Royalism, Regionalism, and Rebellion in Colonial Peru, 1808-1815

Abstract

NNE of the most significant themes to emerge in the works of Peruvian historians in the last decade is the insistence that the late colonial period witnessed not an intensification of the conservatism and lethargy traditionally associated with the Viceroyalty of Peru, but a growing tide of revolutionary activity, supported by Peruvians of all races, in pursuit of the goal of national independence. It was no coincidence that this argument, which reached a peak of popularity in 1971, the year of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of independence in Lima, received enthusiastic endorsement from the revolutionary governmnent of General Juan Velasco Alvarado, in power since October 3, 1968. The new interpretation of social and political attitudes in post-1780 Peru neatly harmonized with the post-1968 insistence of the military upon the importance of nationalism, social justice, and racial harmony in the creation of a new Peru. The purpose of this article is to examine the political history of Peru between 1808 and 1815 in the light of the attention paid by a considerable number of scholars to the twin themes of revolutionary fervor and racial cooperation in the struggle for emancipation from Spain. The analysis will continue only up to the suppression of the 1814-1815 Cuzco rebellion, since it is generally recognized that the restoration of royalist authority in the old Inca capital marked the end of serious attempts to challenge Spanish power in Peru before the arrival of San Martin in 1820. The discussion will concentrate upon two questions. It will seek first to determine whether the strength of revolutionary activity in Peru in the years after the collapse of the Spanish monarchy in 1808 has been underestimated by previous commentators, as the revisionists insist. It will go on to consider whether the customary emphasis upon the responsibility of racial and social dishar-