(r. 1700–1746), the first Spanish monarch of the
House of Bourbon With the 1700 death of the childless
Charles II of Spain, the crown of Spain was contested in the
War of the Spanish Succession. Under the
Treaties of Utrecht (11 April 1713) ending the war, the French prince of the
House of Bourbon, Philippe of Anjou, grandchild of
Louis XIV of France, became King
Philip V of Spain. He retained the Spanish overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The settlement gave spoils to those who had backed a Habsburg for the Spanish monarchy, ceding European territory of the
Spanish Netherlands,
Naples,
Milan, and
Sardinia to
Austria;
Sicily and parts of Milan to the
Duchy of Savoy, and
Gibraltar and
Menorca to the
Kingdom of Great Britain. The treaty also granted British merchants the exclusive right to sell
slaves in
Spanish America for thirty years, the
asiento de negros, as well as licensed voyages to ports in Spanish colonial dominions and openings. Spain's economic and demographic recovery had begun slowly in the last decades of the Habsburg reign, as was evident from the growth of its trading convoys and the much more rapid growth of illicit trade during the period. (This growth was slower than the growth of illicit trade by northern rivals in the empire's markets.) However, this recovery was not then translated into institutional improvement, rather the "proximate solutions to permanent problems". This legacy of neglect was reflected in the early years of Bourbon rule in which the military was ill-advisedly pitched into battle in the
War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–20). Spain was defeated in Italy by an alliance of Britain, France, Savoy, and Austria. Following the war, the new Bourbon monarchy took a much more cautious approach to international relations, relying on a family alliance with Bourbon France, and continuing to follow a program of institutional renewal. The crown program to enact reforms that promoted administrative control and efficiency in the metropole to the detriment of interests in the colonies, undermined creole elites' loyalty to the crown. When French forces of
Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Iberian peninsula in 1808, Napoleon ousted the Spanish Bourbon monarchy, placing his brother
Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. There was a crisis of legitimacy of crown rule in Spanish America, leading to the
Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1826).
Bourbon reforms and the
Pope Clement XIV, seconded by the
Viceroy,
Antonio Bucareli, and the
Archbishop of Mexico,
Alonso Núñez de Haro, respectively, before the Virgin Mary. "Glorification of the Immaculate Conception". The Spanish Bourbons' broadest intentions were to reorganize the institutions of empire to better administer it for the benefit of Spain and the crown. It sought to increase revenues and to assert greater crown control, including over the Catholic Church. Centralization of power (beginning with the
Nueva Planta decrees against the realms of the
Crown of Aragon) was to be for the benefit of the crown and the metropole and for the defense of its empire against foreign incursions. From the viewpoint of Spain, the structures of colonial rule under the Habsburgs were no longer functioning to the benefit of Spain, with much wealth being retained in Spanish America and going to other European powers. The presence of other European powers in the Caribbean, with the English in
Barbados (1627),
St Kitts (1623–25), and
Jamaica (1655); the Dutch in
Curaçao, and the French in Saint Domingue (Haiti) (1697),
Martinique, and
Guadeloupe had broken the integrity of the closed Spanish mercantile system and established thriving sugar colonies. Philip's government set up a ministry of the Navy and the Indies (1714) and established commercial companies, the
Honduras Company (1714), a Caracas company; the
Guipuzcoana Company (1728), and the most successful ones, the
Havana Company (1740) and the
Barcelona Trading Company (1755). In 1717–18, the structures for governing the Indies, the '
and the ', which governed investments in the cumbersome
Spanish treasure fleets, were transferred from
Seville to
Cádiz, where foreign merchant houses had easier access to the Indies trade. Cádiz became the one port for all Indies trading (see
flota system). Individual sailings at regular intervals were slow to displace the traditional armed convoys, but by the 1760s there were regular ships plying the Atlantic from Cádiz to
Havana and
Puerto Rico, and at longer intervals to the , where an additional
viceroyalty was created in 1776. The contraband trade that was the lifeblood of the Habsburg empire declined in proportion to registered shipping (a shipping registry having been established in 1735). Two upheavals registered unease within Spanish America and at the same time demonstrated the renewed resiliency of the reformed system: the
Tupac Amaru uprising in Peru in 1780 and the
rebellion of the comuneros of
New Granada, both in part reactions to tighter, more efficient control.
