Race and Hierarchy in Spanish Colonial America

HIST 10041/23/13

Mughals and European Merchants

• Booming economy based on cotton. • Used European merchants.• Did not develop merchant fleet themselves.

Sir Thomas Roe (1581-1644)• English diplomat• Member of Parliament (1614-1644)• Ambassador to Mughal Court (1615-1618)• Seek protection for British factories in Surat.• Close friend and drinking companion of Jahangir (r. 1605-1627)• How does Roe see the Mughal court?

Fall of the Safavids and Fall of the Mughals

• Destabilization after collapse of Safavids.• 1739: Nadir Shah, warlord who seized power in Iran and Afghanistan,raids Mughal territory.• Carries off “peacock throne” and Koh-i Nur diamond, symbols of Mughal kingship.• Continued raids from Afghanistan and European expansion encourages various regions to break off.

What is Colonialism?

• What’s a colony?• How is colonialism different from other formsof conquest and domination?• Are there different forms of colonialism?

Spain and Portugal in South America - Exploration

• 1492: Columbus reaches Caribbean• 1492-1500: Spanish conquer Hispaniola• 1498: Columbus reaches mainland South America

(third voyage)• 1500: Cabral reaches Brazil• 1513: Ponce de León explores Florida

Oscar Pereira da Silva, Landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in Porto Seguro, in 1500, 1902

Spain and Portugal in South America - Conquest

• Conquistadors: Conquerors, often voluntary militias• Hernán Cortés (1485-1547)– Born into minor nobility.– Sought fortune in the New World– 1519-1521: Conquest of the Aztec Empire

• What do you notice about this picture?

Lienzo Tlaxcala, ca. 1585Showing La Malinche and Hernán Cortés

Conquistadors, ctd.

• Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1478-1541)– Illegitimate son of a Spanish

soldier– Soldier in Spain until legal

problems– May have stowed away on a

ship to reach New World– 1531-1533: Conquest of Inca

Empire

How do these conquistadorsconquer such large empires?

The Spanish, the Aztecs, and the Incas…

• Do the Aztec and Inca Empires have a lasting impact on Spanish New World colonies?

But first, how did the Spanish rule?• Problem of independent power of conquistadors• Problem of distance, 200 days round trip from Spain to

Mexico.• Viceroys of New Spain and Peru held ultimate authority.• Originally sent from Spain, but later creoles (white Europeans born in the Americas).• American resources (gold, silver, and sugar) finance colonial bureaucracy.

Viceroyalties

• Viceroyalty of New Spain• Viceroyalty of New Granada• Viceroyalty of Peru• Viceroyalty of La Plata

Spoils of Empire

• Silver mines in Peru and Mexico• Sugar plantations in Brazil• Cattle ranching in rural areas.• Sudden influx of wealth feeds development of

European capitalism and expansion of colonialism.

Spanish silver reale minted inMexico.

Spoils of Empire, Labor• Encomienda: system by which indigenous populations are forced

to provide labor for European settlers– Amerindians divided among settlers who force them to provide labor or

goods• Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474-1566)

– Catholic priest– Troubled by deaths of Amerindians due to epidemics and poor working conditions.– 1542: New Laws: outlaws enslavement of Amerindians, encomienda, and reforms other labor practices.

After 1542…• Wage labor for silver mining

– Epidemics had shrunk labor pool.– Still dangerous and abusive work.

• Mita– Adult male Amerindian population forced to work for 1 year every seven years in mines, farms, and textile factories.

• Many Amerindians move permanently to mines and colonial cities, destroying agricultural communities.

How is this different from the Aztecs and Incas?

• Structurally, its not…• Both had developed…

– centralized imperial authorities– systems of forced labor and taxation– Mita is actually an Incan system of forced labor!

• What changed?– New rulers are outsiders– Wealth created in Americas sent to Europe– Labor expected outside of local community

Who colonized New Spain?

• Very few come from Europe to South America (in comparison to Amerindian and African slave populations that is)• Hidalgos: lesser nobility, lack of opportunity in Europe• Merchants, artisans, miners, priests, and lawyers: see opportunity in New World• Almost entirely men, few bringfamilies.

16th century French drawing of a New WorldHidalgo

Multi-Ethnic Americas• European colonizers…• Amerindian residents…• African slaves…• What happens when people of different classes, races, ethnicities, and cultures from numerous different societies are forced into the same cities and must co-exist?

Spain, the Reconquista, and Race• 711-1492 – Muslim rule in Iberian Peninsula• 1492 – Alhambra Decree – expels Jews and later Muslims

who don’t convert• Conversos – Jewish converts• Moriscos – Muslim converts • 1480-1840 – Spanish Inquisition• “Pure Blood”

Castas• Caste structure used in Spanish and Portuguese colonies• Based on race (and the myriad combinations)• Determined place in society• Peninsular: Born in Spain or Portugal• Creole: White European born in Americas• Amerindians• Africans

Intermarriage and Mixed Race• Mullato: African and Spaniard• Mestizo: Amerindian and Spaniard• Zambo: African and Amerindian• Then it gets tricky…

Coyotes and more…

Why such acomplexsystem?

Casta and social identity

• Created physical boundaries within the city• Determined education, clothing options,

career opportunities, and romantic opportunities

• Why did Spaniards want to keep Indians and Africans away from one another???

How did casta function in the New World?

• Social, political, and economic implications• Flexible in practice• Intermarriage• Gracias al sacar – four generations with at least one white ancestor, can become legally white• Cultural depictions

Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa

• Spanish naval officers• 1735: tour the Pacific coast as part of a scientific mission• What do they seem to think about the white elites of the colonies? • How do they make sense of the casta system?

Casta Paintings• Fascination with race• Colonial Pride• Exotic souvenirs• Before 1760: Promoting wealth• After 1760: Demonstrating Stratification• How can we use images to interpret the past?