Tejano History
Peninsular
Tejanos |
PENINSULAR. In New Spain a peninsular was a resident of the New World born on the Iberian peninsula. A peninsular was favored over an American-born Spaniard (criolloqv) in administrative, military, and ecclesiastical appointments because the Iberians were more closely tied to the Spanish court. This occupational advantage allowed peninsulares to assume a higher position on the social scale, even though criollos were equal to them under the laws of the kingdom of Castile. As a result of competition between the two groups, criollos and mestizos began to refer to peninsulares as gachupines (spurred ones) and chapetones (tenderfeet), both terms of derision.
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Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online
Courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.
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