<P> From an opposing point of view according to the "backwardness" mentioned above the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt traveled extensively throughout the Spanish Americas, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view between 1799 and 1804 . In his work Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain containing researches relative to the geography of Mexico, (1811) he says that the Indians of New Spain lived in better conditions than any Russian or German peasant in Europe . According to Humboldt despite the fact that Indian farmers were poor, under Spanish rule they were free and slavery was non-existent, their conditions were much better than any other peasant or farmer in the advanced Northern Europe . </P> <P> Humboldt also published a comparative analysis of bread and meat consumption in New Spain (México) compared to other cities in Europe such as Paris . Mexico City consumed 189 pounds of meat per person per year, in comparison to 163 pounds consumed by the inhabitants of Paris, the Mexicans also consumed almost the same amount of bread as any European city, with 363 kilograms of bread per person per year in comparison to the 377 kilograms consumed in Paris . Caracas consumed seven times more meat per person than in Paris . Von Humboldt also said that the average income in that period was four times the European income and also that the cities of New Spain were richer than many European cities . </P> <P> The Spanish American Enlightenment produced a huge body of information on Spain's overseas empire via scientific expeditions . The most famous traveler in Spanish America was Prussian scientist Alexander von Humboldt, whose travel writings and scientific observations remain important sources for the history of Spanish America, most especially his Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain (1811),; but other works as well . Humboldt's expedition was authorized by the crown, but was self - funded from his personal fortune . The Bourbon crown promoted state - funded scientific work prior to the famous Humboldt expedition . Eighteenth - century clerics contributed to the expansion of scientific knowledge . These include José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez, and José Celestino Mutis . </P> <P> The Spanish crown funded a number of important scientific expeditions: Botanical Expedition to the Viceroyalty of Peru (1777 - 78); Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada (1783 - 1816); the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain (1787 - 1803); which scholars are now examining afresh . Although the crown funded a number of Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest to bolster claims to territory, lengthy transatlantic and transpacific Malaspina - Bustamante Expedition was for scientific purposes . </P>

Spanish rule of its north american empire was largely