Criollo

A person of full Spanish or Portuguese ancestry born and living on the continent of America. That during the colonial period, these so called "Criollos" were rank in the highest social caste, implemented by the Spanish Monarchy to give a individual their status on political rights. These meaning, that the more Spanish ancestry a person had, the more freedom and privileged rights was granted. At one time, in the New Spain ( Colony of Spain, that was located in the today present lands of Central America and Mexico ) the Criollos ( Combined with the so called "Peninsulares", that were Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula ) were more than the group of Mestizos and Native Indigenous that were oppressed by having lesser political rights. Even though, that the Criollos were more during the colonial period, after it and during the Mexican revolution, in hopes of bringing equality to the Mexican population, a new form of "Mestizaje" was grave to created a homogeneous nation and rapidly the elite social class of Criollos became a minority ( Still existed, but with fewer presence in Mexico ).

In present times, the "Criollos" are estimated to be around 15-30% ( Percentage varies from different sources ) of the Mexican population.

Marco did a genealogical research on his family ancestry past and found out that he is fully descendant from Criollos.

by Mythkiller August 16, 2010

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