernesto de la and Ramiro Navarro de Anda. Instrucciones y Memorias de los Virreyes Novohispanos.
2 vols. Mexico City: Editorial Porrua, 1991. Notes: A history of the New Spain's viceroys. In Spanish.
[H48]
Tyler, Daniel. "The Spanish Colonial Legacy and the Role of Hispanic Custom in Defining New Mexico Land and
Water Rights." Colonial Latin American Historical Review 4:2(1995): 149-165. Notes: Appraises Spanish law
on reserved irrigation water and its effect throughout the centuries beginning in
1681.
[H49]
Valle Menendez, Antonio del. Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcasitas: Primer Conde de Revillagigedo Virrey de Mexico:
La Historia de un Soldado (1681-1766). Santander, Mexico: Libreria Estudio, 1998. 952 pp. Notes: A biography of
Viceroy Guemes of New Spain. In Spanish.
[H50]
Vargas, Diego de. Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97. 2 vols. Edited
by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. Notes:
Contains the English translation of the journals of Governor Vargas which has information on the Pueblo Indians
and turmoil with the Spanish government. In English.
[H51]
____________. Letters from the New World: Selected Correspondence of Don Diego de Vargas to His Family, 1675-1706.
Edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
1992. 237 pp. Notes: In English.
[H52]
Vincent, Victoria Anne. "The Avila-Cortes Conspiracy: Creole Aspirations and Royal Interests." Ph.D.
diss., University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1993. 287 pp. Notes: An analysis of Martin Cortes' role in the Avila-Cortes
conspiracy to overthrow the Spanish government in New Spain which was a reaction to the New Laws of 1542 that handcuffed
the financial elite of the region.