The Colonial Period ANTH 221: Peoples and Cultures of Mexico Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.

Goals of Colonizing Wealth for European Royalty Land, wealth for colonizers Wealth for the Catholic Church Converts for the Catholic Church

New Spain Mexico was part of what was called New Spain

Two General Phases of Colonial Period Era of conquistadores – Spain did not have resources to politically or militarily control colonies – Depended on conquistadores to provide money, troops, ships, weapons for conquest – Only leaders got the rewards – regular soldiers/sailors got little of what was promised – Conquistadores were rewarded with 1/5 of all riches found in colonized area Complete political control of the area they conquered Indian servants Encomiendas Land grants

Two General Phases of Colonial Period Era of Viceroyalties – Spain did not have resources to politically or militarily control colonies – Depended on conquistadores to provide money, troops, ships, weapons for conquest

Cortes Ruled Mexico from 1521 – Appointed Governor and Captain General of Nueva Espana by Carlos V Built Mexico City and other cities Initiated the encomiendas Worked on behalf of the Church Developed mining, farming Introduced new crops – sugar Introduced African slaves to Mexico Led an expedition to south as far as Honduras Recalled to Spain in 1528 Returned to Mexico with title of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca Lived in Cuernavaca on huge hacienta Returned to Spain again and died in 1547 His remains were returned to Mexico for burial in Mexico City.

Ruling Bodies in New Spain Cortes – Governor and Captain General of Nuevo Espana 1522 – 1528 Council of the Indies - had power over all New World colonies 1524 Audencia was a panel of judges who had a great deal of power/influence in the New World – led by corrupt Nuno de Guzman Viceroys over 275 years, the first being Antonio de Mendoza –

Indigenous Populations Estimates of population decline after conquest up to 90% – Disease – War – Hunger – Creation of clearly defined racial classes Forced Labor – Repartimiento/cuatequil – each adult male had to contribute 45 days of labor per year – Debt Peonage – Indios were paid in advance for labor at a rate that they could never repay – debt was inherited from one generation to another, binding laborers to haciendas/encomienderos

The Caste System Peninsulares (Born in Spain) Criollos (7/8 or more European) Castizos (3/4 European) Mestizos (1/2 European) Indio Negro (slaves of African ancestry Peninsulare + Indio = Mestizo Peninsulare + Mestizo = Castizo Peninsulare + Castizo = Criollo

Exports to Spain Silver - largest exporter of silver still along with Peru Cochineal - second largest export from the new world. Tobacco Hides (Olives and grapes were not allowed because of fear of competition for Spanish producers)

Global Trade Acapulco and Veracruz were the only ports allowed to operate Trade from the Spanish East Indies to Acapulco across the Pacific, overland to Veracruz, then across the Atlantic to Spain

Encomiendas A system of ownership of indigenous people Spaniards were given the rights over a certain number of indigenous people – Right to demand labor and tribute from them – Responsibility to protect them from raiding indigenous groups – Responsibility to convert them to Catholicism – Responsibility to teach them Spanish and acculturate them to European culture. This did not include land directly, but indirectly control over the people meant control over their land Land without encomiendas was worthless

The Church in New Spain First priests came in 1523 Franciscans were the first missionaries Dominicans, Augustinians followed Orders established themselves regionally with distinctive architecture, organization With the decimation of the populations, they abandoned many of their monasteries Two Phases of Church activity

Church as Enculturator Missions were built across the less dense parts of New Spain Native codices/books burned Religious rituals banned –especially human sacrifice Native priests and teachers persecuted Temples, statues demolished and European buildings and churches built on top of them with stone taken from indigenous sites Foods associated with religious ritual banned Indigenous names replaced with Spanish names

Phase One – 1519 until 1555: Missionaries had totally independent power from Church Indios considered heathens rather than infidels Were frequently advocates for indigenous folk against secular powers Conversion was more important than orthodoxy Studied and recorded indigenous languages Translated religious teaching into indigenous languages Bernardino de Sahagun’s complete history of life and religion in Mexico

La Virgin de Guadalupe Conversion was syncretized rather than full conversion. Virgin of Guadalupe 1531 – tch?v=_k8E-f92sr0 tch?v=_k8E-f92sr0 – tch?v=RC0v9xZktEw&featu re=fvst tch?v=RC0v9xZktEw&featu re=fvst

Phase Two – After 1555: Church brought all under the control of Bishops In reaction to Protestant challenges in Europe orthodoxy became the focus Indios not considered capable of education or of becoming priests Spanish was substituted for native languages Focus on orthodox Catholic practices rather than syncretism However, syncretism was firmly established by this time Church obtained land grants, encomiendas and wealth from its operations in New Spain

In the End... Pensulares and Criollos controlled virtually all the farmable land in haciendas/encomiendas. Tribute from others meant most resources were funneled to upper class Forced labor was in many cases almost like slave labor Wealth was siphoned off to Europeans in Mexico and to Spain. The Church was an extremely powerful, wealthy and influential force in New Spain