New Spain
Viceroyalty of New Spain (
Spanish:
) was the name given to one of the
viceroy-ruled territories of the
Spanish Empire from
1525 to
1821.
New Spain's territory included what is now
Mexico and
Central America (as far as the southern border of
Costa Rica), the
Philippines,
Venezuela and nearly all of the
southwest United States (including all or parts of the modern-day
U.S. states of
California,
Nevada,
Utah,
Colorado,
Wyoming,
Arizona,
New Mexico and
Texas), but the northern boundary of New Spain remained undefined until the
Adams-OnĂs Treaty of
1819.
In
1821, Spain lost most of these territories, when it recognized the
independence of Mexico. However,
Cuba, the
Philippines and
Puerto Rico, remained a part of the Spanish crown until the
Spanishâ€"American War (
1898).
During this long period of time,
Spain,
Europe,
America and the viceroyalty experienced different historical, cultural, social, economic and political movements. This makes it necessary to make a good deal of distinction in order to be able to characterize the developments that took place in ideology and actions over the long historical period, longer even, for instance, than the current duration of Mexican independence.
In addition, the vastness of New Spain and its trade with the
Philippines via the
Manila Galleon (Nao of China), as well as the journeys of
' under the Spanish flag in the 18th century which had to evade Caribbean pirates, encouraged complex and changing economic and military strategies, just as Spain changed from the Catholic Monarchs to the ' and to
Joseph Bonaparte, the political doctrines that were adopted by Spain also affected the viceroyalty.
Early colonial failures (1492-1525)
Christopher Columbus did not reach mainland America until his fourth voyage, almost 20 years after his first voyage.
It is important to distinguish between the
Spanish conquest of Mexico and the
Spanish conquest of Yucatán. Although the
Yucatán Peninsula is part of the modern-day country of
Mexico, the Spanish conquest of Mexico refers to the conquest of the
Mexica/Aztec empire by
Hernán Cortés from
1519â€"
21. It is
April 22,
1519, the day
Hernán Cortés landed ashore and founded the city of
Veracruz, that marks the beginning of almost 303 years of Spanish
hegemony over the region. The
Spanish conquest of Yucatán, on the other hand, refers to the conquest of the
Maya empire from
1511â€"
1697.
Ferdinand Magellan set foot in the
Philippines in
1521.
The Golden Age (1525â€"1643)
In
1565,
Miguel LĂłpez de Legazpi formed the first Spanish settlement in the
Philippines, which became the town of
San Miguel. In 1570 the native city of
Manila was conquered and declared a Spanish city the following year. The
Universidad de Santo Tomas was opened in
1611.
The last Spanish Habsburgs (1643â€"1713)
The
presidio (royal fort),
pueblo (town) and the
misiĂłn were the three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown to extend its borders and consolidate its
colonial territories in North America. From
1687,
Father Eusebio Francisco Kino founded over twenty
missions in the areas between the
Mexican state of
Sonora and the state of
Arizona in the
United States. From
1697, Jesuits established other 18
missions throughout the Baja California Peninsula.
The Bourbon Reforms (1713â€"1806)
In 1720, the
Villasur expedition from
Santa Fe met and attempted to parley with
French- allied
Pawnee in what is now
Nebraska. Negotiations were unsuccessful, and a battle ensued; the Spanish were badly defeated, with only 13 managing to return to New Mexico. Although this was a small engagement, it is significant in that it was the deepest penetration of the Spanish into the
Great Plains, establishing the limit to Spanish expansion and influence there.
Spanish rule on the Philippines was briefly interrupted in
1762, when
British troops invaded and occupied the islands.
The 21 northern
Missions in presentâ€"day Alta California (U.S.) were established along California's
El Camino Real from
1769.
In an effort to exclude
Britain and
Russia from the eastern
Pacific, King
Charles III of Spain sent forth from
Mexico a number of
expeditions to explore the Pacific Northwest between 1774 and 1791.
