"We are now the true Spaniards"

This book is a radical reinterpretation of the process that led to Mexican independence in 1821 - one that emphasizes Mexico's continuity with Spanish political culture. During its final decades under Spanish rule, New Spain was the most populous, richest, and most developed part of the worldwide Spanish monarchy, and most novohispanos (people of New Spain) believed that their religious, social, economic, and political ties to the monarchy made union preferable to separation.