The viceregal society was the political-social organization system used by the Spanish Crown to administer the American colonies. Following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires, Spain sought to guarantee royal control over the region.
The size of the new territory, its distance from Spain and the threat of the conquerors exercising unregulated power led the Spanish monarch, (Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire), to create a colonial viceroyalty system that reflected the political organization of Spain itself.
Portrait of Carlos V seated.
The viceroy was the most important Spanish official in the colonies and the main unit of the Spanish colonial administration was the viceroyalty.
In 1535 the Crown created the Viceroyalty of New Spain, based in Mexico City, which contained the territory of the former Aztec Empire. In 1542, he created the Viceroyalty of Peru, based in the city of Lima, managing the lands of the ancient Inca Empire.
Subsequently, as a consequence of the substantial growth of the Spanish empire in the western hemisphere during the 18th century, two new viceroyalties were created: the one of Nueva Granada in 1739 located in the north of South America and the viceroyalty of Río de Ia Plata in 1776, located in southern South America.
Illustration 1. Viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire in America.
During the colonial period, the position of viceroy was almost always assigned to European-born Spanish bureaucrats or military. The reason for this practice was in part because it was expected that, as outsiders, Spanish viceroys would be impartial in the administration of colonial possessions.
For most, the extremely prestigious position of the viceroy was a reward for a career of service to the Crown. However, the position was not usually permanent, so the average time of holding the position was relatively short, usually between five and eight years.
Government system
The viceroyalty system as a whole was organized in a hierarchical and bureaucratic way. The Crown was alone at the top of the imperial government.
Under the monarch was the Council of the Indies, located in Spain, which oversaw the colonial administration. In the New World, the colonies were divided into Viceroyalties, which in turn were subdivided into smaller political units called Audiencias.
The term "Audiencias" referred not only to a territory within the viceroyalty but also to a high court that exercised important executive functions.
The members of this cabinet were selected by the Crown, strengthening the hierarchical nature of the government and guaranteeing that only Spaniards assumed important political positions.
Despite the complexities of these multiple hierarchies, the viceroys enjoyed some flexibility in their government.
His main responsibilities were tax collection, internal and external defense, management of public works, and general administrative duties, which were normally quite straightforward.
However, they also had to maintain Spanish laws, which were many and often contradictory.
Laws of the viceregal society
The monarch tried to restrict the social interactions that the officials of the crown established with the colony, so he decreed laws that delimited the social life of the viceroy and the court. Some of these statements are summarized below:
- The viceroy and the ministers of the audience could not visit the members of the colonial society.
- The law prohibited the viceroy and his wife from participating in festivities.
- Unmarried viceroys could not be married without a royal license and certainly not with native people of the colony.
- The viceroy could eat only in the company of his wife and servants, avoiding the presence of local society.
- The king also prohibited the viceroy's sons from accompanying him to America.
- The law prohibited the viceroys and their wives from owning real estate such as farms, houses or gardens.
- They were not allowed to participate in any kind of business, trade or mining activity, nor to intervene in explorations or conquests of unconquered territory.
- The viceroy could not accept credits or gifts.
- The viceroy could not be served by more than four slaves.
In theory, these laws limited the viceroy from most of the social life of the colony and reduced him to a loyal servant of the crown, a kind of "philosopher king."
However, in practice, the response of the bureaucrats seemed to be "I obey but not execute", the authority of the Crown was recognized, but the obedience of its mandates was postponed or suspended.
To counteract this, the Spanish Monarch added new policies for Spanish America, among which the following stand out: the residence trial, an end-of-term judicial review, and the visit, a secret investigation that could be developed at any time.
Each of these practices were used to ensure that the viceroys were diligent in their duties and did not take too many liberties.
Despite all the Crown's efforts to maintain strict control in the new colonies, in practice the viceroys and local society were flouting the rules.
Crown officials made contact with colonial social networks, and socialization was part of politics.
Caste society
In the 18th century, the Spanish Crown had transferred its culture to the New World, recreating there a version of Iberian life modified by local influence.
The Spanish forced or persuaded the Indians to adopt Christianity as their religion and they discouraged or suppressed local languages in favor of Spanish.
The key to social development was the mixing of different racial groups. Native Indians, Spanish colonizers, and African slaves (brought to the New World to work on plantations and exploit precious metals), came together to produce a unique multiracial society.
New societies arose little by little, creating distinctions based on race. Creoles, people of Iberian descent born in Latin America. The mixture of peoples originated the mestizos, people of white and Indian descent, and the mulattoes, a mixture of African and white or Indian descent.
Mixed groups eventually represented a considerable portion of the population in many colonies. Large mestizo groups developed in Mexico and Peru, while mulattoes were especially prominent in Cuba.
People born in Europe called peninsulares, viewed Creoles, mestizos and mulattos with condescension or contempt, considering them inferior races.
Illustration 3. Castes of the Viceroyalty Society
While peninsulares always enjoyed high social status, African slaves and Indians occupied the bottom of social groups. Mestizos filled the intermediate categories.
Restrictions were imposed on people of mixed origin, but social mobility did not stop. Over time, the distinctions between those born in Spain (peninsulares) and those born in the New World (criollos) grew.
The latter dominated local economies and developed a strong sense of identity that later contributed to independence movements.
Society as a whole remained subject to Iberian patriarchal forms. Women were under male authority; upper-class women were limited to domestic occupations, but many lower-class women participated in the economy.
A notable feature of Latin American society was the dominant role of the large landowner, Spanish commoners who came to America to appropriate vast estates, where the Indians worked as laborers.
This system of large landowners and dependent peasants has continued to be one of the persistent features of Latin American society.
Towards the end of the colonial period, financial problems in Spain caused the court to look for ways to make the empire more profitable, so the Crown began to sell important bureaucratic appointments in the colonies, even the title of viceroy was sold. This allowed more American-born Spaniards to fill these positions.
References
- Duiker, W et al. (2010). The Essential World History, Volume I. Wadswaorth, Cengage Learning.
- Hunefeldt, C. (2004). A Brief History of Peru. Broomall, Chelsea House Publishers
- Lockard, C. (2011). Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume II: Since 1450. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
- Rosenmüller, C. (2008). Patrons, Partisans, and Palace Intrigues: The Court Society of Colonial Mexico. Calgary, University of Calgary Press.
- Seaman, R. (2013). Conflict in the Early Americas. An Encyclopedia of the Spanish Empire's Aztec, Incan, and Mayan Conquest. Santa Barbara, ABC-Clio.