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89-453: Archaeologically speaking, the oldest Monterrey dates from the very founding of the city at the end of the sixteenth century. However, the buildings preserved today date mostly from the eighteenth century onwards. It used to be the commercial and cultural center of the city during the existence of the Viceroyalty of New Spain until recently the first half of the 20th century, when other parts of

178-572: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain , officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( Spanish : Virreinato de Nueva España [birejˈnato ðe ˈnweβa esˈpaɲa] ; Nahuatl : Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl ), originally the Kingdom of New Spain , was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire , established by Habsburg Spain . It

267-442: A Spanish city, sixteenth-century Puebla had Indians resident in the central core. Antonio de Mendoza Antonio de Mendoza (1495 – 21 July 1552) was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain , serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru , from 23 September 1551, until his death on 21 July 1552. Mendoza was born at Alcalá la Real ( Jaén , Spain),

356-411: A certain level of autonomy. The viceroy was captain-general of those provinces that remained directly under his command. At the local level there were over two hundred districts, in both indigenous and Spanish areas, which were headed by either a corregidor (also known as an alcalde mayor ) or a cabildo (town council), both of which had judicial and administrative powers. In the late 18th century

445-500: A localized network. Even where infrastructure was improved, transit on the Veracruz-Puebla main road had other obstacles, with wolves attacking mule trains, killing animals, and rendering some sacks of foodstuffs unsellable because they were smeared with blood. The north-south Acapulco route remained a mule track through mountainous terrain. Veracruz was the first Spanish settlement founded in what became New Spain, and it endured as

534-562: A noble and his family's loyalty to the Spanish crown made him a suitable candidate for appointment. Don Antonio and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga were key in the formation of two institutions of Mexico : the Colegio de Santa Cruz at Tlatelolco (1536), where the sons of Aztec nobles studied Latin , rhetoric , philosophy and music , and the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico (1552), modeled on

623-605: A rival of Cortés as its president to counter Cortés's power. In 1530 the crown granted Cortés the title of the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca with multiple encomiendas . With the arrival of Viceroy Mendoza in 1535, Cortés pursued his own economic interests from his palace in Cuernavaca. Although the Spanish had occupied and expanded explorations, conquest, and settlement in the Caribbean, it

712-446: A steady stream of tax revenues by supplying the huge Mexican demand, so the crown limited zones of tobacco cultivation. It also established a small number of factories of finished products, and licensed distribution outlets ( estanquillos ). The crown also set up warehouses to store up to a year's worth of supplies, including paper for cigarettes, for the factories. With the establishment of the monopoly, crown revenues increased and there

801-482: Is evidence that despite high prices and expanding rates of poverty, tobacco consumption rose while at the same time, general consumption fell. In 1787 during the Bourbon Reforms Veracruz became an intendancy , a new administrative unit. Founded in 1531 as a Spanish settlement, Puebla de los Angeles quickly rose to the status of Mexico's second-most important city. Its location on the main route between

890-674: Is territory that attracted few Spanish settlers, with less dense indigenous populations and apparently lacking in mineral wealth. Huge deposits of gold in California were discovered immediately after it was incorporated into the U.S. following the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). The northern region of New Spain in the colonial era was considered marginal to Spanish interests compared to the most densely populated and lucrative areas of central Mexico. To shore up its claims in North America in

979-522: 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." In the colonial period, basic patterns of regional development emerged and strengthened. European settlement and institutional life

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1068-451: The Bourbon dynasty began phasing out the corregidores and introduced intendants , whose broad fiscal powers cut into the authority of the viceroys, governors and cabildos . Despite their late creation, these intendancies so affected the formation of regional identity that they became the basis for the nations of Central America and the first Mexican states after independence . As part of

