USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The term mestizo means mixed in Spanish, and is generally used throughout Latin America to describe people of mixed ancestry with a white European and an indigenous background.

Detailed explanation-2: -Distinctions were made between criollos, those born in the Americas, and peninsulares, those born in Spain. Criollos were considered inferior to those who came from the mother country. Those persons of mixed race-Indian and Spaniard-known as mestizos, were one of the most rapidly growing groups in frontier society.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Spanish Empire adopted a Casta System to classify all of the Americas’ various races and racial combinations, as well as where Spaniards were born. Similar to medieval Spain’s concept of limpieza de sangre, or blood purity, the Casta System linked one’s race with his or her behavior, personality, and social status.

Detailed explanation-4: -Mestizo is a term historically used in Spain and Hispanic America, including Hispaniola. It originally referred to a person of combined European and Indigenous American descent, regardless of where the person was born. The term was an ethnic/racial category for mixed-race castas that evolved during the Spanish Empire.