and for whom advantages in the body politic were scant. Legally
the Indian under Spanish rule stood on a footing of equality with
his white fellows, and many a gifted native came to be reckoned a
force in the community, though his social position remained a
subordinate one. Most of the negroes were slaves and were more
kindly treated by the Spaniards than by the Portuguese.

Though divided among themselves, the Europeans were everywhere
politically dominant. The Spaniard was always an individualist.
Besides, he often brought from the Old World petty provincial
traditions which were intensified in the New. The inhabitants of
towns, many of which had been founded quite independently of one
another, knew little about their remote neighbors and often were
quite willing to convert their ignorance into prejudice: The
dweller in the uplands and the resident on the coast were wont to
view each other with disfavor. The one was thought heavy and
stupid, the other frivolous and lazy. Native Spaniards regarded
the Creoles, or American born, as persons who had degenerated
more or less by their contact with the aborigines and the
wilderness. For their part, the Creoles looked upon the Spaniards
as upstarts and intruders, whose sole claim to consideration lay
in the privileges dispensed them by the home government. In
testimony of this attitude they coined for their oversea kindred
numerous nicknames which were more expressive than complimentary.
While the Creoles held most of the wealth and of the lower
offices, the Spaniards enjoyed the perquisites and emoluments of
the higher posts.

Though objects of disdain to both these masters, the Indians
generally preferred the Spaniard to the Creole. The Spaniard