1157-749: The Manila galleon . In the Philippines Manila near the South China Sea was the main port. The ports were fundamental for overseas trade, stretching a trade route from Asia, through the Manila galleon to the Spanish mainland. These were ships that made voyages from the Philippines to Mexico, whose goods were then transported overland from Acapulco to Veracruz and later reshipped from Veracruz to Cádiz in Spain. So then,

1246-562: The Metropolis (mother country) due to Spanish Roman Catholic Monarchy'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 British buccaneers , Dutch corsairs and pirates of various origin. These companies were initially financed by, at first, by

1335-595: The New World terminus of the transpacific trade with the Philippines via the Manila galleon . New Spain became a vital link between Spain's New World empire and its East Indies empire . From the beginning of the 19th century, the kingdom fell into crisis, aggravated by the 1808 Napoleonic invasion of Iberia and the forced abdication of the Bourbon monarch, Charles IV . This resulted in a political crisis in New Spain and much of

1424-590: The Philippines and Guam . Additional Asian colonies included " Spanish Formosa ," on the island of Taiwan . After the 1521 Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , conqueror Hernán Cortés named the territory New Spain, and established the new capital, Mexico City, on the site of Tenochtitlan , the capital of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire . Central Mexico became the base of expeditions of exploration and conquest, expanding

1513-700: The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521) to the collapse of Spanish rule in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821). Beginning with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521 by Hernán Cortés , Spanish rule was established, leading to the creation of governing bodies like the Council of the Indies and the Audiencia to maintain control. It involved the forced conversion of indigenous populations to Catholicism and

1602-830: The University of Salamanca , which trained young men for the Catholic Church. These institutions were the first and second universities respectively to be established in the mainland of the Americas . In 1536 he began the minting of silver and copper coins, known as macuquinas . Also under his instructions, the first printing press in the New World was brought to Mexico in 1539, by printer Juan Pablos (Giovanni Paoli). The first book printed in Mexico: La Escala Espiritual de San Juan Clímaco . On 18 May 1541 don Antonio founded

1691-456: The Zapotecs . As viceroy, Mendoza commissioned the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado to explore and establish settlements in the northern lands of New Spain in 1540–42, the expedition of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to explore the western coastline of Alta California in 1542–43, and the expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos to the Philippines in 1542–43. The Codex Mendoza created by

1780-512: The port of Veracruz . Alexander von Humboldt called this area, Mesa de Anahuac , which can be defined as the adjacent valleys of Puebla, Mexico, and Toluca, enclosed by high mountains, along with their connections to the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz and the Pacific port of Acapulco , where over half the population of New Spain lived. These valleys were linked trunk lines, or main routes, facilitating

1869-400: The 1530s sugar production was underway. New Spain's first viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza established an hacienda on lands taken from Orizaba. Indians resisted cultivating sugarcane themselves, preferring to tend their subsistence crops. As in the Caribbean, black slave labor became crucial to the development of sugar estates. During the period 1580–1640 when Spain and Portugal were ruled by

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1958-468: The 1540s, the discovery of silver in Zacatecas attracted Spanish mining entrepreneurs and workers, to exploit the mines, as well as crown officials to ensure the crown received its share of revenue. Silver mining became integral not only to the development of New Spain, but also to the enrichment of the Spanish crown, which marked a transformation in the global economy . New Spain's port of Acapulco became

2047-557: The 1760s) Louisiana (including the western Mississippi River basin and the Missouri River basin); Nueva Extremadura (the modern states of Coahuila and Texas ); and Santa Fe de Nuevo México (parts of Texas and New Mexico ). The Viceroyalty was administered by a viceroy residing in Mexico City and appointed by the Spanish monarch , who had administrative oversight of all of these regions, although most matters were handled by

2136-583: The Barrio Antiguo were demolished to give way to the construction of the Macroplaza (lit. big square ) at the end of the past century. During the last decade of the twentieth century and recent years, Barrio Antiguo was well known as the center of the nightlife of Monterrey due to measures taken by the State in a failed attempt to create reforms that pushed the re-activation of the urban center. Since 2006, due to

