5 - Destabilization and Fragmentation, 1770–1867

Summary

The Madrid Government’s struggles to revive Spanish power in the course of the eighteenth century took a drastic toll on New Spain’s resources. Reform measures, particularly from the 1770s, divided colonial society. Although several reforms had a beneficial effect, fiscal pressures weakened New Spain, by then Spain’s most important American territory. Over-emphasis on silver-mining led to neglect of food production at a time of rising population, exposing the gap between rich merchant-financiers and the majority of the population. The insurrection of 1810 degenerated into an eleven-year insurgency, which ultimately wore down the viceregal government and the Royal army. Liberal constitutional attempts in Spain to hold the Empire together in 1810-14 and 1820-23 failed to achieve that goal. Independence in 1821 left a country impoverished. The creation of a federal republic in 1824-15 and 1846-53 sought to respond to provincial sentiment. Territorial spoliation by the United States in 1846-48 left the country further weakened. The Liberal Reform movement of 1855-76, victorious in 1867 over the failed French Intervention, restructured institutions on a federal and republican basis. Reform Laws diminished the power of the Catholic Church and exalted the civil power. The Liberal régime permanently excluded the Conservative Party, which initially had supported the Intervention. The key figure was Benito Juárez.