Summary

This photo shows two mestizos from Quito. Across Latin America these two men are considered to be Mestizo because of their race and the way that they dress. Mestizo is defined as "literally, "mixed" in Spanish, referring to mixed European and indigenous heritage) appeared immediately after 1492 and kept on appearing throughout the colonial period. They formed an upwardly mobile middle group, socially below the people of European descent but above the indigenous and African workforce" [1]

Mestizos were often viewed as higher than the Indigenous and Africans but lower than those of European descent this was in part due to mestizos being racially closer to Spaniards yet not fully. The two men in this picture are dressed in Spanish clothing and the caption states 'A Mestizo of Quito professing a Liberal Art accompanied by his Pupil". This shows that Mestizos were granted access to higher education, something that Indigenous and Africans were not granted access to.

The various racial groups across Latin America made it difficult for independence leaders to unite them. The mestizo class was rather unique due to them not being fully indigenous nor being fully European. In Mexico during the year 1811, José Maria Morelos who was a leader in the fight for Mexico's independence mentioned the racial hierarchy by stating "The color of a man's skin determines the rank he will occupy in society. A white man, even barefoot, counts himself among the nobility of the country"[2]. Morelos recognized the system in which his fellow people lived in and instead of making everyone go against each other, he instead chose to unite everyone together regardless of race as seen here "Let there be no more ethnic distinction made among our people, but rather, we shall all be called simply americanos"[3]. This unity brought together the people of Mexico in which many identify as Mexican first before identifying as their race. Although there were many racial groups across Latin America this did not stop nationalism from growing and helping lead to the independence of Latin America.

Works Cited

[1] Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander

[2] Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander

[3] Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander