ABSTRACT
The manner in which a particular historian expresses himself usually reveals his declaration of faith when he states his thesis, with a greater or lesser degree of firmness. The hypothesis proposed is that people should speak with greater propriety if, instead of accepting a fiat verdict in favor of the unity or the diversity existing among the histories of the American countries, people should be willing to recognize that the history of the New World embraces both unities and diversities. A comparison of colonial experiences of the European peoples in the New World cannot be based upon the same sort of unity that is to be found in the multicontinental expansion of each of the European empires considered separately. A complete study of the colonial world is only possible if it covers the background and the contributions of the Europeans side by side with the various components of the colonial history, properly so-called, of each country in the New World.
