History 2501
Colonial Society: October 25, 2011
Factors that determined social status: limpieza de sangre, race, lineage, illegitimacy, corporative
Women and society: married, single, religious life
Lineage
- 17th and 18th cent
- Importance of WHO your family was
- Long names, important relatives, hold onto all names
- Remind that you are importance
- Aristocracy, poor don’t have important lineage
Illegitimacy
- First conquerors arrive, illeg. Marriage= illeg. Children
- Very common, not a bad thing necessarily, lacks shame
- Spanish “natural children”
- Issue if father is a priest, mother is a nun etc
- Promise of marriage= almost the same as marriage (flexible society)
- Ability to go to university, papers, parents come forward
- Wont impede if you don’t know who your parents are (but wont help either)
- Huge numbers of illegitimate children
- Natives had different concepts and traditions regading marriage
Corporate Status
- “body” group of people
- People belong to different groups (e.g. guild)
- Groups have rights
- Religious group: important at the time, compare to modern clubs, around Saint/Madonna,
belong to association, e.g. someone will help you if you are sick/ die/ economic struggles
Race
- Indigenous, Spanish etc
- Protections
Women and society
- Elite- painted beauty marks (sometimes to hide small pox scars)
- Owned watches and clocks
- Choices: get married,join convent, single (different social classes)
- Marriage: 2 families must agree (economic, political), intelligence, wealth, Spanish blood,
future business etc
- Dowry paid to daughter by her father, way of ensuring daughter will be OK economically
- Marrage- contract= who manages what (e.g, assets)
- Arras: gift that bridegroom gives to bride, cant be more than 10% of his assets, show
appreciation
- Divorce: negotiate regarding contract, her family will probably ask for money back