World History
Casta System
Makeup/XCR Assignment 28
Reading: Read the description of the old Spanish colonial Casta system, which follows these questions.
Please do the work below on a separate sheet of paper, and be sure to use complete sentences in your
definitions and answers.
Answer each of the following questions:
(1) If the Peninsulares and the Crillos were both considered white Europeans, why were the
Peninsulares considered higher-class than the Criollos? Explain.
(2) Although at first the Spanish Casta System gave certain nations and clans of native Americans higher
status (for example, the Tlaxcalans who helped Cortez defeat the Aztecs), this distinction very quickly
went away. Why would this distinction vanish?
(3) How might it have been possible for a mixed-race individual to assimilate and by doing so, become
part of a different social class in the Spanish Casta System?
(4) Why might many people in modern Central America or South America prefer being called “mestizo”
to being called “mulatto”?
(5) If being Indio meant that one could not be enslaved, why did the Spanish go through such efforts to
keep track of both native American (Indio) and Spanish (Espanol) ethnicities? Why not just have a twopart system that kept track of African (negro) and everyone else?
(6) The Spanish used far fewer African slaves than the Portuguese did. How might this have led to (for
example) Chile and Peru having very different levels of ethnic diversity than their neighbor, Brazil?
The Spanish Colonial Casta System
The Casta (caste) system of colonial Spain
determined a persons social importance in old
Mexico, and the church and government records
of the times used over one-hundred different
terms to describe different racial categories.
The names Peninsular, Criollo, Indio and Negra
describe persons of "pure" racial ancestry,
whereas names such as Mestizo, Mulatto, and
Zambo, in addition to many other terms,
describe the "mixed-blood" children resulting
from inter-racial marriages. Definitions of the
main casta categories of colonial Spain follow.
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Españoles were persons of pure Spanish
ancestry. Those born in Spain were
Peninsular, and those born in the
Americas were Criollo/Criolla. The
belief that Europeans were biologically
and culturally superior to the other
races meant that they were the highest
ranked members of the Casta system.
Indios/Indias were persons of pure
Indian Ancestry. It was illegal to enslave
Indians, but Indians could be forced to
work on government projects, such as
roads, forts and churches, such work being viewed as a form of taxation. Because there was no
separation between church and state in colonial Spain, work performed for the church was the same
as work performed for the government. Spanish policy was very assimilationist, requiring Indios to
learn the Spanish language and culture and give up their own tongues and customs.
Mestizos/Mestizas had one Spanish and one Indian parent. The term implied illegitimacy in the
early days of the Spanish conquest, but mixed-race children of subsequent generations were given
preference by the Spanish, particularly if they had lighter skin color. Over time, the Mestizos
became the largest ethnic group in the Spanish colonies, as it came to refer to the entire mixed
population, regardless of the degree of mixture, which sometimes included black African and East
Asian or South Asian. Many Mestizos took great pride in their Hispanic ancestry and tried to deny
their Indian backgrounds. Because of Spanish racial and assimilationist policy, this placed Mestizos
in a middle status in the Casta system, with Indios below them on the ethnic status ladder. When
the Spanish colonies became independent in the 1800s, it was Mestizos who became the rulers, and
have continued to govern nearly all of Central and South America ever since.
Mulattos/Mulattas had one Spanish and one Black parent. If mulattos were born into slavery (i.e.,
their mother was a slave), they would be slaves also, but if their mother was free, they were free.
If one parent was mulatto and one Spanish, the child was a quadroon, and there existed a variety of
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other terms for different percentages of black ancestry. For persons with a complex racial
heritage for which a simple term did not exist, the term pardo/parda might be used.
Negros/Negras were persons of pure African ancestry. Because it was illegal to enslave Indians,
only those of majority African ancestry could be called a slave. Realistically though, many Indians
were forced to work church and government projects, but such work was considered taxation, not
slavery. Although most of the colonial slave trade was controlled by Portugal, it is estimated that
Spain still imported at least 200,000 black slaves into Mexico, most arriving through Veracruz on
the eastern coast. Even though it was illegal since the early days of the Spanish conquest to enslave
the Indian population, black slaves were still permitted, and slavery was not completely outlawed
until Mexico's 1821 independance from Spain.
There were other terms used during the Spanish rule as well, nearly all of which are no longer used today.
The Spanish government in Mexico at one point had sixteen different categories for race, which included
the five above, as well as others such as:
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Castizos/castizas had one Mestizo parent and one Spanish parent. The children of a Castizo and an
Españole (Criollo or Peninsular) were generally accepted as Criollo. Today, this term has fallen out
of favor, and Castizos are generally considered to be Mestizo.
Cholos/Cholas had one Indian parent and one Mestizo parent. Cholo is also the word for coyote.
Zambos/Zambas had one Black and one Indian parent. They were one of the lowest members of the
Casta system, and were effectively (if not officially) considered slaves.
Here is how to describe someone who was considered a Lobo/Loba – half-Indian, one thirty-second African
black, and rest (30/64) white Spaniard ancestry:
Indio &
Indio &
Indio &
Indio
Indio
Indio
Indio & Indio
Indio & Indio
Indio &
Indio
Spaniard & Spaniard & Spaniard & Spaniard &
Spaniard
Spaniard
Spaniard
Mulatto
Spaniard & Spaniard
Spaniard & Morisco
Spaniard & Albino
Parents: Indio & Torna Atras
Child: Lobo
Early in the twentieth century the old racial beliefs and customs were still strong. For example, not until
the 1930's did the Mexican government abandon the policy of forced assimilationism and begin to support
the preservation of Indian languages and culture.
The Mestizos are by far the largest group in Latin America today. Within this group the mingling of genes
from the parent populations continues, and new unions with other population groups occur. Next in size
come the unmixed Indians, and then the much smaller category of unmixed white Gringos (foreigners),
composed of Spanish, Italians, other Europeans, and American immigrants. The numbers of unmixed blacks,
darker mulattoes, East Asians, and South Asians are small, and prejudice against dark skin is still strong.
Based on: http://www.bellavistaranch.net/genealogy/casta.html
http://www.frenchcreoles.com/CreoleCulture/creoleterminology/mestizo_NEW.html