What it was
Built on the conquered Aztec lands, New Spain was ruled by a viceroy as the king’s representative. Mexico City, raised on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, was its capital and one of the great cities of the Spanish world.
Role
The viceroyalty organized mining, agriculture, trade, and the conversion and labor of Indigenous peoples. Its silver and the Manila galleon trade linking Acapulco and Asia made it a linchpin of the global Spanish economy.
Fate
New Spain ended with Mexican independence in 1821, its core becoming the Mexican nation. Its borders, institutions, language, and church shaped much of modern Mexico and Central America.