The Hispanos of New Mexico, also known as New Mexican Hispanics or Nuevomexicanos, are a Hispanic ethnic group originating in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, today the US state of New Mexico (Nuevo México), southern Colorado, and other parts of the Southwestern United States including Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. They are descended from Oasisamerica groups and the settlers of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the First Mexican Empire and Republic, the Centralist Republic of Mexico, and the New Mexico Territory.
The descendants of these New Mexican settlers make up an ethnic community of approximately 340,000 in New Mexico, with others throughout the historical Spanish territorial claim of Nuevo México. Alongside Californios and Tejanos, they are part of the larger Hispanic community of the United States, who have lived in the American Southwest since the 16th century. These groups are differentiated by time period from the population of Mexican Americans that arrived after the Mexican–American War and later Mexican Revolution. They also differ genetically in their Indigenous heritage, as Mexican Americans tend to be more related to Mesoamerican groups, whereas New Mexicans are more often related the Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest.
New Mexican Hispanos speak New Mexican English, New Mexican Spanish, or both bilingually. Culturally they identify with the culture of New Mexico and displaying patriotism in regional Americana through pride for cities and towns such as Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Further cultural expression includes New Mexican cuisine and the New Mexico music genre, as well as Ranchero and US Route 66 cruising lifestyles.
Term In New Mexico, the predominant term for this ethnic group is in Spanish and Hispanic in English, analogous to and . In New Mexico, the Spanish-speaking population (of colonial descent) was always proportionally greater than those of California and Texas. The term is commonly used to differentiate those who settled the area early, around 1598 to 1848, from later Mexican migrants. It can also refer to anyone of "Spanish or Indo-Hispanic descent native to the American Southwest." Another term is Nuevomexicano, which is relatively uncommon but still in use. The New Mexican newspaper La Voz del Pueblo (1888-1927) used the terms hispano-americano, nuevomexicano, and neomexicano, the last of which fell entirely out of usage in New Mexican Spanish by the time of Rubén Cobos' A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish and became an exonym used sparingly by a few Anglo scholars outside of New Mexico in the late twentieth century. However, the Diccionario de la lengua española still includes these rarely-used terms neomexicano and neomejicano.
History
For most of its modern history, New Mexico existed on the periphery of the viceroyalty of New Spain (1598—1821) with its capital in Mexico City, and later independent Mexico (1821–1848). However, it was dominated by Comancheria politically and economically from the 1750s to 1850s. Due to the Comanche, contact with the rest of the Spanish empire was limited, and the settlers developed closer trading links with the Comanche than the rest of New Spain. In the meantime, some of the colonists coexisted with and intermarried with Puebloan peoples and Navajos, enemies of the Comanche.
New Mexicans of all ethnicities were commonly enslaved by the Comanche and Apache of Apacheria, while Indigenous New Mexicans were commonly enslaved and adopted Spanish language and culture. These Natives, called , served as house servants, sheep herders, and in other capacities in New Mexico including what is known today as Southern Colorado well into the 1800s. By the late 18th century, Genízaros and their descendants, often referred to as Coyotes, comprised nearly one-third of the entire population of New Mexico.House Memorial 40 (HM40), "Genizaros, In Recognition," 2007 New Mexico State Legislature, Regular Session.Senate Memorial 59 (SM59), "Genizaros, In Recognition," 2007 New Mexico State Legislature, Regular Session. After the Mexican–American War, New Mexico and all its inhabitants came under the governance of the English-speaking U.S., and for the next hundred years, English-speakers increased in number. By the 1980s, more and more Hispanos were using English instead of New Mexican Spanish at home.
Spanish governance The first Spanish settlers emigrated to New Mexico on July 11, 1598, when the explorer Don Juan de Oñate came north from Mexico City to New Mexico with 500 Spanish settlers and soldiers and a livestock of 7,000 animals. The settlers founded San Juan de los Caballeros, the first Spanish settlement in what was called the Kingdom of New Mexico, after the Valley of Mexico.Simmons, Marc, The Last Conquistador, Norman: U of OK Press, 1992, pp. 96, 111
Oñate also conquered the territories of the Pueblo peoples. He became the first governor of New Mexico. The exploitation of Spanish rule under Oñate caused nearly continuous attacks and reprisals from the nomadic Amer-Indian tribes on the borders, especially the Apache, Navajo, and Comanche peoples. There were also major clashes between the Franciscan missionaries (brought to New Mexico to convert the Indigenous peoples to Christianity and Hispanicize them) and secular and religious authorities. The colonists exploited Indian labor, as was typical in other areas of the Spanish colonies in the Americas.
