The Fluidity of Race and Power in Colonial Latin America

Abstract

During the colonization of New Spain by the Spanish, the use of race as a tool for Spanish imperialism continued to change with the introduction of new races. Through analysis of Spanish Inquisition cases and New Spain legislature, I argue that the Spanish attempted to maintain control of the colonies through the constant redefinition of race to account for the development of new social classes and failed. The mixing of Spanish, Indigenous, and Black peoples made it difficult for the Spanish to control their colonies. The definition of race and its implications for the traditional Spanish socio-racial hierarchical system continued to change throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Inconsistent legislature and court proceedings led to a fluid definition of race in which "lower classes" could manipulate their social standings through various loopholes and bypass Spanish and local government regulations to move up or down the social ladder dependent on the situation and circumstances.