How did the Iberian conquest of Latin America lead to the development of castas?What was the most significant impact of the gender imbalance in Latin American during Iberian rule? **The Development of the Castas**In both the Spanish and the Portuguese colonies, migrants born in Europe, known as peninsulares, stood at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by criollos or creoles, those born in the Americas of Iberian parents. In the early days of the colonies, mestizos lived on the fringes of society. As time went on, however, the numbers of mestizos grew, and they became essential contributors to their societies, especially in Mexico and Brazil. Meanwhile, mulattoes (African and European ancestry), zambos, and others of mixed parentage became prominent groups in Brazilian society, although they were usually subordinate (below) to European migrants, Euro-American creoles, and even mestizos. In all the Iberian colonies, imported slaves and conquered peoples stood at the bottom of the social hierarchy.From a male viewpoint, the problem with Spanish women was that there were very few of them. This demographic fact led to the most distinctive feature of these new colonial societies in Mexico and Peru — the emergence of a mestizo (mehsTEE-zoh), or mixed-race, population, initially the product of unions between Spanish men and Indian women. Rooted in the sexual imbalance among Spanish immigrants (seven men to one woman in early colonial Peru, for example), the emergence of a mestizo population was facilitated by the desire of many surviving Indian women for the relative security of life in a Spanish household, where they and their children would not be subject to the abuse and harsh demands made on native peoples. Over the 300 years of the colonial era, mestizo numbers grew substantially, becoming the majority of the population in Mexico sometime during the nineteenth century. Such mixed-race people were divided into dozens of separate groups known as castas (castes), based on their racial heritage and skin color.Mestizos were largely Hispanic in culture, but Spaniards looked down on them during much of the colonial era, regarding them as illegitimate, for many were not born of “proper” marriages. Despite this attitude, their growing numbers and the economic usefulness of their men as artisans, clerks, supervisors of labor gangs, and lower-level officials in both church and state bureaucracies led to their recognition as a distinct social group. Mestizas, women of mixed racial background, worked as domestic servants or in their husbands’ shops, wove cloth, and manufactured candles and cigars, in addition to performing domestic duties. A few

In 1492, Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean opened a new chapter in world history. The Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors gained control over much of the New World territories. Starting from the fifteenth century, the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions into the New World allowed them to spread catholicism, gain vital resources, and earn glory and power for their respective empires. Their arrival in the Americas and the Caribbean produced vital social changes. I)The arrival of Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors in the New World caused a massive upheaval among the region's indigenous population. The arrival of male soldiers and sailors from the Iberian Peninsula created a gender imbalance as there was a lack of European women in the New World. The new European colonizers fathered children with indigenous women and African slaves, creating a large mixed-race population. Peninsulares formed those "pure-blooded" Spaniards or Portuguese migrants, who were born in the Iberian Peninsula but resided in the colonized colonies. Creoles were those who had Iberian parents but were born in Latin American colonies. The Mestizos had mixed racial ancestry, one white European parent and one Native American parent. The Mestizos increased in number, and their contributions significantly impacted society. Mulattos( a mixed European and African ancestry) became prominent racially-mixed groups in Mexico and Brazil. Native Indians and enslaved people formed the lowest rung of the social hierarchy. The large mixed-race population necessitated the development of a different social system. The Conquistadors decided to create a social hierarchy to maintain power and superiority called the Casta system. The system maintained European social and political superiority over other groups. The Casta System explained mixed-race families and racial diversity of the New World to those back in Spain. The mixed-race people were called "Castas" by the Spanish and Portuguese colonists. The Casta system solved the problem of ruling over a vast majority of the racially-mixed population. This racial classification dictated a person's social status, legal rights, economics, and taxation. II) The most significant impact of the gender imbalance in Latin America:- The emergence of MESTIZOS- mixed-race population. The mestizos were the result of the union between a Spanish man and an indigenous woman. The Mestizos started increasing in size because many surviving Native women wanted to become part of the Spanish household and avoid the harsh treatment given to the indigenous population of Latin America. The racial-mixed group, or the Mestizos, soon became the majority of the population and were divided into separate social groups. Thus, beginning from 1492, the arrival of conquistadors from the Iberian peninsula in Latin America changed the political, social, and economic system of the New World.

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How did the Iberian conquest of Latin America lead to the development of castas? What was the most significant impact of the gender imbalance in Latin American during Iberian rule