Justice by Insurance: The General Indian Court of Colonial Mexico and the Legal Aides of the Half-Real

Author:   Woodrow Borah
Publisher:   University of California Press
ISBN:  

9780520301122


Pages:   504
Publication Date:   20 April 2018
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
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Justice by Insurance: The General Indian Court of Colonial Mexico and the Legal Aides of the Half-Real


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Overview

"As Western Europe expanded its empires in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it came to dominate many peoples, especially in America, whose cultures and legal systems differed dramatically from its own. The resulting conflicts of both law and custom posed difficult problems: How could these conflicting laws and customs be adjusted within a common political administration? And, in particular, how could legal remedy be provided for groups of lesser political weight? Woodrow Borah vividly depicts one of the more unusual institutions that arose in response to these problems—the General Indian Court of New Spain. In what is today Mexico, the conquering Spaniards had at first attempted to preserve such Indian customs as were deemed not contrary to reason or Christianity. However, as interpreted by Spanish judges, so much turned out to be ""contrary"" to these standards that native customs were soon recast in largely Spanish norms. At the same time, the conquered Indians discovered the uses of the Spanish courts, unleashing a flood of litigation. The ensuing social and economic upheaval sparked great concern among Spanish administrators and jurists. The result was the establishment of the General Indian Court, a remarkably innovative special jurisdiction vested in the viceroy and corps of legal aides. Expenses were paid from a small contribution by each Indian family—in effect, legal insurance.  Woodrow Borah analyzes the kinds of cases that came before this court, the decisions it reached, and the policies underlying these decisions. He enriches this study by examining the separate but parallel structures in the Yucatan peninsula and on the seigneurial estate of Hernán Cortés, and by comparing the General Indian Court to the tribunals of Guadalajara, which had no similar special arrangements. The development of the General Indian Court and the relation of the legal aides to their Indian clients and to other lawyers form a complicated story of both service and exploitation and contribute an important chapter to the history of colonial Mexico. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983."

Full Product Details

Author:   Woodrow Borah
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.726kg
ISBN:  

9780520301122


ISBN 10:   0520301129
Pages:   504
Publication Date:   20 April 2018
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

List of Tables Preface Author's Notes Money Citations in Footnotes Abbreviations CHAPTER I Introduction CHAPTER II Castilian Antecedents and Experience to 1521 CHAPTER III The Experience of New Spain,1519-1585 CHAPTER IV Establishment of the General Indian Court, 1585-1607 CHAPTER V The Court: Jurisdiction and Nature of Business- A Sampler of Cases A. The Questions B. A Selection of Case Abstracts 1. Land and Property Rights 2. Mistreatment and Exactions by Non-Indians 3· Indian vs. Indian 4· The Proper Ordering of Indian Society 5. Criminal Cases 6. Supervision of the Indian Barrios and Parcialidades of the Capital C. Some Answers CHAPTER VI The Court: Functionaries, Procedures, and Policies CHAPTER VII The Indian Agents of the Half-Real, Their Rivals, and Their Clients CHAPTER VIII The Fund of the Half-Real CHAPTER IX The Special and Exempt Jurisdictions A. The Marquesado del Valle de Oaxaca B. Yucatan C. The Audiencia of Guadalajara CHAPTER X The Coming of the New Appendix: Papers Handled by the Solicitadores of the Juzgado General de Indios, 1784 Glossary Bibliography Manuscripts Publications Index Map: Provinces Within the Audiencia of Mexico, Including Yucatan, I786

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Author Information

Woodrow Borah was the Shepard Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.

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