Colonial Nuevo Mexico

Colonial Nuevo Mexico

The northernmost frontier of the Spanish Empire that was conquered but never fully colonized due to distance, limited resources, and Indigenous resistance

Entradas

Large expeditions of Spanish soldiers and settlers sent to explore and claim land in frontier territories

Who participated in entradas

Spanish officers led them, but most participants were mestizos, mulattos, and Indigenous allies from northern Mexico

Spanish relationship with Pueblo Indians

The Spanish taxed them and used their labor but also traded with them and offered protection

Why did Pueblo Indians resent Spanish rule?

The Spanish tried to erase their religion, culture, and autonomy

Indigenous nations outside Spanish control

Groups the Spanish called “savages” who resisted colonization and raided settlements

Other slavery

System where captured Indigenous women and children were forced into domestic servitude

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Major Indigenous uprising led by Popé that killed hundreds of Spaniards and expelled them from New Mexico for 13 years