On December 19; 1554; the members of Tenochtitlan’s indigenous cabildo; or city council; petitioned Emperor Charles V of Spain for administrative changes “to save us from any Spaniard; mestizo; black; or mulato afflicting us in the marketplace; on the roads; in the canal; or in our homes.†Within thirty years of the conquest; the presence of these groups in New Spain was large enough to threaten the social; economic; and cultural order of the indigenous elite. In Géneros de Gente in Early Colonial Mexico; an ambitious rereading of colonial history; Robert C. Schwaller proposes using the Spanish term géneros de gente (types or categories of people) as part of a more nuanced perspective on what these categories of difference meant and how they evolved. His work revises our understanding of racial hierarchy in Mexico; the repercussions of which reach into the present. Schwaller traces the connections between medieval Iberian ideas of difference and the unique societies forged in the Americas. He analyzes the ideological and legal development of géneros de gente into a system that began to resemble modern notions of race. He then examines the lives of early colonial mestizos and mulatos to show how individuals of mixed ancestry experienced the colonial order. By pairing an analysis of legal codes with a social history of mixed-race individuals; his work reveals the disjunction between the establishment of a common colonial language of what would become race and the ability of the colonial Spanish state to enforce such distinctions. Even as the colonial order established a system of governance that entrenched racial differences; colonial subjects continued to mediate their racial identities through social networks; cultural affinities; occupation; and residence. Presenting a more complex picture of the ways difference came to be defined in colonial Mexico; this book exposes important tensions within Spanish colonialism and the developing social order. It affords a significant new view of the development and social experience of race—in early colonial Mexico and afterward.
#1586820 in Books University of Oklahoma Press 2010-09-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.46 x 6.12l; 2.00 #File Name: 080614128X480 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Rewards close studyBy John L Murphy"Beyond the pale" originated from the limits; the palisades that the Normans erected around their incursions around Dublin. Outside of that tamed space; Hibernian natives menaced and lurked; uncivilized according to the civilized conquerors' suppositions. David Emmons; historian of the West at the University of Montana; adapts this title cleverly. For in the American expansion; the immigrant Irish were seen by their Protestant counterparts as inferior; and relegated to the margins socially and spatially. In the growing U.S.; contrary to stereotype; some Irish Catholics did not settle for the slum or the tenement.For industry demanded cheap; expendable labor on the frontier. The mines and mills erected; often by the Protestant capitalists; attracted desperate Irish. Outnumbered; they formed communities and institutions to secure themselves in hostile territory. Having studied this phenomenon in the Irish-dominated enclave of Butte; Emmons in this follow-up volume expands his focus to eight different concepts of "the West" in the American imagination and fact. He compares or contrasts Irish Catholic experiences to those of black slaves and Native Americans; broadening this 2010 book's relevance today.It rewards careful reading. It's accessible; with folk stories and testimonies drawn from archival research; Its hundred-page list of documentation attests to Emmons' care in preparing his report. Attention to detail regarding his claims; therefore; is expected.The local insistence on camaraderie given the difficulties of dangerous jobs and social prejudice meant many Irish newcomers rallied together in their camps and towns. Emmons suggests that in a land where the future meant going West; the Irish for their own survival might have cut themselves off from joining this juggernaut. Out of anti-Catholic discrimination and anti-Irish sentiment; they found themselves beyond the pale again; gathered in their clans; defensive against yet another; all-too-familiar; aggressor.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A Mine of InformationBy South Fork Reviewer"Between 1845 and 1910 approximately five million people left Ireland for the United States. The vast majority of them were Catholic; desperately poor; and without the work skills that could command decent wages." So begins the Introduction to Dr. Emmons' book. This is a very significant text; and a monumental scholarly achievement ... "The product of three decades of research and thought."The hardback contains 350 pages of description and analysis; and over one hundred pages of supporting material. The font used; smaller than for the typical paperback; crams huge amounts of information into those pages. (Full disclosure: I received this book as a free review copy. For an expanded version of this review; visit my history blog; the "South Fork Companion.")This book is important because typical histories of the Irish in American tend to focus on "ethnic enclaves" in the larger cities; mostly on the East coast. Emmons tries to fill the resulting gap. His basis thesis: These Irish emigrants were "beyond the pale." They were not just outside the mainstream of American life. Rather; overwhelmingly Protestant America rejected an Irish culture based on an amalgam of Roman Catholicism and ancient Celtic folkways. America's growing industrial engine needed poor and desperate Irish workers; who would take hard; dangerous jobs at rock-bottom wages. But while employers exploited their labor; mainstream society kept them at arms length. Their answer was entirely predictable: "They set up ... their own schools; churches; fraternities; neighborhoods; and rookeries."The publisher's Product Description describes the book as "masterful yet accessible." It is certainly masterful; but "accessible" may be problematic. The author makes good use of selected Irish-American "folk stories;" and his style is not over-loaded with academic jargon. However; his historical discussions are wide-ranging; tightly reasoned; and (sometimes) controversial. They require close; careful study to achieve full understanding.Beyond the American Pale is an authoritative and valuable treatise on the history of the Irish in the American West. Readers with an interest in that subject should find it well worth their time.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Particularly commended to college and public library collectionsBy Midwest Book ReviewBeyond the American Pale: The Irish in the West 1845-1910 is a thoughtful; in-depth historical discussion of the role that (overwhelmingly Catholic) Irish Americans played on the Western frontier. Even though Irish-American immigration during the era is best known for being concentrated in the East and Midwest; Catholic Irish-Americans played a critical role out west; particularly when it came to doing the jobs that Protestant settlers often found difficult or dangerous - Irish-Americans contributed to building railroads; digging hard rocks; manning the army posts; and other taxing toil. From surveying patterns of Irish migration to scrutinizing the lasting effects of Protestant cultural suspicion and prejudice against their Catholic neighbors; Beyond the American Pale paints a vivid chronicle and portrait. An excellent addition to American history shelves; Beyond the American Pale is particularly commended to college and public library collections.
