Spanish North America under Imperial Rivalries

Imperial Rivalries Context

• Britain’s North American colonies grew rapidly.
• European empires jostled for power, leaving rival empires in North America with varying strength.
• Spanish and French territories:
  • Were vast.
  • Were economically weaker and more thinly populated than British colonies.

Spanish North America: Territory and Urban Cores

• Spanish empire stretched from the Pacific coast and New Mexico into the Great Plains, eastward through Texas and Florida.
• After $1763$, it also included Louisiana (gained from France).
• Actual presence concentrated in a few urban clusters, despite a vast empire on paper:
  • St. Augustine (Florida)
  • San Antonio (Texas)
  • Santa Fe (New Mexico)
  • Albuquerque (New Mexico)

Reform and Enlightenment Thought in Spain

• Under Carlos II and Carlos III, reformers sought to:
  • Apply scientific methods to society.
  • Preserve the absolutist monarchy and empire.
• They condemned past treatment of Indians and noted demographic contrasts:
  • Indians comprised well over half of New Spain’s population.
  • Indians comprised less than $6\%$ of the population of the mainland English colonies.
• In $1776$, the region was placed under a local military commander who used:
  • Coercion
  • Gifts
  • Trade to woo unconquered Indians
• These tactics strengthened Spain’s northern hold but did not eliminate Indian power.

Demographics and Indian Power

• The Spanish problem stemmed largely from a small settler population.
  • New Mexico in $1765$ had $20{,}000$ inhabitants.
  • Pueblo Indians slightly outnumbered people of European descent in New Mexico.
• Ranching expanded, but the economy relied on:
  • Trading with the surviving Indian population.
  • Extracting labor from the surviving Indian population.
• The powerful Comanche and Apache continued to dominate large parts of northern New Spain.

Regional Profiles: Texas

• Spain began colonizing Texas in the early $18^{th}$ century as a buffer against French influence spreading from the Mississippi Valley into New Mexico.
• Complexes of missions and presidios were established at:
  • Los Adaes
  • La Bahía
  • San Antonio
• Texas had $1{,}200$ Spanish colonists in $1760$.

Florida and Other Frontiers

• Florida stagnated along with some other frontier regions.

Administrative and Strategic Consequences

• War-driven manpower shortages in Europe limited Spain’s ability to deploy troops in the frontier.
• Despite coercive and trade-based tactics, Indian power persisted in the region.

Louisiana and French Merchants

• The region’s post-$1763$ status as part of Spain raised concerns about French merchants entering via Louisiana.