Mendoza he turned out to be a prudent, firm, and hard-working viceroy. He had the difficult task of consolidating royal authority, correcting the abuses of previous officials, completing the pacification, and converting the conquered peoples to Christianity, promoting the economic prosperity of the new colony to obtain maximum benefits for the royal treasury.
Mendoza He showed a very patriarchal concern for the indigenous people and did much to ensure better treatment and legal conditions for them. Any sign of rebellion, however, was ruthlessly suppressed. Nor did he adhere to the views of liberal defenders of indigenous rights such as Bartolomé de Las Casas, who persuaded the Crown to enact the New Laws of the Indies (1542), which exempted indigenous people from forced labor in the mines and on the lands. of his Spanish masters. Convinced that this would only lead to economic chaos and lead the Spanish to rebel, Mendoza suspended the New Laws, until they were rescinded.
While they were suppressing an indigenous uprising, the men of Mendoza They had the good fortune to find the rich silver deposits of Zacatecas, which would provide the Crown with one of its greatest sources of income in the New World. In addition to mining, the viceroy also encouraged the production of wheat, olives, silk, cloth, cattle, and other similar activities.
His great interest in exploration aroused the envy of Hernán Cortés, who had conquered Mexico and was rewarded with large properties there. Mendoza He sent ships to explore the Pacific and in 1542 sent an expedition north under Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in a vain attempt to discover the legendary Seven Cities of Cíbola, which he believed to be an empire more powerful than that of the Aztecs. .
Exhausted after 15 years of conscientiously performing his various functions, Mendoza he asked permission to end his days in Spain. However, this request was denied, being instead sent to Peru to consolidate royal authority after a civil war between the conquerors.
One of his first acts was to send his son to inspect and report on the conditions in which the indigenous people were working in the mines. Mendoza he fell ill and died before he could introduce the reforms that he believed necessary, but that needed to be implemented with great tact so as not to provoke further disturbances among the rebellious Spaniards.
He was remembered as a stern but humane and just administrator, truly concerned for the welfare of the people under his jurisdiction, but with his loyalty dedicated to the service of the Crown.