Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and Guatemala. The city of Santiago de los Caballeros, as it was officially known, would
growtobecomethethird-largestcityinSpanishcolonialAmerica,surpassedonlybyMex-
icoCityandLima.In1776,aseriesofdevastatingearthquakesdestroyedmostofthecity's
buildings and churches, leading to a final move of the Guatemalan capital to the Valley of
the Hermitage, just over a mountain to the east, where it has resided ever since.
Thecolonialperiodissignificant inthatitcompletely transformedGuatemala'sphysical
and cultural landscape, establishing new cities and institutionalizing new economic and re-
ligious systems that would come to form the basis for a racist hierarchy persisting largely
unaltered to this day. Guatemala's history displays a striking symmetry throughout the
years. The key to understanding many of the more recent tragedies to befall its people lies
in understanding the significance of earlier events dating back to just before the conquest.
At the center of Guatemala's new power structure was the Catholic Church, which ar-
rived with the conquistadors and included various sects such as Franciscans, Mercedari-
ans,Dominicans,andJesuits.Theseweregrantedlargeconcessionsoflandandindigenous
people, allowing them to amass huge fortunes from the cultivation of cash crops including
sugar, indigo, and wheat. This power structure was held in place by institutions established
by the Spanish crown, namely the
encomienda
and
repartimiento
.
The
encomienda
was a grant of Indian labor and tribute, though not necessarily of land,
over a geographical area. The
encomenderos
holding such a grant were allowed to tax the
indigenous peoples under their care and to conscript them for labor in exchange for their
promise to maintain order and educate the indigenous populace in the Spanish language
and Catholicism.
The
repartimiento
, which is essentially indistinguishable from its predecessor, is a re-
formedversionofthe
encomienda
system,atleastonpaper.Itputcontrolofthedistribution
of workers into the hands of local magistrates and called for the donation of a percentage
of laborers from populations close to Spanish settlements, between 2 and 4 percent of the
indigenous population.
Further adding to the transformation of community organization in the conquered territ-
orieswastheestablishmentof
reducciones
,partofthelargerprocessof
congregación
,con-
sisting of towns founded in the Spanish vein with the purpose of congregating indigenous
populations into manageable settlements and assimilating them into the dominant culture
and religion. They would also serve as a handy nearby source from which to pool labor.
Guatemalan, and indeed Central American, independence came more as a result of pres-
suresfromwithoutthanfromagenuineinternaluprisingdemandingfreedomfromSpanish
rule. This is not to say that all was well with Spanish colonial rule, as there were policies
and social stratifications in place contributing to unrest among the lower strata of society.
