The correct answer to this open question is the following.
What Bethell meant when he wrote "If the Creoles had one eye on their masters, they kept the other on their servants" was the following.
She meant that the Creoles had to be very aware of social rebellions and pressures from the lower class in New Spain. Creoles had to maintain poor people at bay. These people tended to rebel and many times challenged Creoles and landlords. Creoles had to keep an eye on Mestizos, Indians, former slaves, and black people.
In 1987, historian Leslie Bethell wrote the document "The Independence of Latin America."