Spain entered the
American Revolutionary War as an ally of France in June 1779, a renewal of the
Bourbon Family Compact. On
May 8,
1782, Count
Bernardo de Gálvez, the Spanish governor of
Louisiana, captured the British naval base at
New Providence in
the Bahamas. On the
Gulf Coast, the actions of Gálvez led to Spain acquiring
East and
West Florida in the peace settlement, as well as controlling the mouth of the Mississippi River after the war—which would prove to be a major source of tension between Spain and the United States in the years to come.
In 1781, a Spanish expedition during the
American Revolutionary War left
St. Louis, Missouri (then under Spanish control) and reached as far as
Fort St. Joseph at
Niles, Michigan where they captured the fort while the British were away. Spanish territorial claims based on this furthest north penetration of Spain in North America were not supported at the
treaty negotiations.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Governor-General
José Basco y Vargas established the Economic Society of Friends of the Country.
The
Nootka Convention (1791) resolved the dispute between Spain and Great Britain about the British settlements in Oregon to British Columbia.
End of the Viceroyalty (1806-1821)
Spanish Florida would ultimately be
acquired by the United States in 1819.
After priest
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's
Grito de Dolores (call for independence), the insurgent army began an eleven-year war that would culminate in triumph by the Mexicans, who then offered the crown of the new
Mexican Empire to
Ferdinand VII or to a member of the nobility that he would designate. After the refusal of the Spanish monarchy to recognize the independence of Mexico the
(
Army of the Three Guarantees) cut all political and economic ties with the Kingdom of Spain.
However,
Cuba, the
Philippines and
Puerto Rico, remained a part of the Spanish crown until the
Spanishâ€"American War (
1898).
New Spain was organized into several subdivisions, including
Nueva Extremadura,
Nueva Galicia,
Nueva Vizcaya and
Nuevo Santander, as well as the
Captaincies General of
Guatemala,
Cuba and
Santo Domingo, and the
Philippine Islands.
New Spain was ruled by a
Mexico City-based
viceroy appointed by the
Spanish monarch.
To pay off the Spanish army that captured Mexico the soldiers and officers were granted large areas of land and the natives who lived on them as a type of feudalism. Although officially they could not become slaves, the system, known as
, came to signify the oppression and exploitation of natives, although its originators may not have set out with such intent. In short order the upper echelons of patrons and priests in the society lived off the work of the lower classes. Due to some horrifying instances of abuse against the indigenous peoples, Bishop
Bartolomé de las Casas suggested bringing black slaves to replace them. Fr Bartolomé later repented when he saw the even worse treatment given to the black slaves. The other discovery that perpetuated this system was extensive silver mines discovered at Potosi and other places that were worked for hundreds of years by forced native labor and contributed most of the wealth flowing to Spain. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was the principal source of income for Spain among the Spanish colonies, with important mining centers like
Guanajuato,
San Luis Potosi and
Hidalgo.
The port of
Veracruz was the viceroyalty's principal port on the
Atlantic Ocean and the port of
Acapulco its main harbor on the
Pacific. Both ports were fundamental for overseas trade, especially with
Asia, as was the case with the
Manila Galleon (also known as the Nao of China). This was a ship that made two voyages a year between
Manila and Acapulco, whose goods were then transported overland from Acapulco to Veracruz and later reshipped from Veraruz to
CadĂz in Spain. So then, the ships that set sail from Veracruz were generally loaded with merchandise from the Orient originating from the commercial centers of the
Philippines, plus the
precious metals and natural resources of
Mexico,
Central America and the
Caribbean. During the sixteenth century, Spain held the equivalent of 1.5 trillion (
1990 terms) in
gold and silver received from
New Spain.
Nevertheless, these resources did not translate into development for the
Metropolis (mother country) due to Spain's frequent preoccupation with European wars (enormous amounts of this wealth were spent hiring mercenaries to fight the
Protestant Reformation), as well as the incessant decrease in overseas transportation caused by assaults from companies of English
buccaneers, Dutch
corsairs and
pirates of various origin. These companies were initially financed by, at first, by the
Amsterdam Stock Market â€" the first in history and whose origin is owed precisely to the need for funds to finance pirate expeditions â€", as later by the London market. The above is what some authors call the "historical process of the transfer of wealth from the south to the north."
