Already in other sections (Letters 9 and 12) we have seen how, through necessity and inclination, governors tended to treat their offices and jurisdictions as a private, familial domain. However upright a governor was or meant to be, if he was to be effective he must have support at home in Spain, faithful followers in the Indies, and economic sinews beyond meager salaries. Thus certain procedures were almost universal for Spanish American viceroys and governors. Owing their initial appointment and continued term in office to court figures high in the king's favor or on the Council of the Indies, they showed gratitude and curried favor by sending letters and gifts, giving plums of patronage to the courtiers’ relatives, etc. Any governor setting out for America would have to go into debt to outfit himself for the trip; his prospective position, however, gave him abundant credit, which he would generally use not only for his immediate needs, but also for investment, direct or indirect, in goods destined to be sold in his district. He took with him an entourage of relatives and compatriots that made up an embryo government, including people who could be trusted to perform tasks for him at all levels, as executives, secretaries, constables and henchmen; in the district of his authority he would find yet other compatriots, and he would use them too, trading favors for the extra loyalty assured by the regional tie. Success as governor might lead to yet higher posts in Spain, noble titles and distinctions, the founding or augmentation of a family entail, splendid marriages for the governor's children, and related advantages. Such possibilities were of course in the governor's mind from the beginning, and he steered things accordingly.

These then were the core mechanisms of government, its anatomy and system of reward, the nature of which shaped governmental action decisively. Where the governor had strong backers at court, a large regional following, and wealth and patronage at his command, he could assert himself mightily.