Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/761

Rh large plantations and rich mines. Between them and the castes lay an immense gulf. To be of the former was to be of the noble race; to be of the latter was to be branded; and eager became the strife among the progeny of caste admixtures to enroll themselves as whites, the courts being frequently petitioned so to declare them. Such strife naturally led to many a severe discrimination against alliances that might imperil the color line, and the regard for this was significantly illustrated by the question which frequently could be heard during altercations; "Do you consider yourself whiter than I?"

Another gulf, less wide yet more dangerous to the nation, was formed by the government in granting the higher offices in state, army, and church almost exclusively to Spaniards born in Spain, a policy due partly to long established system, partly to the better opportunity of claimants near the throne for obtaining a hearing, but chiefly to jealousy of the more distant subjects whose occasional complaints supported by wealth and growing numbers often savored of disloyalty, and whose very right to the country with its offices, acquired by their efforts as conquerors and colonists, made them appear dangerous.

The natural result of such injustice was a bitterness of feeling which manifested itself as early as the first decade of the conquest, when Cortés soldiers saw the best offices and the choicest grants bestowed on men who had done nothing toward acquiring the rich domains, and who showed themselves unworthy and