18th-century economic conditions . In 1741, the Spanish repulsed a British attack on this fortress in present-day
Colombia in the
Battle of Cartagena de Indias. The 18th century was a century of prosperity for the overseas Spanish Empire as trade within grew steadily, particularly in the second half of the century, under the Bourbon reforms. Spain's victory in the
Battle of Cartagena de Indias against a British expedition in the Caribbean port of
Cartagena de Indias helped Spain secure its dominance of its possessions in the Americas until the 19th century. But different regions fared differently under Bourbon rule, and even while New Spain was particularly prosperous, it was also marked by steep wealth inequality. Silver production boomed in New Spain during the 18th century, with output more than tripling between the start of the century and the 1750s. The economy and the population both grew, both centered around Mexico City. But while mine owners and the crown benefited from the flourishing silver economy, most of the population in the rural Bajío faced rising land prices, falling wages. Eviction of many from their lands resulted. Humboldt also published a comparative analysis of bread and meat consumption in New Spain compared to other cities in Europe such as Paris.
Mexico City consumed 189 pounds of meat per person per year, in comparison to 163 pounds consumed by the inhabitants of Paris, the Mexicans also consumed almost the same amount of bread as any European city, with 363 kilograms of bread per person per year in comparison to the 377 kilograms consumed in Paris.
Caracas consumed seven times more meat per person than in Paris. Von Humboldt also said that the average income in that period was four times the European income and also that the cities of New Spain were richer than many European cities.
Contesting with other empires (1732) (1741). Spain's victory in the battle helped secure Spanish rule in the region for over half a century. Bourbon institutional reforms under Philip V bore fruit militarily when Spanish forces easily retook
Naples and
Sicily from the Austrians at the
Battle of Bitonto in 1734 during the
War of the Polish Succession, and during the
War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42) thwarted
British efforts to capture the strategic cities of
Cartagena de Indias,
Santiago de Cuba and
St. Augustine, although Spain's
invasion of Georgia also ended in failure. The British suffered approximately 20,000 killed or wounded during the war while the Spanish suffered roughly 10,000. at the
Siege of Pensacola (1781) during the
American Revolutionary War. Gálvez led the
Gulf Coast campaign, which saw Spanish forces recapture Florida from the British. In 1742, the War of Jenkins' Ear merged with the larger
War of the Austrian Succession, and
King George's War in North America. The British, also occupied with France, were unable to capture Spanish treasure convoys, while Spanish
privateers targeted British merchant shipping along the
Triangle Trade routes and
attacked the coast of
North Carolina, levying
tribute on the inhabitants. In Europe, Spain had been trying to divest
Maria Theresa of the Duchy of Milan in northern Italy since 1741, but faced the opposition of
Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, and warfare in northern Italy remained indecisive throughout the period up to 1746. By the 1748
Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle, Spain gained (indirectly)
Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla in northern Italy. Spain was defeated during the
invasion of Portugal and lost both
Havana and
Manila to British forces towards the end of the
Seven Years' War (1756–63). In response, the
Bourbon Reforms allowed for Spain to recover from these losses and Spanish forces recaptured
Menorca,
West Florida (present-day
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
Alabama and
Florida) and temporarily occupied
the Bahamas during the
American Revolutionary War (1775–83). However, a Franco-Spanish attempt to
capture Gibraltar ended in failure. During most of the 18th century, Spanish privateers, particularly from
Santo Domingo, were the scourge of the
Antilles, with Dutch, British, French and Danish vessels as their
prizes.
Rival empires in the Pacific Northwest and the British. Most of what Spain claimed in Nootka was not directly occupied or controlled. Spain claimed all of North America in the Age of Discovery, but claims were not translated into occupation until a major resource was discovered and Spanish settlement and crown rule put in place. The French had established an
empire in northern North America and took some islands in the Caribbean. The English established colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America and in northern North America and some Caribbean islands as well. In the eighteenth century, the Spanish crown realized that its territorial claims needed to be defended, particularly in the wake of its visible weakness during the Seven Years' War when Britain captured the important Spanish ports of Havana and Manila. Another important factor was that the Russian Empire had
expanded into North America from the mid-eighteenth century, with
fur trading settlements in what is now
Alaska and forts as far south as
Fort Ross, California. Great Britain was also expanding into areas that Spain claimed as its territory on the Pacific coast. Taking steps to shore up its fragile claims to California, Spain began planning
California missions in 1769. Spain also began a series of voyages to the Pacific Northwest, where Russia and Great Britain were encroaching on claimed territory. The
Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest, with
Alessandro Malaspina and others sailing for Spain, came too late for Spain to assert its sovereignty in the Pacific Northwest. The
Nootka Crisis (1789–1791) nearly brought Spain and Britain to war. It was a dispute over claims in the Pacific Northwest, where neither nation had established permanent settlements. The crisis could have led to war, but without French support Spain capitulated to British terms and negotiations took place with the
Nootka Convention. Spain and Great Britain agreed to not establish settlements and allowed free access to Nootka Sound on the west coast of what is now
Vancouver Island. Nevertheless, the outcome of the crisis was a humiliation for Spain and a triumph for Britain, as Spain had practically renounced all sovereignty on the North Pacific coast. In 1806, Baron
Nikolai Rezanov attempted to negotiate a treaty between the
Russian-American Company and the
Viceroyalty of New Spain, but his unexpected death in 1807 ended any treaty hopes. Spain gave up its claims in the West of North America in the
Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819, ceding its rights there to the United States, allowing the U.S. to purchase Florida, and establishing a boundary between New Spain and the U.S. When the negotiations between the two nations were taking place, Spain's resources were stretched due to the
Spanish American wars of independence. Much of the present-day
American Southwest later became part of Mexico after its independence from Spain; after the
Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded to the U.S. present-day
California,
Texas,
New Mexico,
Utah,
Nevada,
Arizona, and parts of
Colorado,
Oklahoma,
Kansas,
Nebraska and
Wyoming for $15 million.
