The viceroyalty of New Spain was never a completely subdued territory. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, numerous native peoples opposed the political, economic and religious reorganization imposed by the Catholic monarchy. Their strategies were diverse: secret conspiracies, armed uprisings, protests against local authorities or rebellions motivated by the defense of their beliefs.
These resistances were not isolated events, but part of a constant pattern of nonconformity, where hunger, mining exploitation, abuses by officials and religious conflicts were intertwined with the will to keep indigenous identities alive.
Early conspiracies and the Mixton War
In 1531, barely consolidated the viceregal power, a conspiracy was discovered that intended to revolt a large part of the subjugated peoples, taking advantage of the tensions between Cortés and the Royal Audience of Mexico. Although it was harshly put down, it showed that the indigenous resistance was capable of organizing in secret.
A decade later, the Mixtón War (1541) broke out in Nueva Galicia (present-day state of Jalisco), considered one of the most extensive movements of the 16th century. Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza had to intervene personally to quell the uprising, which revealed the magnitude of indigenous nonconformity.
Exploitation and uprisings in the seventeenth century
Forced labor in mines and encomiendas generated recurrent rebellions. Between 1600 and 1601, the indigenous people of Topia rose up against exploitation, and only the mediation of Bishop Alonso de la Mota managed to pacify the region.
In 1660, in Tehuantepec, the population rose up against the abuses of the mayor, even electing their own authorities. This episode showed that, beyond armed resistance, the towns also demanded justice and political autonomy.
Resistance with religious roots
Evangelization did not completely eliminate the ancient beliefs either. In 1550, Zapotecs revolted believing that a new Quetzalcoatl would lead them to victory. In 1616, the Tepehuanes rose up under the leadership of a sorcerer who claimed to be a deity. And in 1684, the Tabarís rejected forced baptism, remaining in a state of struggle for six years.
At the same time, some villages actively defended the friars they considered their allies. Between 1538 and 1569, communities such as Cuautitlán, Cholula and Teotihuacán protested against the replacement of Franciscans by Dominicans or Augustinians, even confronting the new preachers with violence.
The north in permanent resistance
On the northern frontiers, peoples such as the Chichimecas, Tarahumaras and Conchos maintained an almost constant warlike attitude against the viceroyalty’s advance. The peace treaty of 1591 with the Chichimecas temporarily reduced the attacks, but in the 17th century new rebellions kept the resistance alive.
The most significant case was the rebellion of New Mexico in 1680, which succeeded in expelling the Castilians from the region for more than a decade. This uprising, organized by different peoples, forced the viceroyalty to recognize the indigenous capacity to articulate far-reaching movements.
Urban crises and popular discontent
Resistance was not always armed. Hunger also provoked riots involving indigenous people in the cities. The most dramatic case occurred in Mexico City in 1692, when corn shortages led to a riot that set fire to the viceregal palace and the town hall. Although the authorities attributed it to momentary disturbances, it reflected a deep accumulated social unrest.
Conclusion: a viceroyalty in dispute
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries show that the viceroyalty of New Spain was not a homogeneous or peaceful space. Native peoples, from the center to the northern borders, defended their territories, religions and forms of organization against a power that sought to transform them.
These conspiracies, rebellions and uprisings did not succeed in definitively expelling the Catholic monarchy, but they did force the viceroyalty to recognize that its dominion depended as much on military force as on political and religious negotiation.
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