The role of epidemics
Spanish settlers also brought with them
smallpox,
typhus, and other diseases. Most of the settlers had developed an immunity from childhood, but the indigenous peoples had not. There were at least three separate epidemics that decimated the population: Smallpox (
1520â€"
21), measles (
1545â€"
48) and typhus (
1576â€"
81). Of the estimated 8 to 20 million of the original prehispanic population, less than two million are believed to have survived. At the end of the
16th century, New Spain was a depopulated country with abandoned cities and
maize fields.
The role of the interracial mixing
With the conquest a new ethnic group was created by the Spaniards: the , a result of the conquerors taking native women as a measure against revolt by the natives and beginning the mixing of both cultures.
Most of these lands were dominated by Spanish landowners and their white descendants. Europeans, in fact, totally dominated the politics and economy of colonial Mexico. Mestizos came next, and native peoples occupied the lowest rung of society.
The majority of the Spanish colonists were men with no wives available and married or made concubines of the natives, and were even encouraged to do so by
Queen Isabella during the earliest days of colonization. As a result of these unions, as well as concubinage and secret mistresses, a vast class of people known as
' and mulattos came into being. But even if mixes were allowed, the white population tried, largely successfully even today, to keep their status. After the native population was decimated by epidemics and forced labor, black slaves were imported. A system was created to keep each mix in a different social level: ' (the
casta system). Each different mix had a name and different privileges or prohibitions. There were even two different kinds of whites, those born in Spain, or
', who got all the upper level positions and higher paying jobs. At a lower level, those born in America, or ' took the next lower layer of desirable jobs. and then mulattos were next, followed by the unmixed natives,
' (Amerindian mixed with black), and blacks, respectively. The Spanish ' tried by all means to keep their status, even if they took native women. Those who were wealthy enough also tried to have a Spanish wife, who was sent to give birth in Spain to prevent their children from becoming . In spite of the
sistema de castas, the Amerindians and the Mestizos were taught the religion and the language of the Metropoli (Spanish), and they were even allowed to become members of the religious orders or even priests. Moreover, efforts were made to keep the Amerindian cultural aspects which did not violate the Catholic traditions. As an example, some Spaniards learned some of the Amerindian languages (already in the XVI century) and devolped a Grammar for them, so that they could be easily transmitted. On the other hand, the idea of sharing the language and the religion with the natives was deeply rejected in the English colonies of North America (and later in the United States of America) and their culture was ignored and eventually obliterated.
and were nevertheless not allowed in the upper levels of the government or any other position of power, and eventually they joined forces for the independence of Mexico. With independence, the caste system and slavery were theoretically abolished.
, while they no longer have a separate legal status from other groups, comprise approximately 60â€"65% of the population. Whites, who no longer have a special legal status, are thought to be about 15â€"20% of the population and still have most of the desirable jobs. In modern Mexico, has became more a cultural term, since a Native American that abandons his traditional ways is considered a mestizo, also most Afromexicans prefer to be considered , since they feel more identified with this group.
The role of the Catholic church
The brought with them the Catholic faith and a lot of priests, to which the population was seemingly rapidly converted. Because of their success in getting rid of the Muslims in Spain, the Catholic Church was basically run as an arm of the Spanish government. It was soon found that most of the natives had adopted "the god of the heavens", as they called it, as just another one of their many gods. While it was an important god, because it was the god of the conquerors, they did not see why they had to abandon their old beliefs. As a result, a second wave of missionaries began a process attempting to completely erase the old beliefs, and thus wiped out many aspects of Mesoamerican culture. Hundreds of thousands of Aztec
codices were destroyed, Aztec priests and teachers were persecuted, and the temples and statues of the old gods were destroyed. The Mesoamerican sex education system was set aside and replaced by a very limited church education; even some foods associated with religion, like
amaranto, were forbidden. Eventually, in some areas some of the natives were declared
minors and forbidden to learn to read and write, so they would always need a white man in charge of them to be responsible of their indoctrination.
