Late Colonial Developments

1. Late Colonial Developments Bourbon Reforms Series of changes implemented by Bourbon monarchs throughout the 18th century in Spain and its empire following several centuries of decline under the Hapsburg dynasty. The most aggressive of these reforms are most commonly associated with the monarch Charles III (1759-1788). Reforms were intended to revitalize Spain, recentralize political authority and stimulate the economy of the empire. Reforms were instituted in political, economic, military, and religious institutions. Treaty of Madrid (1750) Treaty reached between Spain and Portugal dealing with the geographic boundary between Portuguese and Spanish colonies in South American and the fate of slave plantations after the shift of the boundary. The treaty effectively moved Portuguese landholdings west to the Uruguay River into lands originally held by the Spanish. Guarani War (1756) Resistance war that resulted from Guarani indigenous settlers on Jesuit missions in South America refusing resettlement following the implementation of the Treaty of Madrid between Spain and Portugal.

2. Reforms and Other Late Colonial Changes • Viceregal Realignment • Developments late in the colonial period prompted Spanish authorities to restructure local geographic boundaries within the colonies. New viceroyalties were formed in South America, essentially breaking up the former Viceroyalty of Peru into three smaller administrative units. The new viceroyalties reflected the growing economic importance of formerly peripheral areas of the colonies. The formation of the Viceroyalty of La Plata also reflected an attempt to address continual territorial encroachments by the Portuguese into Spanish territory in the late colonial period. Original viceroyalties included New Spain (all of Mexico, Central America, and the Spanish Caribbean) and Peru (all of Spanish South America). The following changes were made in the 18th century. • Viceroyalty of New Granada (1740) • Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama • Viceroyalty of La Plata (1776) • Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, part of Bolivia • Expulsion of Jesuits (1767) • The Jesuit order had a long history of conversion and service to the indigenous through missions in frontier regions of colonial Latin America. Jesuit missionaries had a reputation for protecting natives from being enslaved and exploited by colonial authorities and other economic interests. They were known for their loyalty to the Pope over Crown, and aroused suspicion and enemies within the colonial government. In 1767, the order was expelled from the Spanish empire.