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Back to Hist 353 Lecture Index page The Birth of New Spain I.

We know it is true
that we must perish
for we are mortal men,
You, the Giver of Life,
You have ordained it
We wander here and there
in our desolate poverty
We are mortal men.
We have seen bloodshed and pain
Where we once saw beauty and valor.

-Unknown Nahua poet

II. Establishing Spanish Authority

• A. Defeat of Tenochtitlan not enough
  • 1. Other cities remained intact, along with their armies
  • 2. Many conquistadores thought only of plunder, not long-term conquest
• B. Cortes and Spanish authorities would use three main elements to establish control
  • 1. Christianity
  • 2. Spanish Law
  • 3. Elements of Amerindian social and political structure

III. The most important physical tool/symbol of authority was the city

• A. City-building had been used in Reconquista to govern and incorporate new lands
  • 1. Spaniards equated civilization with cities
  • 2. Comes from Roman heritage
• B. Came with a ready-made structure for government and officials
  • 1. Regidores (councilmen) -- members of the cabildo (council)
  • 2. Alcaldes - judges, usually the leaders of the cabildo
  • 3. Cabildo sat atop a hierarchy of cities
    • a. Cabacera - main city, seat of the cabildo
    • b. Cabaceras over villas and smaller lugares
    • c. Indian cities and villages could be easily incorporated into this structure
  • 4. Indian nobility could also be incorporated - caciques
• C. Cities laid out in a standard urban plan
  • 1. Grid structure reminiscent of a military camp
  • 2. Central plaza housed the major powers
    • a. Church
    • b. State
    • c. Merchants
    • d. Landowners

IV. Labor

• A. Tribute system well know and accepted by Amerindians
• B. Spaniards already had a ready-made tribute system - Encomienda
• C. Encomienda defined
  • 1. Semi-feudalistic
  • 2. Tribute paying groups under authority of encomendero
  • 3. Encomenderos supposed to give military service to Crown
  • 4. Useful as a method of control over new lands, Amerindians
  • 5. Provided the military might needed to keep control
  • 6. Gave conquistadores position, wealth source they craved
  • 7. Crown did not like its feudal nature -- undermined Royal authority
  • 8. Theoretically did not include land ownership, but....
• D. Tribute under encomienda
  • 1. In kind or in labor or both
  • 2. Based on negotiation with cacique
  • 3. Encomendero rarely lived on land, so cacique was vital
  • 4. Villages sometimes sold land to pay tribute, allowing Spaniards to get it
• E. Slavery
  • 1. Many Amerindians enslaved as a result of warfare
  • 2. Had advantage of detaching labor from land, somthing alien to Amerindians
  • 3. Requerimiento - enabled enslavement of those who "rebelled" against Crown, Christianity
  • 4. Amerindian labor pool couldn't keep up with Spanish demands
    • a. 25 million Amerindians in 1519; about 5 million by 1550
    • b. First permit to import African slaves to New World in 1518
    • c. But Spain had no presence in Africa - depended on foreigners
    • d. Slow trickle, but a significant presence by 1540

V. Land

• A. Spaniards hungry for land - essential for joining the aristocracy
• B. Loss of land by Amerindians was gradual, varied by region
• C. Aztec land
  • 1. Cortes took the vast personal holdings of the Emperor
  • 2. Land of Aztec nobles taken as a right of conquest
  • 3. Land supporting Aztec institutions went to the Crown
• D. Communal lands not just taken by force
  • 1. Spaniards highly legalistic, wanted defendable titles
  • 2. Spanish authorities generally recognized the legitimacy of Amerindian precedent
  • 3. Crown offered some protection to Amerindian lands
  • 4. Amerindians outnumbered Spaniards, would not accept pure force
  • 5. Spaniards needed legalistic, more subtle ways to take land
    • a. payment for encomienda debt
    • b. Using ranching rights to usurp control of land
    • c. swapping less valuable land
    • d. Suing Amerindians into poverty
  • 6. But Amerindians fought back
    • a. quickly understood the importance of titles, Spanish courts
    • b. more than willing to go to court to protect rights

VI. Assertion of Crown authority

• A. Crown eager to avoid reassertion of feudalism
  • 1. had just reined in the nobles in Spain
  • 2. Didn't want conquistadores to become a new nobility
• B. Cortes knew Crown disliked encomienda, but used it appease conquistadores
• C. Cortes sidelined - given fancy title, but reduced power
• D. Audiencia established 1528 - a kind of royal cabinet
• E. First Viceroy appointed -- Antonio de Mendoza - served 1535-1550
• F. Beginnings of a move away from encomienda to Crown-controlled repartimiento

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