In the 1650s, Governor Bernardo López de Mendizábal, and his subordinate Nicolás de Aguilar, enacted a law to force the settlers and Franciscans to pay Native Americans for their work. He opposed what he perceived to be the mistreatment of the Indians by the Franciscans and proposed to allow the Indians to preserve and to practice their culture, religion, and customs. The Franciscans protested the law and accused the governor before the Inquisition. Later he was tried in Mexico City. So, the Franciscans indirectly governed the New Mexico province.
In 1680, the Native American groups that lived along the Rio Grande successfully rose against the Spanish colonizers in what became known as the Pueblo Revolt. When the Spanish returned to the province in 1692, Don Diego de Vargas became the new governor of New Mexico. He entered the former capital bearing an image of La Conquistadora. The Native Americans were so intrigued by the statue of the Virgin Mary that they are reputed to have laid down their arms at the sight of it. This Reconquista of New Mexico is reputed to have been bloodless and every year since then this statue of the Virgin Mary has been carried in procession through the City of Santa Fe to commemorate the event.
At the time of Vargas's arrival, New Mexico was under the jurisdiction of the Royal Audiencia of Guadalajara and belonged to the Viceroyalty of New Spain. However, in 1777 with the creation of the Provincias Internas it was included only in the jurisdiction of the Commandant-General. After the revolt, the Spanish issued substantial land grants to each Pueblo Amerindian and appointed a public defender to protect the rights of the Indians and to argue their legal cases in the Spanish courts.
Mexican governance The mainland part of New Spain won independence from Spain in 1821, and New Mexico became part of the new nation of Mexico. The Spanish settlers of New Mexico, and their descendants, adapted somewhat to Mexican citizenship. The Hispanos chose to make New Mexico a territory of Mexico, rather than a state, in order to have more local control over its affairs. In 1836, after the Republic of Texas gained independence, Texas claimed part of the Province of New Mexico, and sought "if possible, to establish Texas jurisdiction over Santa Fe", the capital, which was disputed by Mexico. In 1841, the Texians sent an expedition to occupy the area, but it was captured by Mexican troops.Carroll, H. Bailey. "Texan Santa Fe Expedition". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
The Revolt of 1837 in New Mexico caused the Hispanos to overthrow and execute the centrally appointed Mexican governor, demanding increased regional authority. This revolt was defeated by Manuel Armijo, a fellow Hispano appointed by Mexico, which eased the people's concerns. The impetus for this revolt was the class antagonism present in New Mexican society. When central rule was reestablished, Armijo ruled the province as governor, though with greater autonomy. In the mid-1830s, New Mexico began to function as a trading hub between the United States, Central Mexico, and Mexican California.
New Mexico grew economically and the United States began to take notice of the strategic position New Mexico played in the western trade routes. In 1846, during the Mexican–American War, the United States Army occupied the province, which caused the Taos Revolt, a popular insurrection in January 1847 by Hispanos and Pueblo allies against the occupation. In two short campaigns, U.S. troops and militia crushed the rebellion. The rebels regrouped and fought three more engagements, but after being defeated, they abandoned open warfare. Mexico ceded the territories of the north to the United States with the so-called Mexican Cession. As a result, Texas gained control of the City of El Paso, which was formerly in New Mexico. However, in the Compromise of 1850 Texas gave up its claim to the other areas of New Mexico.
United States governance After the Mexican–American War, Anglo Americans began migrating in large numbers to all of the newly acquired territory. Anglos began taking lands from both Native Americans and Hispanos by different means, most notably by squatting. Squatters often sold these lands to land speculators for huge profits, especially after the passing of the 1862 Homestead Act. Hispanos demanded that their lands be returned but governments did not respond favorably. For example, the Surveyor of General Claims Office in New Mexico would at times take up to fifty years to process a claim, meanwhile, the lands were being grabbed up by the newcomers. One tactic used to defraud Hispanos from their lands was to demand that they present documentation proving ownership written in English. Because the territory had previously been part of Mexico, only Spanish-language ownership documentation existed. While the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway was built in the 1890s, speculators known as the Santa Fe Ring orchestrated schemes to remove Native and Hispano residents from their lands. In response, Hispanos gathered to reclaim lands taken by Anglos.Rosales, F. Arturo Chicano: The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (Houston, Texas: Arte Publico Press, 1997) p. 7-9 Hoping to scare off the new immigrants, they eventually used intimidation and raids to accomplish their goals. They sought to develop a class-based consciousness among local people through the everyday tactics of resistance to the economic and social order confronting common property land grant communities. They called themselves Las Gorras Blancas a term owing its origin to the white head coverings many wore.