Viceroyalty of New Spain

Virreinato de la Nueva España

1535–1808. Created in 1535 with Antonio de Mendoza as first viceroy, New Spain was governed from Mexico City, built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

Draft: not yet checked against its sources.

What happened

Created in 1535 with Antonio de Mendoza as first viceroy, New Spain was governed from Mexico City, built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. It stretched from today's Guatemala north into California, New Mexico and Texas, and took in the Caribbean islands and, from 1565, the Philippines, whose galleons unloaded at Acapulco. Veracruz was its Atlantic port. The viceroy presided over the Real Audiencia; the Church, the mining towns of Zacatecas and Guanajuato and great estates shaped its society. The viceroyalty survived the Bourbon reforms and ended with Mexican independence in 1821, outside this period.

Its events

1. 1585–28 January 1596: Drake raids the Spanish Caribbean

Sources

1. El virreinato de la Nueva España (ficha de clase) — Secretaría de Educación Pública (México), Nueva Escuela Mexicana
2. Colonial Government in the Spanish Empire — World History Encyclopedia
3. Manila Galleon — World History Encyclopedia