varied greatly but the distances involved between Madrid and Mexico City and within New Spain itself ensured a considerable degree of freedom of action for individuals should they chose to exercise it. Socially, the population of New Spain was stratified into four main groupings. At the top of the social pyramid were the peninsulares: European born Spaniards. Next were the criollos: Spaniards who had been born in New Spain. Next were the mestizos: people who had mixed Spanish and native parentage. At the bottom were the indigenous peoples. From Madrid's point of view, New Spain was important as a source of valuable resources, primarily silver, from which the crown took its "royal fifth." The individual soldiers that conquered New Spain sought personal gain initially in the form of plunder and later in the form of encomiendas. An encomiendero was a person who was granted authority over a tract of land and all of the people living on it
crabs, and fish- enough to supply 12 percent of the country's commercial seafood needs. The grit and grime of the oil industry and the frantic sorting of fish this is what many outsiders think of as the essence of Veracruc Yet there is an other a calmer, quieter Vera cruz down any country road.In the fishing village of Mandinga, for example a cool Gulf breeze softens the humid afternoon heat as the town's residents mestizos partly descenced from African slaves go about their business along dusty streets that Alfonso."so they come back.At least here they alwayshave a job" And hey have their music.Of all Veracruz's cosmpolitian influences food laced with Italian spices, heading practices from Arfica, sensual dances from Cuba it is music that speaks to the souls of the state 6.7 millon people.Beneah sun-drenched palm trees,tris of string
Independence against Spain in 1896. It was adopted by nationalist movements and transformed into a national designation that encompassed the entire population of the Philippines, especially the descendants of the native Austronesian peoples. In fact, the meaning of Filipino today is the opposite of its colonial meaning, since it tends to refer only to the predominantly native Austronesian population and excludes the mestizos of mixed Spanish descent, as well as the non- mixed criollos, who are seen as foreigners despite the fact that they are Filipino like everybody else. This has to do with the American colonization of the Philippines after the Spanish-American war, as racial labels were applied to non-white peoples, and the term "Filipino" was mistakenly used by Americans in U.S. newspapers and magazines as a racial label (instead of as a
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