2225-456: The Governorate of Spanish Florida (Spanish: La Florida ) and the Governorate of Spanish Louisiana (Spanish: Luisiana ). The high courts, or audiencias , were established in major areas of Spanish settlement. In New Spain the high court was established in 1527, prior to the establishment of the viceroyalty. The First Audiencia was headed by Hernán Cortés 's rival Nuño de Guzmán , who used

2314-498: The Gulf Coast port of Veracruz , size and complexity of indigenous populations, and the presence or absence of mineral resources. Central and southern Mexico had dense indigenous populations, each with complex social, political, and economic organization, but no large-scale deposits of silver to draw Spanish settlers. By contrast, the northern area of Mexico was arid and mountainous, a region of nomadic and semi-nomadic indigenous populations, which do not easily support human settlement. In

2403-566: The Holy Office of the Inquisition , the merchants' guild ( consulado ), and home of the most elite families in the Kingdom of New Spain. Mexico City was the single most populous city, not just in New Spain, but for many years the entire Western Hemisphere, with a high concentration of mixed-race castas . Significant regional development grew along the main transportation route from the capital east to

2492-552: The Kingdom of New Spain with a viceroy appointed as the king's "deputy" or substitute. This was the first New World viceroyalty and one of only two that the Spanish Rmpire administered in the continent until the 18th-century Bourbon Reforms . At its greatest extent, the Spanish crown claimed on the mainland of the Americas much of North America south of Canada, that is: all of modern Mexico and Central America except Panama ; most of

2581-454: The New Laws resulted in outright rebellion and the assassination of the viceroy. In reaction to the crisis caused by the New Laws, Mendoza introduced the policy of obedezco pero no cumplo ("I obey but do not comply"), which means "I respect the authority of the crown, but in my judgment I do not implement particular legislation." He tried to not implement the New Laws, and therefore stabilized

2670-747: The Philippine Islands, the Mariana Islands , the Caroline Islands , parts of Taiwan , and parts of the Moluccas . Although asserting sovereignty over this vast realm, it did not effectively control large swaths. Other European powers, including England, France, and the Netherlands established colonies in territories Spain claimed. Much of what was called in the United States the "Spanish borderlands",

2759-569: The Spanish Empire in 1808, which ended with the government of Viceroy José de Iturrigaray . Conspiracies of American-born Spaniards sought to take power, leading to the Mexican War of Independence , 1810–1821. At its conclusion in 1821, the viceroyalty was dissolved and the Mexican Empire was established. Former royalist military officer turned insurgent for independence Agustín de Iturbide would be crowned as emperor. The Kingdom of New Spain

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2848-523: The United States in the nineteenth century. Regional characteristics of colonial Mexico have been the focus of considerable study. For those based in the vice-regal capital of Mexico City, everywhere else were the "provinces." Even in the modern era, "Mexico" for many refers solely to Mexico City, with the pejorative view that anywhere outside the capital is a hopeless backwater. "Fuera de México, todo es Cuauhtitlán" ["outside of Mexico City, it's all Podunk"], that is, poor, marginal, and backward, in short,

2937-735: The United States west of the Mississippi River, plus the Floridas . The Spanish West Indies , settled prior to the conquest of the Aztec Empire, also came under New Spain's jurisdiction: Cuba, Hispaniola , Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands , Trinidad , and the Bay Islands . New Spain also claimed jurisdiction over the overseas territories of the Spanish East Indies in Asia and Oceania:

3026-449: The ample tithe income indicates, plus manufacturing woolen cloth for the domestic market. Merchants, manufacturers, and artisans were important to the city's economic fortunes, but its early prosperity was followed by stagnation and decline in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The foundation of the town of Puebla was a pragmatic social experiment to settle Spanish immigrants without encomiendas to pursue farming and industry. Puebla

