Patriarchy In Colonial Latin Am

Partriarchy in Colonial Latin America •

The “Ideal” – A. Law: The Siete Partidas or Seven Books of Law (13th century) • Patriarchal society • Males: padres de familia (male household heads) • Children: legitimate vs.. natural children • Women: virtuous, chaste, virgin, ignorant, and weak

B. “Women need patriarchal supervision” Why?

Class Endogamy and the Preservation of Social Status Whites Mestizo Mulatto Free Blacks Indians Black Slaves

Status (whiteness, wealth, occupation, public reputation, “honor”) Propertyinheritancesexual control of wives and daughters Whites also preserved their status through social prejudice and laws

– C. Women’s rights • Depended on their marital status, sexual behavior, and reputation in the community

• II. Actual Behavior – A. Patriarchal power was limited, especially among the lower classes.

Race and Class in Colonial Latin America •

Ideal (According to Spaniards) A. Origins (in the case of Mexico) 

República de Españoles /República de Indios

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Gente decente/Gente de pueblo

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1650s: Sociedad de Castas (society of castes) Spaniard Castizo Morisco Mestizo Mulatto Indian Black

Spaniard Castizo Mestizo Indian Morisco Mulatto Black

Spaniard and Indian produce a Mestizo

Black and Spaniard makes Mulatto

From Spaniard and Mestiza, Castiza

Mulatto and Spaniard makes Morisco

Spaniard and Morisca makes Albino

Spaniard and Albino makes a Black-Return-Backwards

Mestizo and Indian makes Coyote

Black and Indian makes Wolf

Chamizo and Indian makes Cambuja

Wolf-Return-Backwards and Indian makes Hold-Yourself-in-Mid-Air