New Spain
From Open Encyclopedia
Image:Bandera de Nueva España.jpg New Spain (Spanish: Nueva España) was the name given to one of the viceroy-ruled territories of the Spanish Empire from 1525 to 1821.
New Spain was ruled by a Mexico City-based viceroy appointed by the Spanish monarch.
New Spain's territory included what is now Mexico and Central America (as far as the southern border of Costa Rica), 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.
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.
The northern boundary of New Spain remained undefined until the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. In 1821, Spain lost most of its colonies in North America, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, when it recognized the independence of Mexico.
The Philippines was administered as a colony from New Spain between 1565 to 1821. It remained a possession of the Spanish crown until the Spanish-American War.
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Spanish conquest of New Spain
Although the Spanish initiated a series of expeditions on the Atlantic coast starting in 1492 , it is April 22, 1519, the day Hernan Cortes landed ashore and founded the city of Veracruz, that marks the beginning of almost 303 years of Spanish hegemony over the region. This period can be divided between the Conquest of Mexico and the Viceroyalty of New Spain, until the Independence of New Spain in 1821.
Historical perspective
During this long period of time, Spain, Europe, America and the viceroyalty experienced different historical, cultural, social, economic and political moments. 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 Phillipines via the Manila Galleon (Nao of China), as well as the journeys of "navíos" 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 "reyes liberales" and to Joseph Bonaparte, the political doctrines that were adopted by Spain also affected the viceroyalty.
The Spanish presence on the American continent tends to be criticized very passionately, especially because of the disappearance of its preexisting cultures, which were totally extinguished. 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.
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 peninsulares, and did not allow Creole (American-born of European ancestry), mestizo, or mulatto society to participate in decision making.
The poor treatment of indigenous peoples and the diseases brought from Spain 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 encomenderos, 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 Leyes de Indias.
Utilizing methods such as the Inquisition the Spanish viceregal government suppressed 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.
End of the Viceroyalty
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 "Ejercito Trigarante" (Army of the Three Guarantees) cut all political and economic ties with the Kingdom of Spain.
Commercial and cultural importance
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, as well as one of the principal centers of European cultural expansion in America (see also Mexico City).
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 wih 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 Cadiz, 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 Phillipines, plus the precious metals and natural resources of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Nevertheless, these resources did not translate into development for the Metropolis (mother country) due to Spain's frequent preoccupation with European wars, 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--the first in history and whose origin is owed precisely to the need for funds to finance pirate expeditions--, 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 viceroyalty was the basis for a racial and cultural mosaic of the Spanish American colonial period. In its bosom were brought together during the 300 years of colonial rule the Nahuatl, Maya, Toltec, Mixtec, Zapotec and Spanish cultures. Also, it gave rise to a great number of racial mixtures: mestizo, mulatto, castizo, etc. Figures such as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Pedro Antonio de Alarcon stand out as some of the viceroyalty's most notable contributors to Spanish Literature, as do architects Pedro Martinez Vazquez and Manuel Tolsá.
Note
This article incorpoates material from the corresponding article in the Spanish edition of Wikipedia.
See also
- Mexico
- History of Mexico
- History of the Philippines
- List of Viceroys of New Spain
- History of New Spainca:Nova Espanya
da:Nyspanien de:Neuspanien es:Nueva España fr:Nouvelle-Espagne it:Nuova Spagna lt:Naujoji Ispanija nl:Nieuw-Spanje pl:Nowa Hiszpania pt:Nova Espanha zh:新西班牙
