Indigenous Uprisings in Colonial Mexico

Abstract

This article examines indigenous uprisings in colonial Mexico (then New Spain) from 1521 to 1700, the time period in which the Hapsburg Dynasty ruled Spanish America. It identifies four main types of indigenous uprisings: frontier wars, mission insurrections, local rebellions, and urban riots. Frontier wars against Spanish incorporation occurred in areas where non-sedentary peoples predominated. The nature of the insurrections on the mission frontier varied by time period and the level of sociopolitical consolidation of the area. They often occurred in response to forced relocation, compulsory labour, and the eradication of preconquest religious practices, along with poor harvests and disease. Local rebellions constituted the most common form of indigenous uprisings. They were targeted actions aimed at resolving community grievances through colonial mechanisms. Urban riots under the Hapsburgs were less frequent and often had a heterogenous base. Participants railed against colonial institutions, venting their discontent over local policies, practices, and officials. Indigenous uprising occurred throughout colonial Mexico, from urban and rural areas, to the sedentary cores of the centre and the south and the frontier zones of the north. The majority of indigenous uprisings, while violent and significant, did not challenge the fundamental social, political, and economic institutions of the imperial state. Indigenous uprisings in Hapsburg New Spain should not be confused or conflated with revolutionary struggles that sought significant structural changes or independence movements which sought to politically separate colony from crown. The prevalence of rebellions throughout New Spain, however, undermines the notion of a Pax Hispanica and reveals the active role of native peoples in challenging the conditions and injustices of colonial rule.