Criollo people
 |
    .jpeg)    File:Juanes-live-02 edit.jpg-.jpg) Notable Criollos: Juan Ponce de León II · Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz · Simón Bolívar · Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi · Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla · José Martí · Jorge Luis Borges · Guillermo del Toro · Juanes · Cameron Diaz | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Throughout Hispanic America | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Roman Catholic · Protestant · Christian Latinos · Jewish minority | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Spaniards · Italian · Portuguese · French · White Cuban · White Brazilian · White Argentine · White Mexican · White Latin American |
The criollos (singular: criollo) were a social class in the caste system of the overseas colonies established by Spain in the 16th century, especially in Latin America and the Philippines, comprising the locally born people of pure Spanish ancestry.[1]
The criollo class ranked below that of the peninsulares, the colonists born in Spain, but above the other castes — Amerindians, African slaves, and people of mixed descent. In the 18th century, changes in Spanish policies towards the colonies led to tensions between the criollos and the peninsulares. Criollo nationalists were among the main supporters of the Hispanic American wars of independence.
The term criollo is often translated into English as Creole. However, the word "creole" is also applied to many ethnic groups around the world that have no historic connection to Spain or to any colonial system. Indeed, many of those creole peoples were never a distinct socal caste, and/or were never defined by purity of descent.
Origin of the term
The word criollo and its portuguese cognate crioulo are believed to come from the Spanish/Portuguese verb criar, meaning "to breed" or "to raise". The term apparently came into use in the settlements established by the Portuguese along the West African coast,[citation needed] and was originally meant to distinguish the members of any foreign ethnic group that were born and "raised" locally, to distingush them from those born in the group's homeland and from persons of mixed ethnic ancestry. Thus, in the Portuguese colonies of Africa, português crioulo was a locally born person of Portuguese descent; in the Americas, negro criollo or negro crioulo was a locally born person of pure Black (i.e. African) ancestry; and, in Spanish colonies, an español criollo was an ethnic Spaniard who had been on the colonies, as opposed to an español peninsular born in Spain.[citation needed]
The English word "Creole" was a loan from French créole, which in turn is believed to come from Spanish criollo or Portuguese crioulo.[citation needed]
The Spanish colonial caste system
Most Spanish colonies started with a sizable population of indigenous Amerindians, which was soon augmented by a large contingento of people with mixed Spanish-Amerindian ancestry. In the 17th or 18th century, some colonies also received large numbers of African slaves, which eventually contributed to the racial mix of the population.
To preserve Spanish crown's power in the colonies, the Spanish colonial society was based on an elaborate system of castes (castas), the degree of descent from Spanish nationals. The highest-ranking castes were the espanõles, Spaniards by birth or descent. The penisulares comprised the persons born in Spain, while the criollo comprised locally born people of proven unmixed Spanish ancestry, that is, the Americas-born child of two Spanish-born Spaniards or mainland Spaniards (peninsulares), of two criollos, or a Spaniard and a criollo.[citation needed] People of mixed ancestry were classified in other castes — such as castizos, mestizos, cholos, mulatos, indios, zambos, and ultimately black slaves.
The status criollo, could also be legally and automatically attained by people of mixed origin with 1/8th or less of Amerindian ancestry, such as the offspring of one castizo parent and one peninsular or criollo parent.[citation needed] This 1/8 rule however did not apply to African admixture. [citation needed] However, people sometimes got around these rules by bribing officials to falsify genealogical records (probanzas de sangre, lit. "blood comprobation").[citation needed]
While the casta system was in force, the top ecclesiastical, military and administrative positions were reserved for crown-appointed peninsulares,[citation needed] who were also favoured the Cádiz monopoly.[clarification needed][citation needed] The criollo included most of the local land-owning elite.
Criollos and the wars of independence
Until 1760, the Spanish colonies had been ruled under laws designed by the Spanish Habsburgs, which granted the American provinces great autonomy. That situation changed by the Bourbon Reforms during the reign of Charles III. Spain needed to extract increasing wealth from its colonies in order to support the European and global wars needed to maintain the Spanish Empire. The crown expanded the privileges of the penisulares, who took over many administrative offices that had been filled by criollos. At the same time, reforms by the Catholic Church reduced the roles and privileges of the lower ranks of the clergy, who were mostly criollos.[citation needed]
By the 19th century, this discriminatory policy of the Spanish crown, and the examples of the American and Haitian Revolutions,[citation needed] eventually led the criollo to rebel against the peninsulares. With the eventual support of the other castes, they engaged Spain in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821) and the South American Wars of Independence (1810–1826), which ended with the break-up of the former Spanish Empire in America into a number of independent republics.
Modern colloquial uses
The word criollo retains its original meaning in most Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas.[citation needed] In some countries, however, the word criollo has over time come to have additional meanings, such as "local" or "home grown". For instance, comida criolla in Spanish-speaking countries[clarification needed] refers to "local cuisine", not "cuisine of the criollos".
In some Latin American countries, the term is also used to describe people from particular regions, such as the countryside or mountain areas:
- In Puerto Rico, natives of the town of Caguas are usually referred to as criollos; professional sports teams from that town are also usually nicknamed criollos de Caguas ("Caguas Creoles"). Caguas is located near Puerto Rico's part of the Cordillera Central mountain area.[citation needed]
- In Argentina, locals of Argentina's interior northern and northwestern provinces are called criollos by their porteño counterparts from Buenos Aires. They are typically seen as more traditionally Hispanic in culture and ancestry than the melting pot of non-Hispanic European influences that define the people and culture of Buenos Aires.[citation needed]
- In Perú, criollo is associated with the syncretic culture of the Pacific coast, a mixture of Spanish, African, Indigenous, and even Gitano elements. Its meaning is therefore more similar to that of "French Creole" than to the criollo of colonial times.[citation needed]
References
- ^
Donghi, Tulio Halperín (1993). The Contemporary History of Latin America. Duke University Press. pp. page 49. ISBN 0-8223-1374-X.
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- Will Fowler. Latin America, 1800-2000: Modern History for Modern Languages. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 9780340763513
See also
- Latin America population
- limpieza de sangre (literally, "cleanliness of blood")
- White Argentine
- White Brazilian
- White Cuban
- White Mexican
- White Hispanic
- White Latin American