POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF NEW SPAIN: 7 CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The characteristics of the political organization of New Spain are Hispanic absolutism or uneven political power, among others.

With the arrival of Europeans to the New World (America) in 1492, the pre-established organization and political life that existed on the continent changed.

After the discovery of America, certain European countries, including Spain, established colonies on the continent and ruled there for more than three centuries. He organized them into four viceroyalties:

1- The Viceroyalty of Peru, created in 1542, whose capital was Lima.

2- The Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, created in 1717, made up of what is now Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.

3- The Viceroyalty of La Plata, installed in 1776, made up of the territory of Argentina.

4- The Viceroyalty of New Spain, which in its heyday included the territories of what is now the southern United States, Florida, the entire Mexican territory, Central America and much of the West Indies (the Caribbean islands). Likewise, New Spain included the Philippines.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain was installed in 1535 by King Carlos I of Spain and took Mexico City as its capital.

This was the first viceroyalty that the Spanish Crown created in the New World. Likewise, it was one of the most outstanding Spanish colonies.

Characteristics and political life of the Viceroyalty of New Spain

1- Hispanic absolutism

The Spanish Crown developed a complex bureaucratic system that sought to extend the authority of the king to all the Spanish dominions in America.

This was done in order to be able to administer their vast territories in the New World, maintain order and stability in the colonies, protect Spain's political and economic interests, and prevent the formation of groups that could undermine royal authority.

This system is known as "Hispanic absolutism", which contrasts sharply with the political system imposed by the British in North America.

In the British colonies there was a kind of local authority, in the form of colonial assemblies, which somewhat limited the authority of the British Crown.

For its part, in New Spain, there was no such concession of power, so it can be asserted that there was no freedom of decision.

Similarly, there was no legal or functional separation between the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

2- The Viceroyalty of New Spain

The Spanish colony New Spain had the quality of "viceroyalty", which means that it was a province governed by a "viceroy" who represented the authority of the King of Spain in that territory.

Among the functions of the viceroy, the following stand out:

• Strengthen the law.
• Collecting taxes.
• Manage the income of the colony.
• Take charge that justice is applied.
• Maintain political order.

In short, the viceroy was in charge of governing the colony. In this sense, the viceroyalty was the highest expression of governmental organization for the time. In legal terms, the viceroy, more than a governor, was considered the king himself.

3- Hierarchy within the Viceroyalty of New Spain

The highest authority in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, as well as in the other Spanish colonies in America, was the King of Spain. The Council of the Indies was subordinated to this, which was installed in 1524.

The Council of the Indies followed the model of the Council of Castile, already existing in Spain, and constituted the executive, judicial and legislative authority in the Spanish colonies.

Subordinate to the Council of the Indies and to the authority of the king, was the viceroy, on whom the authority fell within the colonies.

Furthermore, the viceroy was the direct representative of the Spanish Crown in the dominion in America, as stated above.

4- The Council of the Indies

This council was made up of a dozen members, who had the following functions:

• Create, approve or repeal laws.
• Interpret the laws.
• Nominate candidates for secular and ecclesiastical positions.

It should be noted that all decisions of the Council of the Indies had to be approved by the king.

5- Hearings

In addition to the authority of the viceroy and the Council of the Indies, the government in the colonies also branched out into audiences.

The audiences were made up of the most prominent men in the colony and were selected by the king. Some of the audience members were:

• The captain general, who was the head of one of the divisions of the Viceroyalty.
• The ecclesiastical authorities.
• Encomenderos.
• Merchants.
• Landowners.

The delimitation between the power of the viceroy and the audience was unclear, so there were disagreements between them.

6- The parcel system

During the colonial period, the viceroyalties survived thanks to the exploitation of the land and to indigenous and African labor.

The first Spaniards who settled in the American territory developed a political, economic and religious system called "encomiendas."

Through the encomienda system, the Spanish received a title to land (which could be worked in the way the encomendero deemed appropriate) and a number of aborigines who were in their charge. In exchange for the land, the Spanish had to convert the natives to Christianity.

This system quickly became a form of slavery, since the aborigines received excessively low wages and, sometimes, did not receive wages at all.

The encomienda system was abolished in 1717, but its practice spread in the Viceroyalty of New Spain until Mexico became independent in the first decades of the 20th century.

7- uneven political power

According to Carrera, Magali, the political structure of the Viceroyalty of New Spain was not centralized or uniform, as one might think due to Hispanic absolutism.

Instead, power was dispersed in a set of semi-autonomous organizations (viceroyalty, Council of the Indies, audiences, among others), whose functions overlapped, preventing the proper development of the colony.

References

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3. Epic World History: Colonial Administration of New Spain. Retrieved on May 9, 2017, from epicworldhistory.blogspot.com.
4. Carrera, Magali (2010). Imagining Identity in New Spain: Race, Lineage, and the Colonial Body in Portraiture and Casta Paintings. Retrieved on May 9, 2017, from books.google.co.ve.
5. Viceroyalty of New Spain. Retrieved on May 9, 2017, from britannica.com.
6. New Spain Facts. Retrieved on May 9, 2017, from encyclopedia.com.
7. American Colonies. Retrieved on May 9, 2017, from historyfiles.co.uk.
8. Spanish Colonization. Summary & Analysis. Retrieved on May 9, 2017, from shmoop.com.