During the following centuries, under Spanish rule, a new culture developed that combined the customs and traditions of the indigenous peoples with that of Catholic Spain. Numerous churches and other buildings were constructed by native labor in the Spanish style, and cities were named after various saints and objects of veneration, such as "
San Luis PotosĂ" (after St. Louis) and "
Vera Cruz" ("True Cross").
The
Spanish Inquisition, and its descendant, the
Mexican Inquisition, continued to operate in the Americas until Mexico declared its independence.
 |
Sor Juana InĂ©s de la Cruz de Asbaje y RamĂrez |
The Viceroyalty of New Spain was one of the principal centers of European cultural expansion in America. The viceroyalty was the basis for a racial and cultural mosaic of the Spanish American colonial period.
Figures such as
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and
Juan Ruiz de AlarcĂłn stand out as some of the viceroyalty's most notable contributors to
Spanish Literature.
Architects
Pedro MartĂnez Vázquez,
Manuel Tolsá and
Lorenzo Rodriguez produced some fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic architecture known as
Mexican Churrigueresque in the own capital,
Ocotlan,
Puebla or remote silver-mining towns.
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The facade of the church of Ss. Sebastian y Santa Prisca in Taxco (1751-58) bristles with Mexican Churrigueresque ornamentation. |
|
The Manila Cathedral before the 1880 earthquake |
The magnificent fourth
Manila Cathedral was constructed in
1654 to
1671.
The Spanish viceregal government blocked the diffusion of
liberal ideas during the
Enlightenment, the
French Revolution and the
United States War of Independence at a time when it tolerated no other religion than the
Catholic faith.
The Spanish presence on the American continent tends to be criticized very passionately, especially because of the disappearance of its preexisting cultures: those civilizations where crushed and replaced by the Spanish colonial government. It was not until the
20th century that a broad anthropological effort was initiated to rescue and preserve the cultural elements that belonged to those civilizations. However, the Spanish rule was not harder than the ones other contemporary European civilizations used in their colonies, therefore, part of the bad reputation can be credited to the
black legend successfully spread by Britain as one of the guide lines in their foreign policy. In this regard, it can be argued that British based colonies never really interact in noticeable amounts with the natives in what is known today as the United States and these were virtually exterminated whereas the Spanish, initially by means of
evangelization, eventually merged to some extent with the locals.
The Spanish reign of the
18th and
19th centuries instituted a society of
castes based on racial differences where blacks and indigenous peoples were treated like slaves and the political and religious oligarchy was comprised exclusively of
', and did not allow ' (American-born of European ancestry),
' (mixed Amerindian and Spanish), or mulato (mixed African and Spanish) society to participate in decision making. This structure was similar to the rule of the rest of European powers.
The poor treatment of indigenous peoples and the diseases brought from Europe caused a decrease in the original population. The kingdom of Spain promulgated throughout its colonies a series of laws that tried to lend order to the treatment of the indigenous peoples, legislating against the abuse of the original population by the ', royal designees who controlled the land and had a
feudal-like right to indigenous labor. The Spanish laws to be applied in the American colonies were known as the
, inspired in the work of
Bartolomé de Las Casas, who is considered one of the most notorious human rights advocate of all times.
The introduction of the horse had a profound impact on Native American culture in the
Great Plains of North America, too. The horse offered revolutionary speed and efficiency, both while hunting and in battle. The horse also became a sort of currency for native tribes and nations. Horses became a pivotal part in solidifying social hierarchy, expanding trade areas with neighboring tribes, and creating a stereotype both to their advantage and against it.
Image:convento san agustin 1.jpg|Convento de San AgustĂn de Yuriria.Image:convento san agustin 2.jpg|Convento de San AgustĂn de Yuriria.Image:detalle templo yuriria 1.jpg|Detail of the Temple of the Convent of San AgustĂn de Yuriria.Image:detalle templo yuriria 2.jpg|Detail of the Temple of the Convent of San AgustĂn de Yuriria.Image:detalle templo yuriria 3.jpg|Detail of the Temple of the Convent of San AgustĂn de Yuriria.*
Anahuac*
Mexico*
History of Alaska: Spain's attempts at colonization*
History of Mexico*
History of the Philippines*
List of Viceroys of New Spain*
Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
