The social dissection in Mexico had a long story. The people in Mexico were divided on the basis of monetary power & control, status and authority. Mexican people were provided different social classes on the basis of these differences in the society. Some people were categorized in higher class, some in middle while some in lower.
The higher class possessed all the majority rights along with authorities while the lower one possessed zero or little powers and rights. In simple, money and power was the major deciding social factor in Mexico. The Mexico social hierarchy is described below in this article in the sliding ladder format with the uppermost rank of the hierarchy being described first and then proceeding ahead in a descending manner.
Peninsulares
This was the topmost social class in the Mexico social hierarchy. These were the people who were Spanish officials and ruled the Mexico. They were the richest and most powerful social class of Mexico. Simply this was the top ranked class of society in Mexico. They treated lower class people very brutally which lead to revolt among the lower classes.
White Mexicans
These were descendants of Spanish people who got settled in Mexico and had families there born in Mexico. This group also included some European descendents too. These people possessed the complete control over the lives of the Mestizos with darker skin and Amerindians as well. These were active at the administrative level.
Criollos
The next rank in the Mexico social hierarchy was of the Criollos. These were people of true Spanish plunge and were born in the America. They possessed little Mexico Political power but were equipped with great economic and wealth influence in Mexico. After the exclusion of the Spanish people – the Peninsulares from Mexico, Criollos became the ruling class of Mexico.
Mestizos
These were the people of ethno – racial group. They formulated the major part of the population, approximately up to 60 to 80% of the population. These were people of mixed European & Indian descendents. These people were equipped with little or negligible economic as well as political rights in Mexico social hierarchy.
Amerindians
These were considered among the lowest level of the Mexico social hierarchy. These were the native descents that made up the preponderance of the typical working class of the Mexico. These were provided lower power, rights and even very low wages. They formulated almost 10 to 30% of the entire Mexican population. An average estimation states that this class was incorporating approximate 62 different native ethno – linguistic groups in the Mexico.
Others
This was the lowest class of the Mexico social hierarchy. These formulated almost 3% of the entire Mexican population. This category incorporated Afro – Mexicans and Asian – Mexicans along with several mixed races. This is the minor most section in the hierarchy and constitutes the non native people.