3115-501: The blending of Spanish and indigenous cultures. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Spanish settlers founded major cities such as Mexico City, Puebla , and Guadalajara , turning New Spain into a vital part of the Spanish Empire. The discovery of silver in Zacatecas and Guanajuato significantly boosted the economy, leading to conflicts like the Chichimeca War . Missions and presidios were established in northern frontiers, aiding in

3204-456: The city began to grow more to the detriment of the center. During the last decades of the 20th century there was a modern lifestyle in the Barrio Antiguo, characterized by the construction of hotels, museums, bars, discos and restaurants of international cuisine. Thus until depopulation and partial abandonment tended to decline from the 1990s to recent times, as currently there are projects under way for its restoration. Many houses of what used to be

3293-454: The city of Valladolid (now Morelia , Michoacán ). When the Spanish crown issued the New Laws that put restrictions on the grants of elite conquerors awarded grants of labor encomenderos , the viceroy prudently refrained from implementing the most draconian aspects of the edicts, which no longer permitted an encomendero family holding the grant in perpetuity. In Peru, the implementation of

3382-576: The court to deprive Cortés of power and property. The crown dissolved the First Audiencia and established the Second Audiencia. The audiencias of New Spain were Santo Domingo (1511, effective 1526, predated the Viceroyalty); Mexico (1527, predated the Viceroyalty); Panama (1st one, 1538–1543); Guatemala (1543); Guadalajara (1548); Manila (1583). Audiencia districts further incorporated

3471-465: The discovery of silver in the north, the Spanish sought to conquer or pacify those peoples in order to exploit the mines and develop enterprises to supply them. Nonetheless, much of northern New Spain had sparse indigenous population and attracted few Europeans. The Spanish crown and later the Republic of Mexico did not effectively exert sovereignty over the region, leaving it vulnerable to the expansionism of

3560-725: The eighteenth century as other powers encroached on its claims, the crown sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest , which explored and claimed the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. Religious missions and fortified presidios were established to shore up Spanish control on the ground. On the mainland, the administrative units included Las Californias , that is, the Baja California peninsula, still part of Mexico and divided into Baja California and Baja California Sur ; Alta California (modern Arizona , California , Nevada , Utah , western Colorado , and southern Wyoming ); (from

3649-524: The establishment of economic societies, were part of the efforts to enhance efficiency and revenue for the crown. The decline of New Spain culminated in the early 19th century with the Mexican War of Independence. Following Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla 's 1810 Cry of Dolores , the insurgent army waged an eleven-year war against Spanish rule. The eventual alliance between royalist military officer Agustín de Iturbide and insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero led to

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3738-504: The even worse treatment given to the black slaves. In colonial Mexico, Encomenderos de Negros were specialized middlemen during the first half of the seventeenth century. While encomendero (alternatively, encomenderos de indios) generally refers to men granted the labor and tribute of a particular indigenous group in the immediate post-conquest era, encomenderos de negros were Portuguese slave dealers who were permitted to operate in Mexico for

3827-513: The expansion and control of territories that later became part of the southwestern United States. The 18th century saw the implementation of the Bourbon Reforms , which aimed to modernize and strengthen the colonial administration and economy. These reforms included the creation of intendancies , increased military presence, and the centralization of royal authority. The expulsion of the Jesuits and

3916-400: The greatest number in the mainland in 1786: 1764 La Habana (later subdivided); 1766 Nueva Orleans; 1784 Puerto Rico; 1786 México, Veracruz, Puebla de Los Ángeles, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Durango, Oaxaca, Guatemala, San Salvador, Comayagua, León, Santiago de Cuba, Puerto Príncipe; 1789 Mérida. The history of mainland New Spain spans three hundred years from

4005-451: The historic heritage, through the closure of some of its streets now pedestrianized (so far is the case of Calle Morelos) and re-activation Social or family business. And many more clubs and bars. 25°40′0.64″N 100°18′25.45″W  /  25.6668444°N 100.3070694°W  / 25.6668444; -100.3070694 This article about a location in the Mexican state of Nuevo León is

