12 - The fall of royal government

Summary

When Don Antonio de Amar y Borbón arrived at Bogotá in September 1803 to take up his post as viceroy, he took command of a territory that, in spite of all Spain's difficulties following the resumption of war with the British in 1804, was apparently secure under the government of the metropolitan power. The celebrations surrounding Amar y Borbón's inauguration were lavish and good humored, and his predecessor, Viceroy Pedro de Mendinueta, handed over office with a relación de mando that was positive and reassuring in its tone. Mendinueta warned Amar y Borbón to sustain vigilance against foreign subversion, to prevent the entry of foreign books and papers that might be harmful to religion and the state, and to be alert for “a philosophical fanaticism, and above all a spirit of novelty, (which) might turn a few heads, inducing them to accept notions which they indiscreetly profess as their own ideas.” But he concluded his relación de mando on a heartening note, stating that, despite some minor disturbances to public order, he had the satisfaction to hand over a territory in a “state of tranquillity, so that Your Excellency might discharge his responsibilities for the common good.” And Amar y Borbón did indeed pass a few uneventful years as viceroy, in which none of his experience as a high-ranking military commander in Spain was needed to manage the affairs of a land that, whatever the underlying disaffections of elements in its population, showed no obvious signs of unrest or political instability.