ABSTRACT
One notable aspect of the Spanish colonial system in central New Spain was the fact that native peoples often retained control of local town government. The strong and complex traditions of the stratified society living in the preconquest Cuauhnahuac region grew from the common cultural experience of pre-Hispanic central Mexico. Altepetl were complex units made up of a number of equal parts, or districts, each with a ruling dynasty. The jurisdiction's special status kept its altepetl from being distributed among a multiplicity of encomenderos, a factor that retarded the intrusion of Spaniards. Contact with non-Indians was also potentially reduced because the sugar estates which came to dominate the region agriculturally relied on black slave labor for many aspects of production. The specific shape of the jurisdictions cabildos was determined by local needs and to a significant degree by its pre-Hispanic traditions, though the latter were more obvious.
