In one of the first books in English to focus on Latin American regional history, distinguished historian Magnus Morner examines the ways in which various sectors of Latin American society, in different regions and at different historical periods, reacted to policies of their respective states. After an introductory discussion of the concept of the state and its transformation in Latin America over time, Morner turns to a series of interrelated case studies from periods ranging from the early sixteenth century to the 1930s. Morner first explores the early segregation efforts of imperial Spain, aimed at separating white Hispanic from native Indian populations in colonial Spanish America - and he explains why those efforts failed. He discusses the incorporation of native populations into the newly established nation of Venezuela from 1830 to 1860. He describes the Brazilian Empire's attempts at modernization through the introduction of the metric system in the 1870s - and the unexpected riots that ensued among tradition-minded citizens of the rural northeast. And he examines government efforts of the River Plate region comprising the city of Buenos Aires and neighboring provinces - to promote European immigration to Argentina.