Casta is an Iberian word (existing in Spanish, Portuguese and other Iberian languages since the Middle Ages), meaning ' lineage '. It was first documented in Spanish in 1417 and is linked to the Proto-Indo-European ger. The Portuguese casta gave rise to the English word caste during the early modern period. [1][2]

Dec 27, 2023 · In colonial Mexico, the Casta system was a rigid socio-racial classification imposed by Spanish colonial rule, designed to maintain a hierarchy based on ancestry.

Jun 15, 2013 · An 18th century socio-racial classification system used in the Spanish American colonies. The European conquest of Latin America beginning in the late 15th century, was initially executed by male soldiers and sailors from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).

The casta system made a legal distinction between bodies racially classified as bodies legally categorized to be pardos and morenos were ‘free’ people of color, while bodies categorized negros and mulattos were designated as enslaved.

Nov 21, 2023 · Explore an overview of the Spanish casta system. Discover the purpose of the caste system and why it eventually declined. Learn more about the tiers that stratified Spain for centuries.

May 4, 2020 · The Casta System was created in colonial times to explain mixed race families to those back in Spain but this racial hierarchy remained in place long after the Spanish had left Latin America.

Sistema de Castas (or Society of Castes) was a porous racial classification system in colonial New Spain (present-day Mexico). It was a “hierarchal ordering of racial groups according to their proportion of Spanish blood.”

Mar 17, 2025 · A parallel system of categorization based on the degree of acculturation to Hispanic culture, which distinguished between gente de razón (Hispanics) and gente sin razón (non-acculturated natives), concurrently existed and worked together with the idea of casta.

The Spanish Casta System, a complex social hierarchy that emerged during the colonial period in Mexico, played a pivotal role in shaping the cultural and societal landscape of the region.

The casta system created a rigid framework that defined social interactions among various racial groups by establishing clear hierarchies based on ancestry. Individuals classified as criollos held more privilege compared to mestizos and mulattos, leading to segregation in social settings.