Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas
Encyclopedia
The Provincias Internas or Commandancy General of the Internal Provinces of the North was a colonial
, administrative district of the Spanish Empire
, created in 1776 to provide more autonomy for the frontier provinces in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present day northern Mexico and southwestern United States
. The goal of its creation was to establish a unified government in political, military and fiscal affairs. Nevertheless, the Commandancy General experienced significant changes in its administration due to both experimentation to find the best government for the frontier region and bureaucratic in-fighting. 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 Sonora y Sinaloa
, Nueva Vizcaya
, Las Californias
, Nuevo México
, and Coahuila y Tejas
(formerly Nueva Extremadura
).
. He hit upon the idea during his time as royal Visitador General (Inspector General) to New Spain from 1761 to 1772. His initial idea was to create a full-fledged viceroy
alty or captaincy general
out of the northern provinces, but the low population of the area and large military expenses of the area in comparison to its revenues, prevented this. Instead the chief official of the area received the military title of commander or commandant general (comandante general in Spanish) in addition to being the chief civil executive officer of the region. Due to objections from the viceroys of New Spain, Gálvez was unable to implement his plan during his time as visitador, but a few years after his return he was appointed Minister of the Indies. This was essentially a new office created by King Charles III
which made Gálvez, for all purposes, independent of the Council of the Indies (of which he was also an honorary member). From his new position, Gálvez was able to implement his vision for Spanish America. In addition to the Provincias Internas, Gálvez also created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
and the Captaincy General of Venezuela
(which was essentially a new viceroyalty in all but name). He also recommenced the stalled project of replacing the older corregimientos and alcaldías mayores
with intendant
s. Gálvez appointed Teodoro de Croix
as the first Commander General of the Provinicas Internas.
in Sonora. The provinces that had been incorporated into the new district had been, and continued to be, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara
. They were also different in culture from those of New Spain proper
. Whereas the southern provinces had been the site of complex, settled societies—such as the Mexica
, the Zapotec, Mixtec
and the P'urhépecha (Tarascan)
—at the time of the conquest, the areas under the Audiencia of Guadalajara had not. Instead the semi-nomadic peoples (referred to at the time by the Nahuatl
term, Chichimeca
) that lived in this more arid region (and who had resisted Spanish incursions into the area) had either been pushed onto marginal lands or been absorbed into a new Hispanic
culture that emerged in the hacienda
s, towns and cities near the many silver mines that promoted the settlement of this region.
and Nuevo Santander
as well) also under the Viceroy. A year later this complex arrangement was changed to just two Western and Eastern districts. In 1792 the Commander General was put back in charge of a rump Provincias Internas consisting of Sonora y Sinaloa, Nueva Vizcaya, Nuevo México, Coahuila y Tejas. Las Californias was also under his jurisdiction but the Viceroy oversaw him on matters in this province. Finally the Western and Eastern district arrangement was returned in 1811, but with the viceroy ultimately in charge.
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, administrative district of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, created in 1776 to provide more autonomy for the frontier provinces in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present day northern Mexico and southwestern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The goal of its creation was to establish a unified government in political, military and fiscal affairs. Nevertheless, the Commandancy General experienced significant changes in its administration due to both experimentation to find the best government for the frontier region and bureaucratic in-fighting. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms
Bourbon Reforms
The Bourbon Reforms were a set of economic and political legislation introduced by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon throughout the 18th century. The reforms were intended to stimulate manufacturing and technology in order to modernize Spain...
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 Sonora y Sinaloa
Sonora y Sinaloa
Sonora y Sinaloa was a province in the Provincias Internas and under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara of Viceroyalty of New Spain. After Independence Sonora y Sinaloa became one of the constituent states of the Mexican Republic...
, Nueva Vizcaya
Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain
Nueva Vizcaya was the first province in the north of New Spain to be explored and settled by the Spanish. It consisted mostly of the area which is today the states of Chihuahua and Durango in Mexico.-Early exploration and the Viceroyalty:...
, Las Californias
Las Californias
The Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
, Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México was a province of New Spain and later Mexico that existed from the late 16th century up through the mid-19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande , in an area that included most of the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico...
, and Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...
(formerly Nueva Extremadura
Nueva Extremadura
Nueva Extremadura could refer to* a region in the north of New Spain, in present day Texas, the United States of America, and northern Mexico.* the name given to Chile by Pedro de Valdivia...
).
Establishment
The Provincias Internas were the brainchild of José de GálvezJosé de Gálvez
José de Gálvez y Gallardo, marqués de Sonora was a Spanish lawyer, a colonial official in New Spain and ultimately Minister of the Indies . He was one of the prime figures behind the Bourbon Reforms...
