New Spain

Viceroyalty, or province, of Spain's empire in the New World established 1536. It comprised present-day Mexico, Central America, the southern half of the USA, the Antilles, and the Philippine Islands. The main sources of wealth were silver mines at Potosí and Zacatecas, Mexico, and some huge cattle ranches. After a century of decline, New Spain grew steadily from 1770 until it fell to the independence movements 1810–21.