USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The term peninsulares is defined as Spaniards living in the Spanish colonies who were born in Spain. Their status as born in Spain gave them the highest social status in the colonies and they occupied the most important positions of power in the caste, or casta system, in the colonies.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the context of the Spanish Empire, a peninsular (Spanish pronunciation: [peninsuˈlaɾ], pl. peninsulares) was a Spaniard born in Spain residing in the New World, Spanish East Indies, or Spanish Guinea.

Detailed explanation-3: -Distinctions were made between criollos, those born in the Americas, and peninsulares, those born in Spain.

Detailed explanation-4: -In the Latin American colonies, individuals that were born in Spain and then moved to the Americas were in the highest class. They were called peninsulares because they were born on the Spanish peninsula. These powerful elite only made up two percent of the population.

Detailed explanation-5: -peninsular, Spanish Peninsular, plural Peninsulares, also called Gachupín, or Chapetón, any of the colonial residents of Latin America from the 16th through the early 19th centuries who had been born in Spain. The name refers to the Iberian Peninsula.