"Our understanding of early modern empire construction can thus be reshaped through an analysis that looks beyond intellectual, political and administrative origins towards the people who actually undertook the project of colonization. On the colonial frontier, we see European empires adopting military recruitment strategies from Europe — including forced conscription, convict transportation and a reliance on vagabonds and other ‘undesirables’ — yet the unique environment of the frontier changed the nature of this military service."

Stephanie J. Mawson, Convicts or Conquistadores ? Spanish Soldiers in the Seventeenth-Century Pacific , Past & Present, Volume 232, Issue 1, August 2016, Pages 87–125, https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtw008 #History #Histodon #Histodons #Spain #Philippines #Pacific #C17th #17thCentury #Colonisation #Europe #Asia #EarlyModern #Empire #Imperialism @histodon @histodons @earlymodern