la conquista la hicieron los indios y la independencia los españoles
{{italictitle}}
La conquista la hicieron los indios y la independencia los españoles ("The Indians did the conquest and the Spaniards the independence") is a popular idiom of the modern Spanish-speaking world, of discussed authorship, about the history of Hispanic America.{{sfnp|Gómez Maganda|1963|p=68}} Its meaning reflects how the Spanish conquest of America was largely carried out by Indian auxiliaries at the service of the Spanish Empire, rather than by Spaniards themselves. On the other hand, in the Spanish American wars of independence, the patriota or rebel side was mainly driven and composed by Criollo people, Spaniards born in America, often at the expense of the native or mestizo populations.{{sfnp|Fazio Fernández|2009}}{{sfnp|Pérez Vejo|2024}}
History
The idea expressed is not modern, and was acknowledged since the conquest's own times, in the 16th century. Jesuit and writer José de Acosta codified it in 1590 in his work Historia natural y moral de las Indias:{{cite web|last=Jiménez Guillén|first=Raúl|title=La conquista la hicieron los indios. La independencia los españoles|url=https://www.lajornadadeoriente.com.mx/tlaxcala/la-conquista-la-hicieron-los-indios-la-independencia-los-espanoles/|date=May 24, 2021|publisher=La Jornada de Oriente|accessdate=November 20, 2024|language=Spanish}}
{{quote|It was the Lord's providence that, when the first Spaniards arrived, they found help in the Indian themselves, because there were factions and great divisions... In New Spain it is not any less known that the help of the province of Tlaxcala, by the perpetual enmity they had with the Mexicans, gave the Marquis Don Hernán Cortés and his people victory and lordship over México, and without them it would have been impossible to prevail, not even settle in the land.}}
In 1963, Cristóbal L. Mendoza, grandson of the first Venezuelan president Cristóbal Mendoza, mentions the quote «la conquista la hicieron los indios y la independencia los españoles» as belonging to Mexican writer Carlos Pereyra (1871–1942).{{sfnp|Mendoza Aguerrevere|1963}} For historians José Luis Martínez and Jaime Montell, it is a quote of Mexican historian Arturo Arnaiz y Freg (1915–1980).{{sfnp|Montell García|2001|p=915}} Esteban Mira Caballos gives it to Mexican historian José Vasconcelos (1882–1959), although he believes its popularization came from Pereyra.{{cite web|last=Martín Alarcón|first=Julio|title=Esteban Mira: "América la conquistaron los indígenas y la independizaron los españoles"|url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2023-06-19/esteban-mira-america-la-conquistaron-los-indigenas-y-la-independizaron-los-espanoles_3666208/|date=June 19, 2023|publisher=El Confidencial|accessdate=November 20, 2024|language=Spanish}} Marcelo Gullo also attributes it to Vasconcelos.{{cite web|last=Murillo|first=Eusebio|title=Hispanidad y leyenda negra (II)|url=https://www.saliralaire.es/opinion/eusebio-murillo/hispanidad-leyenda-negra/20240907090000009405.html|date=September 29, 2024|publisher=Salir al Aire|accessdate=November 20, 2024|language=Spanish}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last=Fazio Fernández|first=Mariano|title=La América ingenua|date=2009|publisher=Rialp|isbn=9788432139840}}
- {{cite book|last=Montell García|first=Jaime|title=La conquista de México-Tenochtitlán|date=2001|publisher=Porrúa|isbn=9789707011489}}
- {{cite book|last=Gómez Maganda|first=Alejandro|authorlink=Alejandro Gómez Maganda|title=¡Como dice el dicho! Refranes y dichos mexicanos, tomo 2|date=1963|publisher=ECO}}
- {{cite book|last=Mendoza Aguerrevere|first=Cristóbal Lorenzo|title=Temas de historia americana ...: Informes, discursos, prólogos|date=1963|publisher=Universidad de Michigan}}
- {{cite book|last=Pérez Vejo|first=Tomás|title=México, la nación doliente. Imágenes profanas para una historia sagrada|date=2024|publisher=Universidad de Zaragoza|isbn=9788413408910}}
Category:Spanish American wars of independence
Category:Spanish colonization of the Americas