User:Aaaleigh/sandbox

 Assignment 09/03: Article on Peninsulars 

In the context of the Spanish colonial caste system, a peninsular ( Spanish pronunciation: [peninsuˈlaɾ], pl. peninsulares) was a Spanish-bornSpaniard residing in the New World or the Spanish East Indies. The word "peninsulars" makes reference to Peninsular Spain and was originally used in contrast to the "islanders" (isleños), viz. the native Canary Islanders (also known as guanches).

In the Portuguese Colonial Brazil, white people born in the Iberian Peninsula were known as reinóis, while whites born in Brazil with both parents being reinóis were known as mazombos.

Higher offices in the Americas and Philippines were held by peninsulares. Apart from the distinction of peninsulares from criollos, the castas system distinguished also mestizos (of mixed Spanish and Amerindian ancestry in the Americas, and mixed Spanish and Chinese or native Filipino in the Philippines), mulatos (of mixed Spanish and black ancestry), indios, zambos (mixed Amerindian and black ancestry) and finally negros. In some places and times, such as during the wars of independence, peninsulares were called deprecatively godos (meaning Goths, referring to the "Visigoths", who had ruled Spain) or, in Mexico, gachupines or gauchos.[citation needed]

Colonial officials at the highest levels arrived from Spain to fulfill their duty to govern Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines. Often, the peninsulares possessed large quantities of land. They defended Cádiz's monopoly on trade, upsetting the criollos, who turned to contraband with British and French colonies, especially in areas away from the main ports of call for the Flota de Indias. They worked to preserve Spanish power and sometimes acted as agents of patrol.

In a colonial social hierarchy, the peninsulares were nominally at the top, followed by criollos, who developed a fully entrenched powerful local aristocracy in the 17th and the 18th centuries. During the French Revolution, the peninsulares were generally conservative.

How did you go about searching?

The term "peninsular" is briefly mentioned in the second chapter of the textbook in the section describing colonial society in Latin America. After re-reading the section, I searched Wikipedia to see if there was a stand alone article about the term.

What keywords are associated with the article?

Since this an article about a type of person represented in the Spanish colonial society, other keywords in the article refer back to the colonial society. For example, "islenos" and "guanches." Since many similarities can be made between the Spanish and Portuguese colonial society, keywords in the article also refer to parallel terms in the Portuguese colonial society, for example "mazombos."

Describe the quality of the coverage of your selected subject?

The article is quite brief, but provides general and clear information on the role of the peninsular in Spanish society and a peninsular's relationship to other individuals within the society. However the article can be improved upon as it does not yet have a quality rating.