José Antonio de Areche
Encyclopedia
José Antonio de Areche was a Spanish colonial official in Peru
(1777–87). He was responsible for the brutal execution of Inca rebel Túpac Amaru II
, his family and coconspirators.
, and adopted Gálvez's policy of reformismo duro (hard reforms; the Bourbon reforms). In New Spain he worked for the suppression of the guilds. Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa
signed some measures against them.
José de Gálvez became Spanish minister of the Indies in 1776, and the following year he ordered Areche to Peru as royal visitador (inspector). This was the same sort of post that Gálvez himself had exercised a decade earlier in New Spain.
. As a direct representative of the king, he believed he outranked the highest colonial officials of the Viceroyalty of Peru
and the newly created Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
. His mission was to increase the revenues of the colony, investigate the honesty and competence of colonial officials and the general state of the colony, and institute legal proceedings and administrative reforms as he deemed necessary.
He increased the alcabala (sales tax) from 4 to 6%. The economy of the colony was bad, in part because of the separation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata from Peru in 1776 and the imposition of free trade in 1778. The tax increase (and other increases, such as internal customs duties and the extension of tribute payments from the Indigenous to the Mestizos) were intended to increase government revenues during an economic downturn, but they were viewed as oppressive by the poor, by the merchants, and particularly by the Indigenous. For the first year after their implementation, government revenues rose. (They had been falling for a long time.) Then the reaction began.
Areche's authoritarian personality
and contempt for Criollos
in public service made him unpopular. Viceroy Manuel de Guirior
refused to give up total authority. Areche brought charges against him, leading to his dismissal in July 1780. Guirior was replaced as viceroy by Agustín de Jáuregui
. He was eventually acquitted of the charges, but only after his death in 1788.
, the last Inca (Emperor) of Vilcabamba
, who had been beheaded on the orders of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo
in 1572. Túpac Amaru II was cacique of Tungasuca, Surimana and Pampamarca, and enjoyed properties, businesses and prestige in the region of Cusco
. He was 40 years old when he led the rebellion, tired of the abuses of the corregidor
es and merchants and of the reforms of Areche (customs, taxes, tributes).
Túpac Amaru had been organizing a conspiracy since 1778. The revolt began on November 4, 1780 near Cusco
. On that date, he captured and condemned to the gallows the corregidor of Tinta, Antonio de Arriaga. The same day he spoke to thousands of followers at Tungasuca, announcing the abolition of mita
(forced labor), obraje (another form of forced labor)http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/obraje/obraje_history.htm, black slavery, the sales tax and the corregidors.
Túpac Amaru tried to enter into negotiations with the Spanish, asking for moderate reforms, but Areche refused. (He did, however, remove the obligation to pay tribute from the Mestizos, hoping to separate them from the rebels.) General José del Valle left Cusco with an army of 17,116 men. Túpac Amaru was betrayed and captured. He had raised 60,000 men in revolt.
When the revolt continued, the Spaniards executed the remainder of his family, except his 11-year-old son Fernando, who had been condemned to die with him, but was instead imprisoned in Spain for the rest of his life. It is not known if any members of the Inca royal family survived this final purge. Other rebels were brutally tortured and killed between 1781 and 1783.
In delivering his judgment, Areche also ordered the following:
In April of 1782, Spanish King Charles III
, at the urging of the Visitador Areche, ordered viceregal officials in Peru and Argentina to seize as many copies of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
's Comentarios Reales de los Incas
as they could find. First published in 1609, the Comentarios was thought to contain a prophecy in support of the uprising of Tupac Amaru II.
Areche continued as visitador until 1787.
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
(1777–87). He was responsible for the brutal execution of Inca rebel Túpac Amaru II
Túpac Amaru II
Túpac Amaru II was a leader of an indigenous uprising in 1780 against the Spanish in Peru...
, his family and coconspirators.
Background
Before his arrival in Peru, José Antonio de Areche was fiscal (prosecutor) before the Audiencia of Mexico. He was a follower 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...
, and adopted Gálvez's policy of reformismo duro (hard reforms; the Bourbon reforms). In New Spain he worked for the suppression of the guilds. Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa
Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa
Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, marqués de Valleheroso y conde de Jerena was a Spanish military officer, governor of Cuba, and viceroy of New Spain .-Beginning of his administration:He was governor of Cuba when he was named viceroy...
signed some measures against them.
José de Gálvez became Spanish minister of the Indies in 1776, and the following year he ordered Areche to Peru as royal visitador (inspector). This was the same sort of post that Gálvez himself had exercised a decade earlier in New Spain.
As visitador in Peru
In June 1777, Areche arrived in LimaLima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
. As a direct representative of the king, he believed he outranked the highest colonial officials of the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
and the newly created 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...
. His mission was to increase the revenues of the colony, investigate the honesty and competence of colonial officials and the general state of the colony, and institute legal proceedings and administrative reforms as he deemed necessary.
He increased the alcabala (sales tax) from 4 to 6%. The economy of the colony was bad, in part because of the separation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata from Peru in 1776 and the imposition of free trade in 1778. The tax increase (and other increases, such as internal customs duties and the extension of tribute payments from the Indigenous to the Mestizos) were intended to increase government revenues during an economic downturn, but they were viewed as oppressive by the poor, by the merchants, and particularly by the Indigenous. For the first year after their implementation, government revenues rose. (They had been falling for a long time.) Then the reaction began.
