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Caste System:In the Colonial Period a system of lineage or race identification was establisheed which divided the inhabitants of New Spain according to the color of their skin and mixture of races. At the top of this racial pyramid were the Spaniards born in Spain. The next level, on a lower step,were the white children of Spaniards, but born in the Americas called criollos. The third element consisted of the castes; i.e., the mixture of Indian, whites, blacks and their respective descendants. Although the caste system formed a racial hierarchy which coincided with economic and social ramifications, the caste system was not official and there was no legal prohibition against marriages between individuals of different levels. Father Mother Offspring Spaniard Indian mestizo mestizo Spaniard castizo Spaniard Negra mulato Spaniard mulata morisco Spaniard morisca chino or albino Spaniard albina salta pa' atrás Indian salta pa' atrás lobo lobo china jíbaro lobo india zambaigo zambaigo india cambujo zambaigo loba calpamulato cambujo mulata albarazado calpamulato cambuja tente en el aire tente en el aire mulata no te entiendo barnocino mulata coyote no te entiendo india torna atrás albarazado mestiza barnocino indio mestiza coyote coyote india chamizo chamizo mestiza ahi te estás negro india jaracho indio negra zambo negro zamba zambro prieto blanco mulata tercerón or cuarterón cuatralvoIndependence from Spain in 1821 did away with some of the classifications. President Benito Juárez abolished the entire caste system with the Constitution of 1857. I have seen in the early records: Spaniard (español) indio (Indian) mestizo (child of Spanish father and Indian mother) Negro Lobo Coyote (child of Indian father and mestiza mother) By the mid 1800s probably only español, mestizo, and negro were still widely used. |