| Popis: |
The Spanish conquest of Mexico in the sixteenth century dispossessed the Indian of autonomy and power, of land and resources, and of other forms of material and social culture. In general, the colonial policy carried out from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century was not one whose goal was complete segregation or annihilation of the Indian, as was the case in the United States; rather, it was one characterized by control of a large, potentially productive labor force through its assimilation into the dominant culture. The process began with the conquerors' programs of forced or consenting conversion to European, “civilized” ways, through the so-called spiritual conquest, or through the imposition of other practices and institutions that altered or destroyed native ones. But physical assimilation was equally important because it provided a basis for establishing a racially based social hierarchy. To be white skinned and of European descent put one at the apex of power. To be of mixed blood, and havi... |