4094-469: The indigenous and Spaniards, ending the corrupt practices of local crown officials, encouraging trade and mining, and establishing a system of territorial division similar to the model created by the government of France, already adopted in Spain. The establishment of intendancies was strongly resisted by the viceroyalties and general captaincies similar to the opposition in the Iberian Peninsula when

4183-472: The insecurity that was rampant in the city of Monterrey, nightlife in the Barrio Antiguo almost ended, but since recent times due to the relative decline in violence many of the bars have managed to survive. From the year 2013 the government changed the way in which the Old Quarter was considered. A restoration project was started since then, which seeks to build a space for cultural recreation and preservation of

4272-453: The lack of state involvement in the development of physical infrastructure was to have lasting effects, constraining development until the late nineteenth century. Despite the road improvements, transit was still difficult, particularly for heavy military equipment. Although the crown had ambitious plans for both the Toluca and Veracruz portions of the king's highway, improvements were limited to

4361-488: The local governmental bodies, which ruled the various regions of the viceroyalty. First among these were the audiencias , which were primarily superior tribunals, but which also had administrative and legislative functions. Each of these was responsible to the Viceroy of New Spain in administrative matters (though not in judicial ones), but they also answered directly to the Council of the Indies . The Captaincy Generals were

4450-412: The mines in the north of Mexico had a workforce of black slave labor and indigenous wage labor, not draft labor. Indigenous who were drawn to the mining areas were from different regions of the center of Mexico, with a few from the north itself. With such diversity they did not have a common ethnic identity or language and rapidly assimilated to Hispanic culture. Although mining was difficult and dangerous,

4539-418: The movement of vital goods and people to get to key areas. Even in the relatively richly endowed region of Mexico, the difficulty of transit of people and goods in the absence of rivers and level terrain remained a major challenge to the economy of New Spain. This challenge persisted during the post-independence years until the late nineteenth-century construction of railroads. In the colonial era and up until

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4628-461: The multiethnic Indian populations in the Veracruz area and for that reason Spaniards imported black slaves as either an alternative to indigenous labor or its complete replacement in the event of a repetition of the Caribbean die-off. A few Spaniards acquired prime agricultural lands left vacant by the indigenous demographic disaster. Portions of the province could support sugar cultivation and as early as

4717-505: The older, smaller divisions known as governorates ( gobernaciones , roughly equivalent to provinces ), which had been originally established by conquistador -governors known as adelantados . Provinces which were under military threat were grouped into captaincies general , such as the Captaincies General of the Philippines (established 1574) and Guatemala (established in 1609), which were joint military and political commands with

4806-501: The only viable Gulf Coast port, the gateway for Spain to New Spain. The difficult topography around the port affected local development and New Spain as a whole. Going from the port to the central plateau entailed a daunting 2000 meter climb from the narrow tropical coastal plain in just over a hundred kilometers. The narrow, slippery road in the mountain mists was treacherous for mule trains, and in some cases mules were hoisted by ropes. Many tumbled with their cargo to their deaths. Given

4895-612: The order of Mendoza, and subsequently named for him. During his term of office, Mendoza is credited with consolidating the sovereignty of the Crown throughout the Spanish conquests in New Spain and limiting the power and ambition of the first conquistadors . Many of the political and economic policies he established endured throughout the entire colonial period. He promoted the construction of hospitals and schools and encouraged improvements in agriculture, ranching and mining. His administration did much to bring stability and peace to New Spain. He

4984-522: The overseas territories, with not just sovereignty over the realm but also property rights. All power over the state came from the monarch. The crown had sweeping powers over the Catholic Church in its overseas territories, and via the Patronato real , a grant by the papacy to the crown to oversee the Church in all aspects save doctrine. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was created by royal decree on October 12, 1535, in

