Bourbon Reforms in the context of "Peninsulares"

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires (Spanish: Virreinato del Río de la Plata or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or Spanish: Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was the last to be organized and also the shortest-lived viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" was formally adopted in 1810 during the Cortes of Cádiz to designate the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 from several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata Basin, roughly the present-day territories of Argentina, northern Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, extending inland from the Atlantic Coast. The colony of Spanish Guinea (present-day Equatorial Guinea) also depended administratively on the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. Buenos Aires, located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata estuary flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the Portuguese outpost of Colonia del Sacramento, was chosen as the capital. Usually considered one of the late Bourbon Reforms, the organization of this viceroyalty was motivated on both commercial grounds (Buenos Aires was by then a major spot for illegal trade), as well as on security concerns brought about by the growing interest of competing foreign powers in the area. The Spanish Crown wanted to protect its territory against Great Britain and the Kingdom of Portugal.

Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' imperial era between 15th and 19th centuries. To the end of its imperial rule, Spain called its overseas possessions in the Americas and the Philippines "The Indies", an enduring remnant of Columbus's notion that he had reached Asia by sailing west. When these territories reach a high level of importance, the crown established the Council of the Indies in 1524, following the conquest of the Aztec Empire, asserting permanent royal control over its possessions. Regions with dense indigenous populations and sources of mineral wealth attracting Spanish settlers became colonial centers, while those without such resources were peripheral to crown interest. Once regions incorporated into the empire and their importance assessed, overseas possessions came under stronger or weaker crown control.

The crown learned its lesson with the rule of Christopher Columbus and his heirs in the Caribbean, and they never subsequently gave authorization of sweeping powers to explorers and conquerors. The Catholic Monarchs' conquest of Granada in 1492 and their expulsion of the Jews "were militant expressions of religious statehood at the moment of the beginning of the American colonization." The crown's power in the religious sphere was absolute in its overseas possessions through the papacy's grant of the Patronato real, and "Catholicism was indissolubly linked with royal authority." Church-State relations were established in the conquest era and remained stable until the end of the Habsburg era in 1700, when the Bourbon monarchs implemented major reforms and changed the relationship between crown and altar.

The Captaincy General of Cuba (Spanish: Capitanía General de Cuba) was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire created in 1607 as part of Habsburg Spain's attempt to better defend and administer its Caribbean possessions. The reform also established captaincies general in Puerto Rico, Guatemala and Yucatán.

The restructuring of the Captaincy General in 1764 was the first example of the Bourbon Reforms in America. The changes included adding the provinces of Florida and Louisiana and granting more autonomy to these provinces. This later change was carried out by the Count of Floridablanca under Charles III to strengthen the Spanish position vis-a-vis the British in the Caribbean. A new governor-captain general based in Havana oversaw the administration of the new district. The local governors of the larger Captaincy General had previously been overseen in political and military matters by the president of the Audiencia of Santo Domingo. This audiencia retained oversight of judicial affairs until the establishment of new audiencias in Puerto Príncipe (1800) and Havana (1838).

The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (4 November 1780 – 15 March 1783) was an uprising by cacique-led Aymara, Quechua, and mestizo rebels aimed at overthrowing Spanish colonial rule in Peru. The causes of the rebellion included opposition to the Bourbon Reforms, an economic downturn in colonial Peru, and a grassroots revival of Inca cultural identity led by Túpac Amaru II, an indigenous cacique and the leader of the rebellion. While Amaru II was captured and executed by the Spanish in 1781, the rebellion continued for at least another year under other rebel leaders. Amaru II's rebellion was simultaneous, and occasionally cooperated, with the uprising of Túpac Katari in colonial-era Upper Peru (now Bolivia). The rebellion was the first large-scale attempt at an independence movement in Latin America and among the largest rebellions of the 18th century.

The rebellion arose as a reaction to the imposition of the Bourbon Reforms in the Spanish viceroyalties of America and was led by the curaca José Gabriel Condorcanqui, known as Túpac Amaru II. These reforms, among others, forced the indigenous population to mine minerals under the Mit'a system. Among Túpac Amaru II's proclamations were the demands of the freedom of the indigenous population and the abolition of slavery.

The Captaincy General of Venezuela (Spanish: Capitanía General de Venezuela), was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created on September 8, 1777, through the Royal Decree of Graces of 1777, to provide more autonomy for the provinces of Venezuela, previously under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Santo Domingo (and thus the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and then the Viceroyalty of New Granada. It established a unified government in political (governorship), military (captaincy general), fiscal (intendancy), ecclesiastical (archdiocese) and judicial (audiencia) affairs. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms and laid the groundwork for the future nation of Venezuela, in particular by orienting the province of Maracaibo towards the province of Caracas.

The Peruvian War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia del Perú) was a series of military conflicts in Peru from 1809 to 1826 that resulted in the country's independence from the Spanish Empire. Part of the broader Spanish American wars of independence, it led to the dissolution of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru.

Throughout the colonial period of Peru, there were early attempts of independence movements. The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, although not the first or the last, was the most significant and culminated in violent repression by the viceregal authorities. This uprising erupted in response to the Bourbon Reforms and was the first time that viceregal documents used the term "insurgents." It was also a movement that proclaimed the abolition of slavery in Peru. However, there is debate as to whether the purpose of this rebellion was truly independence or a revolution of the viceregal social order.

The Provincias Internas (Spanish: Inner Provinces), also known as the Comandancia y Capitanía General de las Provincias Internas (Commandancy and General Captaincy of the Inner Provinces), was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire envisioned in 1768 as including Sinaloa, Sonora, Nueva Vizcaya (today's Chihuahua and Durango) and Baja and Alta California, with its capital in Arizpe (Sonora). The jurisdiction was formally created in 1776, on the official grounds that it would provide more autonomy for the frontier provinces, present-day northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States—and perhaps with the unofficial goal of reducing the political and economic power of the viceroy running New Spain from Mexico City by creating a command for the northern regions. If the goal of its creation was to establish a unified government in political, military and fiscal affairs for northern New Spain, this unity was elusive. The Commandancy General experienced significant changes in its administration because of experimentation to find the best government for the frontier region as well as bureaucratic in-fighting between Mexico City elites and Bourbon reformers in Madrid. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms and was part of an effort to invigorate economic and population growth in the region to stave off encroachment on the region by foreign powers. During its existence, the Commandancy General encompassed the provinces of New Navarre, New Biscay, The Californias, New Mexico, New Santander, New Kingdom of Leon, Coahuila (formerly New Extremadura) and Texas.