February 4 2015 The Decline of Imperial Spain and the Bourbon Reforms o Imperial Spain o Charles III the Bourbon King Spanish decline imperial over commitment Imperial Spain 17th century social hierarchy o Royal monarchy o Noble Grandes Titulos Caballeros Hidalgos Grandes Titulos Wealthy Had titles like duke About 10 of the noble class o it went into decline because it was so huge and didn t have enough resources Not titled Had land and estates Might be given special honors by the monarchy o Maybe gifts from the royal court Basically living off the land o Commoners working their lands to try and pave their existence Caballeros Hidalgos Will hold positions in municipal government Dominated local administration Control local taxes and spending The bulk of the noble class Many of this level are actually poor and have no land The status was very important to them They did not have to pay taxes o Like Don Quixote Commoners middle class peasants Middle class o Might hold government employment in the lower ranks o Might be members of the holy orders or military Peasants o Land workers agriculturalists o Received forced drafts as soldiers into the army This idea translated to the New World o In the New World under Isabella and Ferdinand they had Peninsulares Criollos Had to be born in Spain and be pure blood Spanish Pure Spanish descent but born in the New World Castas mestizos Mixed race Demographic stagnation Emigration o Disease o Population in Spain went from 8 5 million to 7 million in a century Including typhus smallpox and the Bubonic Plague Unhygienic crowded places to live Widespread malnutrition Doctors Several outbreaks of the Plague A waxed overcoat Glass eye openings Cone shaped nose o Would hold substances like lavender flowers cloves and straw Killed germs Protected the doctor from the bad air Provided a filter Cane o Would not touch victims directly o Keep him free from actually touching them o Wars Economic decline Reduced the number of soldiers 184 years of peace for 1 101 years of living o Increase of Church and noble land acquisitions o Increased social disruption and vagrancy o Deforestation o Overabundance of clerics o Status orientation of society No new business being created o Charity orientated religious attitudes No introduction of any kind of reform because of charity taking care of people Over regulation of some aspects causing inflation and deflation o Government policy Weak leadership o Charles II Took the throne at age 4 In the royal level the royal family would be expected to marry royal family Could not marry commoners Sometimes uncles would marry nieces and cousins would marry cousins Result was Charles II Charles II was the last of the Spanish Habsburg Dynasty He had no children According to contemporary writings Charles II Couldn t talk until he was 4 Couldn t walk until he was 8 Suffered continually with stomach disorders Inherited an extreme under bite o Couldn t chew properly o Speech was fairly intelligible Very poor health Died four days before his 39th birthday Nickname was El Hechizado The Hexed o Charles III the Bourbon King Half sister s grandson Will reign from 1759 1788 The French and Indian War The Seven Years War o The British wanted the French out of North America The Spanish are not so much of a threat because they are in decline o The British won o Concluded with the Treaty of Paris in 1763 o The British effectively removed the French from territorial holdings in the New World o The French will lose Canada to England o The Spanish will lose Florida to England o The French will lose Louisiana to Spain Charles III the Bourbon King o Enlightened absolute monarch Absolutism Enlightened He still holds absolute authority He is the ultimate authority Logic natural laws reason o During the 18th century a movement spread across Europe called the Enlightenment It was an intellectual scientific movement that created confidence in the human mind It will challenge traditional religious authority It upholds logic natural laws and reason o Bourbon reforms in Mexico Jose de Galvez 1765 Commissioned to inspect the economy of New Spain and report back to the king so that he can put into place any reforms Does his inspection and reports back o Said that the economy is sluggish because merchants are holding monopolies in the New World Charles III responds and issues a royal decree that allows merchants in the New World to not only trade back with Spain but they can also trade with all New World courts other Spanish colonies o Also lowered taxes in the New World o Introduced custom duties to be enforced by custom officials o Dye sugar and tobacco were traded o Colonial administration Provincias Internas Internal Provinces of New Spain Now you can get sent directly to Spain without having to go through Mexico There is appointment of 12 Intendents to be the leaders of the new provinces o Very lucrative appointments o Peninsulares were appointed to the 12 new posts o Creates resentment from the people o The Marques de Rubi inspection of New Spain s northern frontiers 1766 Particularly the presidios 7 000 mile inspection tour Looks at the Spanish imperial posts in Texas Reports back recommends Consolidation of the frontier posts by returning all personnel to San Antonio o Leave two presidios manned at San Antonio and La Bahia o Move Los Adaes to San Antonio to strengthen the mission Extermination o Complete extermination of all the Apaches o Feels this will also provide protection of San Antonio o The Church denounced this recommendation and the Apaches were not exterminated Provided short term strengthening of the Spanish hold in the New World temporary fix not a permanent solution Cannot really populate Texas nor protect it Held about 3 000 people in it Summary o Fragility of Spanish presence in Texas
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