Areche's authoritarian personality
Authoritarian personality
-Historical Origins:Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson and Sanford compiled a large body of research and theory , which attempted to characterize a personality type that described the “potentially fascistic individual”...
and contempt for Criollos
Criollo (people)
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
in public service made him unpopular. Viceroy Manuel de Guirior
Manuel de Guirior
Manuel de Guirior was a Spanish naval officer and colonial administrator. He was viceroy of New Granada from 1772 to 1776 and of Peru from July 17, 1776 to July 21, 1780.Guirior was born into a noble family of Navarre. He entered the navy in 1733 as a lieutenant...
refused to give up total authority. Areche brought charges against him, leading to his dismissal in July 1780. Guirior was replaced as viceroy by Agustín de Jáuregui
Agustín de Jáuregui
Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa was a Spanish politician and soldier who served as governor of Chile and viceroy of Peru .-Early life:...
. He was eventually acquitted of the charges, but only after his death in 1788.
The revolt of Túpac Amaru II
In 1780 the new viceroy and the visitador were confronted with a series of rebellions involving not only the Indigenous, but also Mestizos and Criollos. The most serious of these was led by Túpac Amaru II (José Gabriel Condorcanqui). He was a direct descendant of the earlier Túpac AmaruTúpac Amaru
Túpac Amaru, also called Thupa Amaro , was the last indigenous leader of the Inca state in Peru.-Accession:...
, the last Inca (Emperor) of Vilcabamba
Vilcabamba
Vilcabamba may refer to:* Vilcabamba, Peru* Vilcabamba, Ecuador, town in the province of Loja, Ecuador* "Vilcabamba" , a 2010 Science Fiction story by Harry Turtledove...
, who had been beheaded on the orders of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo
Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa
Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, Count of Oropesa was Spanish viceroy of Peru from November 26, 1569 to September 23, 1581.-Early years:...
in 1572. Túpac Amaru II was cacique of Tungasuca, Surimana and Pampamarca, and enjoyed properties, businesses and prestige in the region of Cusco
Cusco
Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...
. He was 40 years old when he led the rebellion, tired of the abuses of the corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
es and merchants and of the reforms of Areche (customs, taxes, tributes).
Túpac Amaru had been organizing a conspiracy since 1778. The revolt began on November 4, 1780 near Cusco
Cusco
Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...
. On that date, he captured and condemned to the gallows the corregidor of Tinta, Antonio de Arriaga. The same day he spoke to thousands of followers at Tungasuca, announcing the abolition of mita
Mita (Inca)
Mit'a was mandatory public service in the society of the Inca Empire. Historians use the hispanicized term mita to distinguish the system as it was modified by the Spanish, under whom it became a form of legal servitude which in practise bordered slavery.Mit'a was effectively a form of tribute to...
(forced labor), obraje (another form of forced labor)http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/obraje/obraje_history.htm, black slavery, the sales tax and the corregidors.
Túpac Amaru tried to enter into negotiations with the Spanish, asking for moderate reforms, but Areche refused. (He did, however, remove the obligation to pay tribute from the Mestizos, hoping to separate them from the rebels.) General José del Valle left Cusco with an army of 17,116 men. Túpac Amaru was betrayed and captured. He had raised 60,000 men in revolt.
The sentencing and execution of Túpac Amaru II
Túpac Amaru and he was arrested and tried in 1781. Areche was in charge of the trial and sentencing, and he ordered a particularly brutal execution. Túpac Amaru was sentenced to witness the execution of his wife, Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, his eldest son Hipólito, his uncle Francisco, his brother-in-law Antonio Bastidas, and some of his captains before his own death, and then to be torn apart by four horses. The sentence was carried out on May 18, 1781, in the main plaza in Cusco, the same place his great-grandfather had been beheaded.When the revolt continued, the Spaniards executed the remainder of his family, except his 11-year-old son Fernando, who had been condemned to die with him, but was instead imprisoned in Spain for the rest of his life. It is not known if any members of the Inca royal family survived this final purge. Other rebels were brutally tortured and killed between 1781 and 1783.
In delivering his judgment, Areche also ordered the following:
- The Indigenous were prohibited from wearing traditional clothes, and such clothes were ordered confiscated
- All paintings of the Incas (emperors) in public or private places, including homes, were ordered to be destroyed
- Plays or other public functions commemorating the Incas were prohibited, and the Spanish officials were required to make official reports on the progress of this suppression
- Traditional trumpets or bugles (made from seashells) were banned, on the grounds that their mournful music was a form of mourning for deceased ancestors and former times
- No one was allowed to call himself Inca (meaning the emperor or royal family rather than the nationality)
- Schools were ordered established to teach Castilian to the Indians, and the Indians were ordered to attend
- The manufacture of cannons was prohibited, with a penalty of 10 years imprisonment in Africa, and (for commoners) 200 lashes
In April of 1782, Spanish 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...
, at the urging of the Visitador Areche, ordered viceregal officials in Peru and Argentina to seize as many copies of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega , born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, was a historian and writer from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, he is recognized primarily for his contributions to Inca history, culture, and society...
's Comentarios Reales de los Incas
Comentarios Reales de los Incas
The Comentarios Reales de los Incas is a book written by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the first mestizo writer of colonial Andean South America...
as they could find. First published in 1609, the Comentarios was thought to contain a prophecy in support of the uprising of Tupac Amaru II.
Areche continued as visitador until 1787.