5073-417: The periphery. The picture is far more complex, however; while the capital is enormously important as the center of institutional, economic, and social power, the provinces played a significant role in colonial Mexico. Regions (provinces) developed and thrived to the extent that they became sites of economic production and tied into networks of trade. "Spanish society in the Indies was import-export oriented at

5162-477: The population there, a far greater proportion than any other area of New Spain, and greater than even nearby Jalapa. In 1765 the crown created a monopoly on tobacco, which directly affected agriculture and manufacturing in the Veracruz region. Tobacco was a valuable, high-demand product. Men, women, and even children smoked, something commented on by foreign travelers and depicted in eighteenth-century casta paintings. The crown calculated that tobacco could produce

5251-554: The port of Acapulco and European goods via the flota (convoy) from the Spanish port of Cádiz . Spaniards also settled in the temperate area of Orizaba , east of the Citlaltepetl volcano. Orizaba varied considerably in elevation from 800 metres (2,600 ft) to 5,700 metres (18,700 ft) (the summit of the Citlaltepetl volcano), but "most of the inhabited part is temperate." Some Spaniards lived in semitropical Córdoba , which

5340-452: The port of Veracruz and the capital had some short sections paved and bridges constructed. The construction was done despite protests from some indigenous settlements when the infrastructure improvements, which sometimes included rerouting the road through communal lands. The Spanish crown finally decided that road improvement was in the interests of the state for military purposes, as well as for fostering commerce, agriculture, and industry, but

5429-412: The railroads were built in key areas in post-independence in the late nineteenth century, mule trains were the main mode of transporting goods. Pack mules were used because unpaved roads, mountainous terrain, and seasonal flooding could not generally accommodate carts. In the late eighteenth century, the crown devoted some resources to study and remedy the poor roads. The Camino Real (royal road) between

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5518-511: The reform was adopted. Royal audiencias and ecclesiastical hierarchs opposed the reform for its intervention in economic issues, for its centralist politics, and the forced ceding of many of their functions to the intendants. In New Spain, these units generally corresponded to the regions or provinces that had developed earlier in the center, South, and North. Many of the intendancy boundaries became Mexican state boundaries after independence. The intendancies were created between 1764 and 1789, with

5607-682: The region. In 1542 an insurrection of the Indians , called the Mixtón Rebellion threatened to push the Spaniards out of northwestern Mexico, bringing the area under indigenous control. The Viceroy himself had to take the field and bring all disposable manpower. The rebellion was quashed and the surviving Indians were harshly punished. By the viceroy's order men, women and children were seized and executed, some by cannon fire, some torn apart by dogs, and others stabbed. In 1548 he suppressed an uprising of

5696-408: The same monarch and Portuguese slave traders had access to Spanish markets, African slaves were imported in large numbers to New Spain and many of them remained in the region of Veracruz. But even when that connection was broken and prices rose, black slaves remained an important component of Córdoba's labor sector even after 1700. Rural estates in Córdoba depended on African slave labor, who were 20% of

5785-443: The same name. It became the seat of the richest diocese in New Spain in its first century, with the seat of the first diocese, formerly in Tlaxcala, moved there in 1543. Bishop Juan de Palafox asserted that the income from the diocese of Puebla was twice that of the archbishopic of Mexico, due to the tithe income derived from agriculture. In its first hundred years, Puebla was prosperous from wheat farming and other agriculture, as

5874-399: The second being Peru in 1542, following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire . Both New Spain and Peru had dense indigenous populations at conquest as a source of labor and material wealth in the form of vast silver deposits, discovered and exploited beginning in the mid-1500s. New Spain developed strong regional divisions based on local climate, topography, distance from the capital and

5963-496: The second-level administrative divisions and these were relatively autonomous from the viceroyalty. The viceroy was captain-general of those provinces that remained directly under his command. Santo Domingo (1535); Philippines (1565); Puerto Rico (1580); Cuba (1608); Guatemala (1609); Yucatán (1617); Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas (1776) (analogous to a dependent captaincy general). Two governorates , third-level administrative divisions, were established,

