The Creoles: Spain's Struggle For Independence

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Until the early 1800’s, Spain created an empire that lasted around three hundred years and was considered “the most powerful country in Europe” (Mini Q). During the late 18th century, the Spanish colonies had an uncompromising social structure to which people were placed in different classes based on their heritage. The Creoles, people born in the colonies but of pure Spanish blood, lead the fight in the struggle for independence because of the economic and social conditions as well as the attempt to gain political power. The Creoles wanted to somehow get political power, but they were being rejected of it; however, they were gaining nobility. They owned the “largest and richest mines and haciendas” (Hook Exercise), but even with wealth, the Creoles “held few high-ranking jobs in the government” (Hook Exercise); hence, those jobs went to the peninsulares. They were also the “least oppressed” (Modern World History) of those who were born in the Latin America as well as the most educated, for they adopted the Enlightenment ideas. Also, when the monarchy collapsed, the Creoles wouldn’t let the “political vacuum to remain unfilled, their lives and …show more content…

The peninsulares were people who were born in Spain and migrated to the colonies which tended to be the wealthiest. Then came the Creoles (pure Spanish blood that were born in America), the mestizos (mixed with Spanish and Indian ancestry), the mulattos (mixed African and Spanish blood) and free blacks, the Indians, and at the bottom were the slaves (African descents). Also, the lower classes cause an uprising which frightened the Creoles because they feared that they would lose “property, control of the land, and their lives” (Modern World History), so they wanted to lead the fight for independence as well as support

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