Search

Documents pertinent to the status of Indigenous people of New Spain. Several letters detail the Spanish discovery of California, the reasons behind Spanish exploration, indigenous Californians, the establishment of the California mission system, and the reduction in population of the region’s indigenous people. Some letters also detail the Spanish discovery and settlement in Nayarit and New Mexico. Other topics include the Chichimecas, Indigenous converts to Christianity, mines in Sinaloa, and the formation of Nuevo Santander.

Documents on a wide variety of topics. Some include the construction of the Palace of Guadalajara, a continuation of the letter about freedom granted to Indigenous slaves from French ships (in two separate entries), the privileges and status of the House of Moctezuma, the establishment of hospitals across New Spain, religious missions, laws that favor indigenous people, and life in and around the presidios.

The majority of the documents copied in this volume date from 1702 to 1703 and pertain to the state of trade within New Spain and the Spanish Empire. Some respect trade between Mexico and the Philippines, and trade with China. Other letters pertain to the royal audiences in Guadalajara, Guatemala, and the Philippines, as well as presidios in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Administrative and religious documents, and updates on more remote regions of New Spain, such as Florida. Some of the documents are from the Duque de Alburquerque about the administration within the province of New Mexico.

The majority of the letters found in this volume pertain to reforms in the governance of New Spain, and foreign policy undertakings of the Spanish Empire. Present is a copy of the 1725 treaty of navigation and commerce between the Spanish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.

Copies of letters with updates on the religious, secular, and regal matters affecting New Spain and also arising within the viceroyalty. These include mentions of the death of an archbishop in Michoacán, the birth of the Prince of Asturias’ son (Infante D. Carlos Clemente), the California mission system, and the Real Pontificia Universidad.

Copies of letters pertinent to current events in New Spain. Some of these are about a group of Chinese people traveling from Spain to Acapulco [New Spain] to wait for the next ship to travel to the Philippines to return to China; a letter from the Governor of California on "spiritual conquest" of the province and its division between the Franciscians and Dominicans, and events with the Casa de Moneda in Mexico City.

Many of the letters in this volume are updates on the outlying regions of New Spain, mainly Coahuila, New Biscay, Texas, and the Californias. In this collection, there is also a public announcement from December 18, 1772 from the Royal Lottery of Mexico for a lottery to be drawn the next day. There is also a chart listing the revenues generated from the lottery and the amounts of the prizes won.

Many of the letters in this volume related to trade and taxes collected throughout the colony of New Spain, particularly trade coming out of the Californias and the Philippines. This volume also contains detailed updates on military operations against the Indigenous peoples of the regions, and raids on Spanish military outposts in the regions as well. These areas include New Biscay, New Mexico, Texas, and Sonora.