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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

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

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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?
**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
Transcribed Image Text:**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
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