Viceroyalty of New Spain Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Viceroyalty of New Spain

Virreynato de Nueva España

1521–1821

Coat of arms

map of New Spain in red, with territories claimed but not controlled in orange.

Capital

Mexico City

Common languages

Spanish

Religion

Roman Catholicism

Government

Monarchy

• 1535-1556

• 1813-1821

• 1535-1550

• 1821-1821

History

• Spanish conquest of Mexico

August 16

1521

• First viceking appointed

1521

• Grito de Dolores

1810

• Consummation of Mexican Independence

September 28 1821

Population

• 1519

20.000.000

• 1810

7.657.300

Currency

Peso de Oro

Preceded by

Succeeded by

	Aztec
	Mayan civilization
	Tarascan State

First Mexican Empire
Spanish West Indies
Spanish East Indies

The Viceroyalty of New Spain was the name of the viceroy-ruled territories of the Spanish Empire in North America and its peripheries in Asia from 1521 to 1821. New Spain was the name that the Spanish gave to the area that today is central and southern Mexico, and since the capital city of the Viceroyalty was in Mexico City, the name was also used for the viceroyalty.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain's territory included what is the Bay Islands (until 1643), Cayman Islands (until 1670), Central America (as far as the southern border of Costa Rica until 1821), Cuba, Florida, Hispaniola (including Haiti until 1700), Jamaica (until 1670) Mariana Islands, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, nearly all of the southwestern United States (including all or parts of the modern-day U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Florida). Spain claimed areas as far north as British Columbia and Alaska, but the northern boundary of New Spain was redefined by the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. New Spain also included Venezuela before it was annexed to the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717.

The territories were separated into provinces. Provinces were led by a governor, who was responsible for the administration of the province and often also led the province's army and militias. The provinces were grouped together under five high courts, called Audiencias in Spanish, at Santo Domingo, Mexico City, Guatemala, Guadalajara and Manila. Both the high courts and the governors had autonomy from the viceroy and carried out most duties on their own. Only on important issues did the viceroy become involved in ruling the provinces directly.

In 1821, Spain lost continental territories when it recognized the independence of Mexico, as well as Santo Domingo when it was invaded by Haiti that same year. However, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Spanish East Indies (including Mariana Islands and the Philippines) remained a part of the Spanish crown until the Spanish–American War (1898).

Mexico

Images for kids

Giacomo Gastaldi's 1548 map of New Spain, Nueva Hispania Tabula Nova
Spanish historical presence, claimed territories, points of interest and expeditions in North America.
Evangelization of Mexico
An auto-da-fé in New Spain, 18th century
Girolamo Ruscelli's 1561 map of New Spain, Nueva Hispania Tabula Nova
"Vázquez de Coronado Sets Out to the North" (1540), by Frederic Remington, oil on canvas, 1905
White represents the route of the Manila Galleons in the Pacific and the flota in the Atlantic; blue represents Portuguese routes.
José de Gálvez, 1st Marquess of Sonora, Visitador in New Spain, who initiated major reforms
Antonio María de Bucareli, Viceroy of New Spain
18th-century soldado de cuera in colonial Mexico
Bernardo de Gálvez and his army at the Siege of Pensacola in 1781.
Spanish territorial claims in the northern West Coast of North America, 18th century
On September 28, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo led the siege of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato
View of the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City, 1695 by Cristóbal de Villalpando
Indian Wedding and Flying Pole, circa 1690
New Spain after the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 (not including the island territories of the Pacific Ocean).
San Miguel chapel in New Mexico.
Arco de Santa Catalina, Antigua Guatemala
18th century golden altar piece insede the Tegucigalpa cathedral.
Mestizo and India with their Coyote children.
Church of Santo Domingo, Oaxaca City

Viceroyalty of New Spain facts for kids

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