When the Portuguese and the Spaniards built empires in Latin America, they tried to imitate the culture and the social influence from their mother countries. During this time, the social structure in Latin America consisted of the peninsulares, creoles, mestizos, and the mulattoes. The peninsulares were at the top of the social pyramid and consisted of Spanish and Portuguese officials that were born in Europe and held all of the important government positions. The creoles were below the peninsulares and controlled the land and business of Colonial Latin America. Because the peninsulares regarded the creoles as second-class citizens, the creoles strongly disliked the higher class.
There were many multiracial groups beneath the peninsulares and creoles. The Native Americans that were brought in for labor were permitted by the Spanish to marry Europeans. Their offsprings were known as the mestizos. The Africans that were brought in for labor as well were granted permission to marry Europeans and the offsprings of these two groups were known as the mulattoes. This produced a very distinct multiracial society. These multiethnic groups became inferior to the two highest social classes but as time passed, the mestizos grew in status because of their increased populations. While people of this group became artisans and merchants in the cities, others were farmers or ranchers. Because of this, the mestizos were socially superior to the other multiethnic groups. The group at the bottom of the social pyramid were imported slaves and Native Americans that have been conquered.