Transformation of Indians Duri essays

Transformation of Indians Duri essays The Indian population in the early 1800s were subjects of the ruling elite. At this point, the ruling elite consisted of Spaniards, which considered the Indians to be barbaric and did not consider them to be humans. In 1810, the Gente de razon category was established to identify people who were White, racially mixed people and those Indians who had been detribalized. This was the preparation for the revolution of 1821; an independence from Spanish rule. Mexico began its preparations by changing these racial labels. The great plan of this time period was to acculturate the Indians to help in the colonization of the new independent Mexico. The Indians transformation in their political, social and cultural view attributed to their legal status and land ownership rights during the Mexican period of 1821 to 1848. I believe that the Indians had been use to changes such as the change during the Spanish rule to the change under the Mexican republic and continuing with the changes und er the United States. It is the intent of this essay to examine the integration of the Indians into the new independent Mexico. The Indians change begins with the Laws of Burgos in 1512, passed by the Spanish crown to establish the procedures and laws to govern the Indians (Hanke 1949:24; Menchaca 2001:51). Yet again, at the beginning of the Mexican period in 1821, the reaffirmation of the 1812 Law of Cadiz under the Plan de Iguala went into affect, granting Mexican citizenship to all excluding slaves. The Plan de Iguala was a way to attract Indians to join the colonists in maintaining the newly established republic. Under this plan, race could no longer be legally used to prevent Indians, mestizos, and free afromestizos from exercising the citizenship rights enjoyed by Whites (Menchaca 2001:161). The beginning of this period asked many Indians to pledge allegiance to either Spain or Mexico. The Indians were able to combine their pol...