In search of gold, riches, and converts to Christianity, Spanish CONQUISTADORS
colonized many territories in Middle America.
They established the ENCOMIENDA system, which required American Indians to pay tribute in goods or labor.
Many American Indians died from disease and harsh treatment. New Spain had a very rigid social structure.
PENINSULARS or people born in Spain, were at the top of the social ladder.
Next came CREOLES or people born in the Americas to Spanish settlers.
The lower social classes included people of mixed American Indian and European descent who were called MESTIZOS and people who were of mixed African and European descent, who were called : MULATTOES
Colonization also linked America to the rest of the world, leading to the COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE in which goods and ideas were exchanged..