. He hit upon the idea during his time as royal Visitador General (Inspector General) to New Spain from 1761 to 1772. His initial idea was to create a full-fledged viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
alty or captaincy general
Captaincy
A captaincy is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. Each was governed by a captain general.-In the Portuguese Empire:...
out of the northern provinces, but the low population of the area and large military expenses of the area in comparison to its revenues, prevented this. Instead the chief official of the area received the military title of commander or commandant general (comandante general in Spanish) in addition to being the chief civil executive officer of the region. Due to objections from the viceroys of New Spain, Gálvez was unable to implement his plan during his time as visitador, but a few years after his return he was appointed Minister of the Indies. This was essentially a new office created by King Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
which made Gálvez, for all purposes, independent of the Council of the Indies (of which he was also an honorary member). From his new position, Gálvez was able to implement his vision for Spanish America. In addition to the Provincias Internas, Gálvez also created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
and the Captaincy General of Venezuela
Captaincy General of Venezuela
The Captaincy General of Venezuela was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created in 1777 to provide more autonomy for the provinces of Venezuela, previously under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Granada and the Audiencia of Santo Domingo...
(which was essentially a new viceroyalty in all but name). He also recommenced the stalled project of replacing the older corregimientos and alcaldías mayores
Corregidor (position)
A corregidor was a local, administrative and judicial position in Spain and its empire. He was the highest authority of a Corregimiento. In the Americas a corregidor was often called an alcalde mayor. They began to be appointed in fourteenth century Castile and the institution was definitively...
with intendant
Intendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
s. Gálvez appointed Teodoro de Croix
Teodoro de Croix
Teodoro de Croix was a Spanish soldier and colonial official in New Spain and Peru. From April 6, 1784 to March 25, 1790 he was viceroy of Peru.-Background:...
as the first Commander General of the Provinicas Internas.
Society
Like most of the governments of the Caribbean, the finances of the Provincias Internas were subsidized by a situado ("subsidy") from the royal treasury of Mexico City. The first capital of the Commandancy General was ArizpeArizpe
Arizpe is a small town in Arizpe Municipality in the north of the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located at 30°20'"N 110°09'"W. The area of the municipality is 2,806.78 sq.km. The population in 2005 was 2,959 of which 1,743 lived in the municipal seat as of the 2000 census.-History and origin...
in Sonora. The provinces that had been incorporated into the new district had been, and continued to be, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara
Real Audiencia of Guadalajara
The Real Audiencia of Guadalajara was the highest tribunal of the Spanish crown in what is today northern Mexico and the southwestern United States in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was created by royal decree on February 13, 1548, and was originally located in Compostela and permanently seated...
. They were also different in culture from those of New Spain proper
Real Audiencia of Mexico
The Royal Audience of Mexico was the highest tribunal of the Spanish crown in the Kingdom of New Spain or the Kingdom of Mexico...
. Whereas the southern provinces had been the site of complex, settled societies—such as the Mexica
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
, the Zapotec, Mixtec
Mixtec
The Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....
and the P'urhépecha (Tarascan)
P'urhépecha
The P'urhépecha, normally spelled Purépecha in Spanish and in English and traditionally referred to as Tarascans, are an indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of the Mexican state of Michoacán, principally in the area of the cities of Uruapan and Pátzcuaro...
—at the time of the conquest, the areas under the Audiencia of Guadalajara had not. Instead the semi-nomadic peoples (referred to at the time by the Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
term, Chichimeca
Chichimeca
Chichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian"...
) that lived in this more arid region (and who had resisted Spanish incursions into the area) had either been pushed onto marginal lands or been absorbed into a new Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
culture that emerged in the hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
s, towns and cities near the many silver mines that promoted the settlement of this region.
Administrative reorganization
In the decades that lead up to Spanish American wars of independence, the Provincias Internas were restructured four times. In 1786 the Provincias Internas were split into three commands: the Western Internal Provinces (Sonora y Sinaloa) under the Commander General; the Central Internal Provinces (Nueva Vizcaya and Nuevo México) under the Viceroy; and the Easter Internal Provinces (Coahuila y Tejas, with Nuevo LeónNuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
and Nuevo Santander
Nuevo Santander
Nuevo Santander was a region of the Virreinato de Nueva España, corresponding generally to the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas and southern Texas. Nuevo Santander was named after Santander, Spain, and settled by Spanish American colonists in a concerted settlement campaign peaking in 1748-1750...
as well) also under the Viceroy. A year later this complex arrangement was changed to just two Western and Eastern districts. In 1792 the Commander General was put back in charge of a rump Provincias Internas consisting of Sonora y Sinaloa, Nueva Vizcaya, Nuevo México, Coahuila y Tejas. Las Californias was also under his jurisdiction but the Viceroy oversaw him on matters in this province. Finally the Western and Eastern district arrangement was returned in 1811, but with the viceroy ultimately in charge.
See also
- List of governors in the Viceroyalty of New Spain
- Territorial evolution of MexicoTerritorial evolution of MexicoMexico has experienced many changes in territorial organization during its history as an independent state, especially as the territorial boundaries of Mexico were affected by presidential and imperial decrees...