I spent a pretty good chunk of the day today researching a little more into early New Mexico history, and I certainly learned some interesting, but challenging, nuggets about Spain in the New World.

It is well known that the main reason for Spain’s presence in the Americas was their quest to find precious metals and resources. The colonists were looking for wealth to bring back to their country and king.

Evidently, there was a fair amount of entitlement in the minds of many officers of the Spanish army in the New World, and they had little conscience about exploiting those beneath them for personal gain. This was particularly present in those who served in the northern frontier, near the current U.S.-Mexican border, in the mid-to-late 1700’s.

Viewing their situation as unpleasant and their station as remote, commanding officers were also usually provisioners for their unit, responsible for supplying their men with food and gear. Many of these officer had little problem providing their men with necessities at marked up prices as a way to increase their wealth while out in the field. Some officers even had deals with suppliers in central Mexico to provide them with less quality items which they then turned around and sold to their soldiers at excessive prices.

But the odd leadership expectations didn’t stop there. In some cases, when officers ran their men into debt because of their supply schemes, they turned around and used those men as laborers on personal farms and fields- justifying the employment as a means of payback for the debts they ended up owing their provisioner.

At one point, even Treasury officers got in on the action and began charging fees for doing their job and paying soldiers their wages.

And these were abuses that were practiced within the Spanish army in the New World.