The Elusive West and the Contest for Empire, 1713-1763

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments | vii List of Illustrations | xi List of Abbreviations | xiii Introduction | 1 Part I The Spanish Empire and the Elusive West 1 Peoples and Terrain, Difficulties and Disappointments | 29 2 Exploiting Indigenous Geographic Understanding | 69 Part II South Sea Interlude 3 The Alluring Pacific Ocean | 101 4 The Pacific Ocean and the War of the Spanish Succession | 122 Part III France and the Elusive West after the Treaty of Utrecht 5 Visions of Western Louisiana | 147 6 Imperial Comparisons | 166 7 Communication and Interpretation | 194 8 Restricted Pathways | 233 Part IV British Pacific Ventures and the Early Years of the Seven Years’ War 9 British Designs on the Spanish Empire, 1713–1748 | 261 10 French Reactions to the British Search for a Northwest Passage from Hudson Bay and the Origins of the Seven Years’ War | 283 11 Spanish Reactions to British Pacific Encroachments, 1750–1757 | 312 12 French Borderlands Encroachments and Spanish Neutrality | 330 Part V The Elusive West and the Outcome of the Seven Years’ War 13 French Geographic Conceptions and the 1762 Western Louisiana Cession | 359 14 Spain’s Acceptance of Trans-Mississippi Louisiana | 387 15 Old Visions and New Opportunities: Britain and the Spanish Empire at the End of the Seven Years’ War | 413 Conclusion | 429 Index | 435 ...