Bourbon Reforms Research Articles

Critique of Stanley J. Stein's "Bureaucracy and Business in the Spanish Empire, 1759-1804: Failure of a Bourbon Reform in Mexico and Peru

Critique of Stanley J. Stein's "Bureaucracy and Business in the Spanish Empire, 1759-1804: Failure of a Bourbon Reform in Mexico and Peru

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

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

Venezuelan “Libranzas”, 1788-1807: From Economic Nostrum to Fiscal Imperative

It is generally accepted that the Bourbon Reforms were designed to reestablish Peninsular vigor through colonial renewal. What is often unappreciated is that this pristinely simple goal obscures an underlying tangle. The essential thrust was to recolonize the Indies, and to this end economic life was reordered so as to accentuate the New World's role as supplier of precious and exotic products and as consumer of Spanish manufactures. Equally important, however, was the fiscal dimension. The crown wished to generate enough revenues to be able to bear the increasing burden of colonial defense, but beyond this it also wanted the overseas dominions to aid the mother country in defraying European expenses judged essential to a great power.

Bureaucracy and Business in the Spanish Empire, 1759-1804: Failure of a Bourbon Beform in Mexico and Peru

S INCE publication of Herbert I. Priestley's pioneer study of Jose de Galvez, analyses of Spaniards' efforts in the eighteenth century to or modernize colonial administration, finance, trade policy, and military posture testify to the conceptual boldness of the reformers. Some, relying heavily on legislation and the literature of eulogy, have perceived the outcome in a rosy light. Others have noted the resourcefulness and power of resistance to reform, and concluded that failure crowned the reformers' work. Rarely, until recently, have the recurrent surges of Bourbon reform been examined at the grass-roots level. And yet it is precisely here that the origin and implications of change and of opposition to change can be most clearly discerned. This article, in correlating some old and new studies, printed and archival resources, presents one aspect of the Bourbon intendancy system in America, the reform of the local administrative unit known as corregimiento in Peru and alcaldia mayor in New Spain. It focuses particularly on the attempt to curtail collusion between bureaucrat and mer-

Bureaucracy and Business in the Spanish Empire, 1759-1804: Failure of a Bourbon Reform in Mexico and Peru

Bureaucracy and Business in the Spanish Empire, 1759-1804: Failure of a Bourbon Reform in Mexico and Peru

Pennisular Finance and Colonial Trade: the Dilemma of Charles IV's Spain

Charles IV's rule over the Spanish empire has often been decried as neglectful and reactionary. In a recent article, however, I argued that such descriptions were not accurate, maintaining that the early years of the reign pushed forward many institutional innovations and showed a marked concern for colonial affairs. This is not to say, of course, that the death of Charles III produced no change; but the critical facts were that economic policy-making continued to be based on the colonial compact and that the crown remained as committed to providing economic benefits to Spanish agriculture and manufacturing as to securing relief for the Peninsular treasury.1 Although 1788–9 may properly be characterized as a moment of truth for Spain, one which brought to the surface conflicting interests and ideologies, the Peninsula's transformation by the Bourbon Reforms was not so deep nor the government's circumstances so dire as to upset the political balance.

More on "The Culmination of the Bourbon Reforms": A Perspective from New Granada

More on "The Culmination of the Bourbon Reforms": A Perspective from New Granada

More on “The Culmination of the Bourbon Reforms”: A Perspective from New Granada

The Jacques Barbier-John Fisher exchange in the February 1978 issue of this journal, following upon Barbier's article of February 1977, further elucidates the difficult questions concerning continuity and discontinuity in colonial policy after the death of Jose de Galvez. The arguments they advanced and their points of difference, although pregnant with implications for the whole empire, were focused on Peru and to a lesser extent, in the case of Barbier, on New Spain. The experience of New Granada provides additional insights. Barbier argued that adjustments in colonial policy following the death of Galvez, although stressing a need to economize and representing a pragmatic retreat from unpopular political and fiscal initiatives, by no means signaled an end to Bourbon determination to pursue less controversial economic and commercial innovations and to harness the fruits of those innovations for the benefit of the imperial government. The fate of the Bourbon reforms in New Granada generally supports Barbier's thesis. The regime of Charles IV, acting through Antonio Valdes, elected to temper those policies which antagonized, or threatened to antagonize, the creole patriciate, but it did not bring the reforms to a halt. Certainly, there was no reluctance to exploit the opportunities afforded by a growing economy and expanding trade. The agent for policy adjustments was Viceroy Francisco Gil y Lemos, the same figure who, as described by Fisher, later caused the Peruvian mining reform so much difficulty. A confidant of Valdes, Gil served for seven months in New Granada during 1789 before transferring to Peru.' In New Granada, Gil acted simultaneously to defuse a difficult political situation and to correct a two-million peso deficit in the colonial treasury. Because the Comunero Rebellion of 1781 had

Review: The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands, 1764-1815: Instrument of Bourbon Reform (Spain in the West Series XII), by Janet Fireman

Book Review| July 01 1978 Review The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands, 1764-1815: Instrument of Bourbon Reform (Spain in the West Series XII)Janet Fireman A. P. Nasatir A. P. Nasatir Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Southern California Quarterly (1978) 60 (2): 222–225. https://doi.org/10.2307/41170779 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation A. P. Nasatir; Review. Southern California Quarterly 1 July 1978; 60 (2): 222–225. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/41170779 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentSouthern California Quarterly Search This content is only available via PDF. © Copyright 1978 The Historical Society of Southern California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instrument of Bourbon Reform, 1764 to 1815

The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instrument of Bourbon Reform, 1764 to 1815

The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands, 1764–1815: Instrument of Bourbon Reform

The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands, 1764–1815: Instrument of Bourbon Reform

Review: The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instrument of Bourbon Reform, 1764-1815, by Janet R. Fireman

Review: <i>The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instrument of Bourbon Reform, 1764-1815</i>, by Janet R. Fireman

The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands, 1764-1815: Instrument of Bourbon Reform.