6052-401: The seventeenth century, but silver mining in Mexico out-performed all other Spanish overseas territories in revenues for the royal coffers. The fast red dye cochineal was an important export in areas such as central Mexico and Oaxaca in terms of revenues to the crown and stimulation of the internal market of New Spain. Cacao and indigo were also important exports for the New Spain, but

6141-453: The ships that set sail from Veracruz were generally loaded with merchandise from the East Indies originating from the commercial centers of the Philippines , plus the precious metals and natural resources of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. During the 16th century, Spain held the equivalent of US$ 1.5 trillion (1990 terms) in gold and silver received from New Spain. However, these resources did not translate into development for

6230-422: The slave trade. In Peru, the other discovery that perpetuated the system of forced labor, the mit'a , was the enormously rich single silver mine discovered at Potosí, but in New Spain, labor recruitment differed significantly. With the exception of silver mines worked in the Aztec period at Taxco , southwest of Tenochtitlan, the Mexico's mining region was outside the area of dense indigenous settlement. Labor for

6319-446: The son of the 2nd Count of Tendilla Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones , and Francisca Pacheco. He was married to María Ana de Trujillo de Mendoza. Mendoza became Viceroy of New Spain in 1535 and governed for 15 years, longer than any subsequent viceroy. On his arrival in New Spain, he found a recently conquered territory beset with Indigenous unrest and rivalry among the Spanish conquerors and Spanish settlers. His difficult assignment

6408-425: The successful campaign for independence. In 1821, New Spain officially became the independent nation of Mexico, ending three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. During the era of the conquest, in order to pay off the debts incurred by the conquistadors and their companies, the new Spanish governors awarded their men grants of native tribute and labor, known as encomiendas . In New Spain these grants were modeled after

6497-442: The sweeping eighteenth-century administrative and economic changes known as the Bourbon Reforms , the Spanish crown created new administrative units called intendancies , to strengthen central control over the viceroyalty. Some measures aimed to break the power of local elites in order to improve the economy of the empire. Reforms included the improvement of public participation in communal affairs, distribution of undeveloped lands to

6586-410: The territory claimed by the Spanish Empire. With the political and economic importance of the conquest, the crown asserted direct control over the densely populated realm. The crown established New Spain as a viceroyalty in 1535, appointing as viceroy Antonio de Mendoza , an aristocrat loyal to the monarch rather than the conqueror Cortés. New Spain was the first of the viceroyalties that Spain created,

6675-446: The transport constraints, only high-value, low-bulk goods continued to be shipped in the transatlantic trade, which stimulated local production of foodstuffs, rough textiles, and other products for a mass market. Although New Spain produced considerable sugar and wheat, these were consumed exclusively in the colony even though there was demand elsewhere. Philadelphia, not New Spain, supplied Cuba with wheat. The Caribbean port of Veracruz

6764-539: The tribute and corvee labor that the Mexica rulers had demanded from native communities. This system 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. Fray Bartolomé later repented when he saw

6853-571: The very base and in every aspect," and the development of many regional economies was typically centered on support of that export sector. Mexico City was the center of the Central region, and the hub of New Spain. The development of Mexico City itself was vitally important to the development of New Spain as a whole. It was the seat of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the Archdiocese of the Catholic Church,

6942-462: The viceregal capital and the port of Veracruz, in a fertile basin with a dense indigenous population, largely not held in encomienda , made Puebla a destination for later arriving Spaniards. If there had been significant mineral wealth in Puebla, it could have been even more prominent a center for New Spain, but its first century established its importance. In 1786 it became the capital of an intendancy of

