Bourbon reconquest of Spanish America, the long 18th century

  • Spain: from predator to prey

    • War of Spanish Succession,
    • 10 European wars: 5 against Britain, 4 against France
  • Secret Report on the Americas, Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa (1748)

  • Bourbon reforms or reconquest (see chronology)

  • Resistance, revolt and rebellion, case of Peru

    • Jose Santos Atahualpa, 1742-50s, eastern Peru
    • Túpac Amaru uprising, central highlands, 1780-83
    • Tupac Katari, aymara-based, upper peru, 1781
  • Alienation of Americanos

Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, Noticias secretas de las Americas (4 vols, 1748)

  • “the most damaging denigration of Spain's rule in the New World.” (first English trans. 1825)

  • Thorough diagnosis of colonial ills

    • defenses, political administration, commerce, justice, and plight of the Indians
  • Administration: “In these parts the friendship of a minister is worth more than any royal proclamation.”

  • Justice: “Whoever pays the most, gets the most justice.”

  • Indians: “they are genuine slaves”

Bourbon reconquest of Spanish America, the long 18th century

  • Spain: from predator to prey

    • War of Spanish Succession,
    • 10 European wars: 5 against Britain, 4 against France
  • Secret Report on the Americas, Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa (1748)

  • Bourbon reforms or reconquest (see chronology)

  • Resistance, revolt and rebellion

    • The long shadow of Túpac Amaru (Peru, 1780-83)
    • and the great fear of Haiti (1791-)
  • Alienation of Americanos

Bourbon reforms or reconquest?

  • Substantial economic growth in 18th century fueled by mining, tropical agriculture (cacao, cochineal, sugar), regional trade, and reforms

  • Administrative reforms

    • New Viceroyalties: Nueva Granada, Rio de la Plata
    • Expulsion of Jesuits (1767)
    • Colonial militias (1768)
    • Formation of Intendancies (1784, 6)
  • Commercial reforms

    • Free trade decrees, 1764, 1778
    • Abolition of corregidor (1782), reparto de comercio (1784)
  • Imperial reconquest

Registered Silver Production, 1580-1800: Mexico’s 18th c. boom outstripped Peru’s 16th c. (Burkholder and Johnson, p. 139)

  • Peru, 18th c. recovery, 1720+

  • Mexico, 18th c. boom, 1720+

  • Why 18th c boom?

    • New strikes, more areas
    • Cheaper mercury, reduced taxes
    • More investment

    Peru

    Mexico

    Peru

    Mexico

Bourbon reforms or reconquest?

  • Imperial reconquest

    • Appointments based on merit, connections, instead of purchase, 1750s-
    • Consolidation of Vales Reales
  • Reformation of colonial rule, or deformation?

    • Viceroy Revillagigedo, 1794: “It should not be forgotten that this is a colony which must depend on its mother country, Spain, and must yield her some benefit because of the protection it receives from her; and thus great skill is needed to cement th is dependence and to make the interest mutual and reciprocal; for dependence would cease once European manufactures and products were not needed here.”

Resistance, revolt and rebellion. 3 cases in Peru

  • Resistance and revolts were not unusual

  • In 18th century regional-wide rebellions emerged

  • 1. Juan Santos Atahualpa, 1742-1750s, eastern

      a descendant of the Inca Atahualpa came to reclaim his ancestral kingdom

      1750: “Many of those referred to [Indians, mestizos and destitute whites] anxiously await the invasions of the rebel Atahualpa, and if he (god forbid) marched on Lima with two hundred arrow-wielding Indians, one might fear...a general insurrectio n of the Indians…”
      Spanish fortified eastern frontier to contain rebellion

Rebellions in Upper Peru, 1742-1783 1. J.S. Atahualpa 2. Túpac Amaru 3. Túpac Katari

The long shadow of Túpac Amaru (Peru, 1780-83)

  • 2. Tupac Amaru (Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui)

    • after failure of appeals to Viceroy and Audiencia for removal of corregidor
    • disinherited noble reclaiming rightful sovereignty over Tawantinsuyu
    • neo-Inca messianic movement near Cuzco (opposed by Aymara speakers in Bolivia)
    • violence alienated creoles; quechua speakers divided
    • Captured, drawn, and quartered: May 18, 1781.
  • 3. Túpac Katari (aymara speakers, La Paz and south); captured and quartered Nov. 14, 1781.

  • 3 years of war: 100,000 lives lost. Legacy of fear/hope of native rebellion

End

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