Pueblo Revolt of 1680

    In chapter three and four of Russel, as well as in the in-class discussion, it was denoted that their was a growing change in Spanish rule over New World and the emergence of different social classes from the seventeenth century extending into the eighteenth century (Russel 43-44, 100). This change in social classes came as a direct result to Spanish colonial influence over the peoples of the Americas. With strict and rigged taxing and forced labor exhorted from the native communities, many natives in the 1700's chose to move closer to Spanish settlement, creating a racial mixing. Among the other results of this, was the creation of a new form of society with natives having varying levels of social and economic status depending on how "indian" there blood was. Yet, in the northern regions of Spanish control, the dominant position of the Spanish was much looser. The Pueblos of New Mexico were far removed from the central mandates coming from Mexico City.

     As Max pointed out in a post from last week, the Spanish were heavily dependent on the natives through much of the colonial period. Yet, they also demanded much from the natives in this period. This plays a major role in the Pueblo Revolt in 1680.



     In 1680, the Pueblo people had reached a boiling a point. Spanish rule over there territory was harsh and brutal. The Spanish forced the Pueblos to labor on Spanish held encomiendas. Those that did not labor on encomiendas and chose to live in native communities, were expected to give a vast portion of their crop to the Spanish. The result of this, especially following a sustained period of drought, was a rising tension between the Spanish and the Pueblo peoples. Further cementing this division, was the role the Church played in native life. The Franciscan friars, who chose to take on the role of converting the native people, often used suppressed native religious practices in brutal ways. Bringing all of these issues together, one arrives at the state of affairs in 1680 New Mexico.

     In August of 1680, the Pueblo peoples revolted against Spanish hegemony. The result for the Spanish was a total loss of New Mexico for over a decade. Unlike the various uncoordinated native revolts noted by Russel, the Pueblo Revolt was a masterpiece of Pueblo coordination. In a relatively small period of time the Pueblo people, under the leadership of the shaman Popé, established a network of tribes that would participate in the revolt against Spanish authority.

     The revolt ended in a successful expulsion of the Spanish from New Mexico. However, as shocking of a feat as that was, what is more important is the way the Pueblos acted through the course of the revolt. As noted in the Pueblo Revolt document,

"With their [the Pueblo's] selection of these targets—churches, clergy, icons, haciendas—the Pueblos spoke volumes about their intentions. The Spanish could no longer be tolerated in Indian lands; the Pueblos’ survival depended upon removing every last vestige of the Spanish presence from among them" (22).

     This is the level of resentment that the Spanish had allowed to occur through the course of their colonial rule. Although only a decade and a half later the Spanish did reconquer the area lost in the 1680 revolt, the revolt reveals the harsh rule which the Spanish exerted on the native people of the Americas and the resentment those natives felt.

     One of the few things I found interesting about this reading was the shear surprise the Spanish seemed to feel about the fact that the Pueblos people actually rebelled against their rule. It seems that you would realize how much resentment would build up from ruling over a people so harshly.

     I also found it very interesting that the revolt succeeded. The natives were so diversified, and to unite over twenty villages towards a single cause seems to be quite an amazing feat.