According to Lombardy (2007) in Latin America society was, in general, a three-tiered structure of castes, subdivided into classes. At the top were the Europeans; in the middle were the free nonwhites; and at the bottom were slaves and Indians. Each caste had its own set of legal rights and social privileges, which varied from place to place. In the sugar-producing areas and other plantation-based economic units of Brazil, the Caribbean, and the lowlands of Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, the rights of slaves as well as free persons of color tended ...