Social Control Throughout the Hapsburg and the Bourbon Eras

When the Spanish began to colonize the Americas there was a clear distinction between the natives whom they encountered and their own society. Though the Spanish attempted to maintain two wholly separate worlds, it soon became apparent that this would be near impossible. Miscegenation had spawned a plethora of new ethnicities, and racial mixing was prevalent throughout the colonies. As this intermingling of races spread, the Spanish elite were faced with the ensuing problem of maintaining their supposed superiority. In the centuries leading to their independence from Spain, the creole elites fought for their precarious hierarchy, which became progressively more difficult as time passed. They used different means of social control throughout these years, becoming increasingly stricter in the later decades about maintaining that fine line between the elites and everyone else in society.

The Spanish originally schemed to create two distinct worlds between the natives and the colonists, but this idea lost validity almost as soon as it was created. By the late 16th Century, the Americas were "characterized by tremendous ethnic diversity that resulted from both racial mixing and cultural exchange that unsettled the ordered world originally conceptualized by Spanish authorities" (Curcio-Nagy, 146). In attempts to cope with this inevitable trend, officials "sought to maintain control by recourse to a number of policies, most striking among them the creation of the caste system" (Curcio-Nagy, 146). This system emphasized the importance of limpieza de sangre, essentially the purity of blood, as a means to reinforce the role of superiority that the elites held in the colonies. Though it served to distinguish between the castas and the creole elites, it also acted as a barrier for those elites of questionable birth, who could be barred from the ruling class because of their past. Yet, this caste system was not incredibly concrete, and it provided for a great deal of social mobility.

During the Hapsburg era, this mobility was not strongly discouraged, and even flourished in some cases. Many illegitimates born before the mid 1700s did not feel the need to apply for a gracias al sacar, and were able to pass successfully. Though passing "was never an all-or-nothing affair," many experienced informal evidences of social mobility that "provided important measures of status and personal gratification" (Twinam, 186). This early period was marked with a relatively lax attitude towards passing and tolerance for illegitimates. Those who desired to apply faced little scrutiny and "essentially, anyone who petitioned and paid received a gracias al sacar" (Twinam, 247). The Camara was non-discriminatory in terms of natal status, and dealt with the few requests in a passive manner that echoed much of the current public sentiment.

This same tolerance and passivity was a distinguishing factor of the Hapsburg period festivals, which had similar goals of social control. Spanish ruling elite sought to use these festivals to "dominate subject people culturally, inducing submission, and encourage the acceptance of their political agenda" (Curcio-Nagy, 3). The Hapsburg period festivals included elaborate fanfare and encouraged the participation of the lower castes in performances. There existed a "Hapsburg emphasis on difference and inclusion," making a distinction between the elites and the castas, but doing so in a way that sought to include the plebeians in the process (Curcio-Nagy, 151). Each role served to emphasize and reiterate what elites believed to be their natural positions in society, as they were "designed to present the hierarchical nature of society and encourage Native Americans and Afro-Americans to recognize and accept their subordinate positions" (Curcio-Nagy, 42). These earlier years were marked with tolerance for the lower castes, and an ability to distinguish the different ethnicities and their place amongst the racial hierarchy. In the coming century, an increase in racial ambiguity coincided with the Bourbon Reforms, bringing with it a complete change in elite social control.

In the late 18th Century, Camara officials underwent a reformation and began to implement a harsher method for legitimating through gracias al sacar. In this way they acted as "gatekeepers to preserve the social and racial hierarchy by deciding which few would be let in, thereby keeping out many" (Twinam, 311). After nearly three centuries "during which natal and racial markers that legitimized hierarchy became increasingly ambiguous, Spanish America approached… the beginning of a meltdown" (Twinam, 336). The elite responded to this gradual disappearance of the barriers of birth and race that had previously set them apart with heightened discrimination. Whereas before, informal passing had been commonplace among illegitimates, now a majority of illegitimates faced increasing prejudice from local elites.

It became difficult to procure a gracias al sacar as Camara officials began to implement a much stricter process. Though the Bourbon Reforms were radical on paper, colonial officials altered the ultimate impact of the laws, and its social policy encouraged local elites to continue to act as gatekeepers during this threatening time. The differences between Spain and its colonies had grown throughout the centuries, and "even if the king and ministers had wanted to open the gate wider and to encourage social mobility, the officials of the Camara effectively slammed the door on potential entrants" (Twinam, 292). By the time of the Bourbon reforms, local officials had grown, and social control was essentially completely under their power.

The Bourbon kings and their ministers viewed the Hapsburg system of governing with disdain and sought to reform the colonies through more effective Spanish control. They removed the colorful festivals that had become a signature of the Hapsburgs and attempted to enforce stricter laws. Bourbon officials "placed emphasis and primacy on royal festivals in an effort to bolster the image of the monarch and make his presence more resoundly felt in the daily lives of inhabitants" (Curcio-Nagy, 70). A Bourbon bureaucrat was represented as an efficient and effective official who followed royal directives. Essentially, they sought to enforce the idea of monarch absolutism through these public festivals, thereby diminishing the roles of the castas. Though independence was brought about by a variety of factors, "essential to the momentum… was a growing perception among significant sectors of New Spanish society… that the royal government was consumed by its own self interest" (Curcio-Nagy, 151). As the Bourbon officials sought to gain back social control from local elites, it became clear that they did not comprehend the complex ethnic relations that had emerged in this society of increasing racial ambiguity.

Over the centuries, Spain's colonies began to emerge as their own society, completely separate from their mother country. Due to the existence of a plethora of different ethnicities, their racial hierarchy was vastly different than the original plan. The resulting caste system placed whites on top as the elites, but as ethnic ambiguity became increasingly prevalent, their superiority became gradually more precarious. In order to cope with this, local elites began to take advantage of social control, becoming more discriminatory and exclusive about mobility as they felt more threatened. By the time of the Bourbon Reforms, local officials already controlled the social agenda of the New World. Despite attempts to radically reform aspects of colonial life, they essentially catered to the desires of the creole elites, who implemented them as they saw fit, regardless of the original intent. Bourbon attempts to unify the people with ideas of monarch loyalty failed similarly, as the colonies drifted from the Spanish monarch over the centuries. Ultimately, the social control seized by the local elites set the scene for the future for independent nations.