The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands, 1764-1815: Instrument of Bourbon Reform.

Review: The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instruments of Bourbon Reform, 1764-1815, by Janet R. Fireman

Book Review| April 01 1978 Review: The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instruments of Bourbon Reform, 1764-1815, by Janet R. Fireman The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instruments of Bourbon Reform, 1764-1815Janet R. Fireman Theodore E. Treutlein Theodore E. Treutlein Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar California History (1978) 57 (1): 107. https://doi.org/10.2307/25157823 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Theodore E. Treutlein; Review: The Spanish Royal Corps of Engineers in the Western Borderlands: Instruments of Bourbon Reform, 1764-1815, by Janet R. Fireman. California History 1 April 1978; 57 (1): 107. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/25157823 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentCalifornia History Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1978 California Historical Society Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Culmination of the Bourbon Reforms, 1787-1792

N APOLEON'S invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the forced abdications of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII in 1808 threatened the unity of the Spanish empire. A danger so obvious prompted the provisional government to chart a new course in colonial affairs. Among the measures it considered was the reestablishment of the Ministry of the Indies, which had been dismantled after the death of the controversial Jose de G'alvez in 1787.1 Naturally, this projected revival reopened the quarrel between supporters and opponents of the great minister. But both sides could agree that the administrative changes occasioned by Galvez' demise were followed by a catastrophic decline in Spain's colonial fortunes. It seemed to many that a return to the old institutions was needed.2 The views then voiced by Jose Pablo Valiente and Francisco de Requena, two experienced members of the Council of the Indies, were faithful expressions of contemporary opinion. Valiente maintained that the colonies' powerful elites and disobedient officials had been tamed by the Ministry. Because of their devotion to the slogan king, one law, however, royal advisors were not prepared to allow the Indies to remain under a special regime, and so destroyed the colonial office. In succeeding years, Valiente complained, Madrid neglected American problems, colonial bureaucrats regained their independence, and the fruits of the Bourbon reforms were utterly lost.3 Requena, far from believing that the Galvez years had been a

Bourbon Reforms in Central America: 1750-1786

The Bourbon reforms of the late eighteenth century are important in understanding the fiscal, economic, and political structure both prior to and following the independence of Latin America. Although these measures have been generally analyzed in great detail, the decrees and compliance with them varied from region to region. This becomes quite obvious when one views Central America during the period. Considered a “backwater colony” by contemporary historians, the Reino de Guatemala still was strongly affected by fiscal reforms and subsequent political changes. An inordinately strong merchant class controlled not only commerce, but equally prices, trade regulations, and tax collection. The area was more a fief than a kingdom, with Spanish and Guatemalan merchants ruling over the Central American domain. The new Bourbon measures represented more than an attempt to gather additional fiscal resources, but to actually regain that sovereignty which earlier Spanish monarchs allowed to dwindle.

Units of One and The Visible Event: Reflections Based upon the Historiography of New Spain

On the occasion of a meeting of Mexican and United States historians a discussion was scheduled to deal with the historiography of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of New Spain. For the purposes of this paper, the period will be extended to the 1760s or about the time when the Bourbon reforms became effective. Although the following reflections were prompted by this topic and the illustrations are drawn from that period and place, the frame of reference is largely incidental to the discussion of a problem which is typical of all narrative history. New Spain serves here only as a convenient base to supply a structure to the inquiry and to give a convenient support of detail.

Church and State in Peru and Chile since 1840: A Study in Contrasts

BY the late I830's the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Peru and Chile were beginning to repudiate the regalistic doctrines that many had accepted at the inception of the independence period.' No longer resigned to the dominance of the state over the Church that had prevailed throughout colonial times and that had been particularly marked in the late eighteenth century during the era of Bourbon reforms, churchmen began to want a bipolar power structure in which their ecclesiastical institution would be at least as powerful in the temporal realm as the state. In Peru clerical leaders gradually became convinced that the declining importance of religious values in the conduct of state affairs was the primary cause of the country's abiding political chaos.2 Stability could only be achieved, they asserted, if the Church became a major factor in the political realm. And in Chile churchmen were able to attribute the stability that had been attained beginning in I830 tO the fact that the dominant political leaders had recognized religion's indispensable contribution to the establishment of authority and institutional stability and had therefore encouraged the Church to become an imposing temporal force. Both in Peru and Chile the ire of secular liberal spokesmen was aroused by the clergy's mounting objections to state control and accompanying insistence upon the right to wield political influence. Liberals, moreover, were