Christon I. Archer

Deportation of Barbarian Indians from the Internal Provinces of New Spain, 1789–1810

INDIAN warfare was general in the Internal Provinces of New Spain in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Spain was militarily weak in these frontier provinces so far from Mexico City and, to make matters even more difficult, the barbarian Indian tribes refused to recognize rules of good conduct in war and peace. Where weakness seemed likely to lead to defeat, the Indians thought nothing of employing abject submission, approaching the Spanish authorities with humble requests for peace, conversion, and a place where they might be permitted to settle into a quiet productive existence. Often the Spanish, either exhausted by combat or hopeful of Indian sincerity in such declarations, convinced themselves that the enemy would settle into a sedentary life under the gentle guidance of the friars. Unfortunately for the success of frontier policy, a treaty was only as valid as the number of presidial troops prepared to enforce it. Without force, the Indians, epecially the Apaches, returned to traditional pursuits of rustling livestock and attacks on weakly defended ranches or travellers. A continual history of incidents of this nature brought Spanish governors and frontier soldiers to a state of complete frustration.

A militarização da política ou a politização das forças armadas? O Oficialato Novohispano e Mexicano, 1810-1822

Os oficiais realistas que lideraram a campanha contra a insurgencia patriota na Nova Espanha durante a decada de 1810 adquiriram significativa experiencia administrativa e politica ao mobilizarem recursos locais em prol de sua causa realista. Dessa experiencia de governanca virtualmente autonoma, os primeiros oficiais realistas moveram-se facilmente para a politica nacional apos a Independencia. A carreira politica e militar de Augustin Iturbide e exemplo desta transformacao que evidencia que nao havia qualquer militarizacao da sociedade ou da politica apos a Independencia. Os militares que entraram para a politica o fizeram como politicos, nao como representantes do exercito.

Victor M. Uribe-Uran (ed.),State and society in Spanish America during the age of revolution, Wilmington, Scholarly Resources Inc., 2001. Tables, 261 pp.

Abstract For years, many historians have criticised the division of Spanish American history into colonial and modern periods separated in 1810 or at the end of the Wars of Independence. For New Spain/Mexico for example, Enrique Florescano, Romeo Flores Caballero, Silvia Arrom, Brian R. Hamnett, Doris Ladd, John Tutino, and Jaime E. Rodriguez, to name only a few, have published studies that bridge the Bourbon epoch, the War of Independence, and the first decades of the new nation. In addition to his own work, Rodriguez edited several important volumes that advanced the periodisation discussion considerably and set the groundwork for the present book that embraces all of Spanish America. Notwithstanding good arguments for change, the organisation of university courses by semesters, tenns, or quarters sometimes militates against the re-conceptualisation of periods and even strengthens the traditional breakpoint between the colonial and national periods. Now, with the forthcoming bicentennial celebrations of the Independence Wars, 2010 will most likely increase the emphasis upon the decade of armed struggle and neglect the broader implications of what Victor Uribe-Uran describes as the Age of Revolution, 1750–1850.

Independence and Revolution in Spanish America: Perspectives and Problems (review)

The pace of new research and publication on the Spanish American Independence era will continue to quicken as we approach the 2010 bicentennials that will mark the outbreak of these great struggles. The present bilingual volume originated from the 1996 Third Annual Nineteenth-Century History Workshop at the Universities of London and Warwick. Introduced by Anthony McFarlane, the eight chapters by different historians are divided into two sections: “Historiography and Interpretation,” and “Conflicts, Citizenship, Culture and Nationhood.” There are two overarching influences that recur in the book, first the scholarly impact of John Lynch, the senior dean of Spanish American Independence Studies in English, and second, Volume III of the Cambridge History of Latin America: From Independence to c. 1870 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). Lynch’s chapter, “Spanish American Independence in Recent Historiography,” sets the scene and poses significant questions concerning the nature and complexities of the Independence epoch and the state of ongoing historical research. Lynch, David Bushnell, and Timothy E. Anna who contribute chapters in this volume wrote major sections in the Cambridge History. While there is a strong “Lynchian” influence in terms of overview and interpretation upon some of the contributors, the presence of chapters by François-Xavier Guerra and other international scholars adds quite different perspectives and specialized regional studies.

The Royalist Army of New Spain, 1810-1821: Militarism, Praetorianism, or Protection of Interests?

Although the army of New Spain exhibited few if any signs of praetorianism or militarism prior to the independence wars, 1810-1821, many observers in the decades following national independence described the military as one of the negative impediments to progress in the young Mexican republic. Clearly, the decade of insurgency, guerrilla warfare, and fragmentation of the old polity caused dramatic changes in the attitudes and behavior of army officers. The present article analyzes the impact of the war on the royalist army, which in 1821 largely transformed itself to declare for independence. To develop effective counterinsurgency programs, officers assumed active political and administrative roles. After years of exercising power, they did not wish to return to their barracks.

Book Review: Pacific Sail: Four Centuries of Western Ships in the PacificMorrisRoger. Pacific Sail: Four Centuries of Western Ships in the Pacific. Southampton: Ashford Press, 1987. 192 pp., maps, illustrations, glossary, bibliography, index. £14.95. ISBN 1-85253-031-6.

provided a solid estimate of the number of seamen required for Amsterdams European trade and convincingly refuted Van der Woudes hypothesis that by 1700 seafaring was no longer an occupation of economic importance to the Noorderkwartier. This book may very well act as a stimulus to others in Holland and elsewhere. It is, however, regrettable that Van Royen, to a certain extent, became the captive of his own material and did not always go far enough either in questioning his assumptions or in providing evidence for his arguments. Nevertheless, the value and validity of many of his conclusions and the virtues of his methodology make Zeevarenden op de koopvaardijvloot a book which should be compulsory reading for all interested in the subject.

Spain and the Defence of the Pacific Ocean Empire, 1750–1810

During almost three centuries, Spain managed to claim as part of its empire the entire Pacific Ocean. But from 1600 onwards Spanish claims to this vast and little-known area exceeded her capacity to defend it. This became obvious after 1740 when geographical or scientific curiosity and commercial desires drew other European powers into the region. Spain tried at first a policy of isolation based on secrecy, which only annoyed her own explorers who were obliged to seek information from foreign sources, more anxious to publicize their own assaults on the Spanish monopoly. Well aware of the strategic value of island and coastal territories, Spain instructed her emissaries to behave correctly towards native peoples. But the exemplary conduct of Spanish nationals (in their relationships with women and in the use of force) was not sufficient to overcome the disadvantages resulting from Jack of resources and cumbersome official enterprises while rival powers gave free rein to adventurers and entrepreneurs.