Loss of Spanish Louisiana in coastal California and sent maritime expeditions to the Pacific Northwest to assert sovereignty. The growth of trade and wealth in the colonies caused increasing political tensions as frustration grew with the improving but still restrictive trade with Spain.
Alessandro Malaspina's recommendation to turn the empire into a looser
confederation to help improve governance and trade so as to quell the growing political tensions between the élites of the empire's periphery and center was suppressed by a monarchy afraid of losing control. All was to be swept away by the tumult that was to overtake Europe at the turn of the 19th century with the
French Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars. The first major territory Spain was to lose in the 19th century was the vast
Louisiana Territory, which had few European settlers. It stretched north to Canada and was ceded by France in 1763 under the terms of the
Treaty of Fontainebleau. The French, under Napoleon, took back possession as part of the
Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800 and sold it to the United States in the
Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Napoleon's sale of the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803 caused border disputes between the United States and Spain that, with rebellions in
West Florida (1810) and in the remainder of Louisiana at the mouth of the
Mississippi River, led to their eventual cession to the United States.
Spanish American Wars of Independence In 1808,
Napoleon managed to place the Spanish king under his control, effectively seizing power without facing resistance. This action sparked resistance from the Spanish people, leading to the
Peninsular War. This conflict created a power vacuum lasting nearly a decade, followed by civil wars, transitions to a republic, and eventually the establishment of a liberal democracy. Spain lost all the colonial possessions in the first third of the century, except for Cuba, Puerto Rico and, isolated on the far side of the globe, the Philippines, Guam and nearby Pacific islands, as well as Spanish Sahara, parts of Morocco, and Spanish Guinea. The wars of independence in Spanish America were triggered by another
failed British attempt to seize Spanish American territory, this time in the
Río de la Plata estuary in 1806. The viceroy retreated hastily to the hills when defeated by a small British force. However, when the
Criollos' militias and colonial army decisively defeated the now reinforced British force in 1807, they promptly embarked on the path to securing their own independence, igniting independence movements across the continent. A long period of wars followed in the Americas, and the lack of Spanish troops in the colonies led to war between
patriotic rebels and local Royalists. In South America this period of wars led to the independence of
Argentina (1810),
Gran Colombia (1810),
Chile (1810),
Paraguay (1811) and
Uruguay (1815, but subsequently ruled by Brazil until 1828).
José de San Martín campaigned for independence in Chile (1818) and in
Peru (1821). Further north,
Simón Bolívar led forces that won independence between 1811 and 1826 for the area that became
Venezuela,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Peru and
Bolivia (then
Upper Peru).
Panama declared independence in 1821 and merged with the Republic of Gran Colombia (from 1821 to 1903).
Mexico gained independence in 1821 after more than a decade of struggle, following the War of Independence that began in 1810. Mexico's independence led to the independence of Central American provinces—
Guatemala,
Honduras,
El Salvador,
Nicaragua, and
Costa Rica—by 1823. As in South America, the
Mexican War of Independence was a struggle between Latin Americans fighting for independence and Latin Americans fighting to remain loyal to Spanish rule under King
Ferdinand VII. Throughout the eleven years of fighting, Spain sent only 9,685 troops to Mexico. Over the course of nine years, 20,000 Spanish soldiers were sent to reinforce the Spanish American Royalists in northern South America. However, disease and combat claimed the lives of 16,000–17,000 of these soldiers. Even within the Viceroyalty of Peru, the center of Spanish power in South America, the majority of the Royalist army consisted of Americans. After the
Battle of Ayacucho in 1824, the captured Royalist army consisted of 1,512 Spanish Americans and only 751 Spaniards. Only 6,000 troops were sent to Peru directly from Spain, although others arrived from neighboring theaters of operation. In 1829, Spain attempted to
reconquer Mexico with only 3,000 troops. In contrast, Spain demonstrated a greater military commitment in the Caribbean, sending 30,000 troops to
Santo Domingo in 1861 and maintaining a force of 100,000 soldiers in Cuba in 1876. ==Last territories in the Americas and the Pacific (1833–1898)==