7031-405: The wages were good, which is what drew the indigenous labor. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was the principal source of income for Spain in the eighteenth century, with the revival of mining under the Bourbon Reforms . Important mining centers like Zacatecas , Guanajuato , San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo had been established in the sixteenth century and suffered decline for a variety of reasons in

7120-653: Was built in the Mesoamerican heartland of the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico. The South (Oaxaca, Michoacán, Yucatán, and Central America) was a region of dense indigenous settlement of Mesoamerica, but without exploitable resources of interest to Europeans, the area attracted few Europeans, while the indigenous presence remained strong. The North was outside the area of complex indigenous populations, inhabited primarily by nomadic and hostile northern indigenous groups. With

7209-505: Was established on 18 August 1521, following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , as a New World kingdom ruled by the Crown of Castile . The initial funds for exploration came from Queen Isabella . Although New Spain was a dependency of Castile, it (Mexico) was a kingdom and not a colony, subject to the presiding monarch on the Iberian Peninsula . The monarch had sweeping power in

7298-459: Was founded as a villa in 1618, to serve as a Spanish base against runaway slave ( cimarrón ) predations on mule trains traveling the route from the port to the capital. Some cimarrón settlements sought autonomy, such as one led by Gaspar Yanga , with whom the crown concluded a treaty leading to the recognition of a largely black town, San Lorenzo de los Negros de Cerralvo, later called the municipality of Yanga. European diseases immediately affected

7387-438: Was not until the conquest of central Mexico that the crown appointed a viceroy (vice king), who would be the king's living image in Mexico and envisioned to effectively assert royal authority in the Kingdom of New Spain. To further cement his authority and establish a solid society he established marital alliances with powerful settlers committed to the development of New Spain, such as Marina de la Caballería . Mendoza's status as

7476-506: Was one of several domains established during the Spanish conquest of the Americas , and had its capital in Mexico City. Its jurisdiction comprised a large area of the southern and western portions of North America, mainly what became Mexico and the Southwestern United States, but also California , Florida and Louisiana ; Central America, the Caribbean, and northern parts of South America; several Pacific archipelagos, including

7565-457: Was privileged in a number of ways, starting with its status as a Spanish settlement not founded on existing indigenous city-state, but with a significant indigenous population. It was located in a fertile basin on a temperate plateau in the nexus of the key trade triangle of Veracruz–Mexico City–Antequera (Oaxaca). Although there were no encomiendas in Puebla itself, encomenderos with nearby labor grants settled in Puebla. And despite its foundation as

7654-443: Was small, with its hot, pestilential climate not a draw for permanent settlers: its population never topped 10,000. Many Spanish merchants preferred living in the pleasant highland town of Jalapa (1,500 m). For a brief period (1722–76) the town of Jalapa became even more important than Veracruz, after it was granted the right to hold the royal trade fair for New Spain, serving as the entre for goods from Asia via Manila galleon through

7743-465: Was succeeded as viceroy of New Spain by Don Luís de Velasco . It is reported that his advice to his successor was: "Do little and do that slowly." On 4 July 1549 in Brussels , Emperor Charles V named Mendoza viceroy of Peru. He traveled overland from Mexico to Panama, and then by boat to Peru. He arrived and took up his new office on 25 November 1550. However, he soon became ill, and died in 1552. His tomb

7832-470: Was to govern in the king's name without making an enemy of Hernán Cortés . Cortés himself had expected to be made the permanent ruling crown official of New Spain, since he had led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire . The Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) and the Council of the Indies judged Cortés too independent of crown authority to be made viceroy and had created a high court ( audiencia ) in New Spain in 1528, appointing Nuño de Guzmán ,

7921-455: Was used through rather the vice royalties rather than contact with European countries due to piracy, and smuggling. The indigo industry in particular also helped to temporarily unite communities throughout the Kingdom of Guatemala due to the smuggling. There were two major ports in New Spain, Veracruz the viceroyalty's principal port on the Atlantic, and Acapulco on the Pacific, terminus of

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