ABSTRACT
The social order that arose in the Spanish colonies on the ruins of the old Indian societies was based, like that of Spain, on feudal principles. For a stipulated sum a wealthy mestizo or mulatto could often purchase from the Spanish crown a certificate placing him in the category of whites. The mestizo caste had its main origin in a multitude of irregular unions between Spaniards and native women, although mixed marriages were not uncommon, especially in the early period. The Spanish officials Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa describe the complicated structure of class and caste of a colonial town-the Caribbean port of Cartagena. Among the various races and mixtures that composed the population of the Spanish empire in the Americas, the Indians formed a nation apart. Most of them lived in their own self-governing communities in which Spaniards other than the village priest were forbidden to reside.
