Social Structure of the Túpac Amaru Army in Cuzco, 1780-81*

Abstract

R ECENT research on the reformed militias and regular forces in several areas of Spanish America during the latter half of the eighteenth century demonstrates, among other things, that military reorganization was an important component of Bourbon reformism. While the most frequently noticed conclusion of these works on the colonial military is the doubt they collectively cast on the effectiveness of military reform in New Spain, New Granada, and Peru, and the questions they raise about the colonial origins of Latin American militarism, other important information emerges about the sociopolitical role of these armies. Further understanding of the ways in which colonial elites used the military institution to improve their personal situation is also provided. A subject pioneered by Lyle McAlister some years ago is thereby elaborated upon and extended.' Vivid portraits of the popular classes who were conscripted into service also emerge, providing quite a different perspective of the presumed desirability of a military career during these times. All the recent studies also approach the subject of military reform from a regional point of view, examining the struggles taking place among civil, military, and clerical officials in, say, Mexico City and Veracruz, Quito and Cartagena, or Lima and Cuzco, and the different relationships that developed among these groups in each area. Finally, these works inform us about the state of late colonial society and make it clear that the later colony, particularly in the