Bourbon Reforms facts for kids

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The Bourbon Reforms (called Reformas Borbónicas in Spanish) were big changes made by the Spanish kings from the House of Bourbon family, mostly in the 1700s. These changes aimed to make Spain and its colonies stronger and more modern. Before this, the Spanish government was a bit messy under the previous kings, the Habsburgs. The new Bourbon kings wanted clear rules and more power for the government, rather than sharing it with groups like the Catholic Church. They also wanted to improve the economy and put civil officials (government workers) in charge.

These reforms completely changed how the government worked and who was in charge. The main goal was to boost Spain's factories and technology. In Spanish America, the reforms aimed to make the government run better and to help the economy, trade, and taxes grow. Basically, the reforms tried to turn the colonies, which had some freedom, into proper parts of the Spanish Empire. They especially wanted to increase farming and mining, and make trade bigger. The new system was meant to be more organized, making the colonies rely more on Spain and buy Spanish goods. The kings hoped these changes would make Spain's economy much better. Also, the Bourbon Reforms tried to reduce the power of the Criollos (people of Spanish descent born in the Americas) and give more power back to the peninsulars (people born in Spain).

The reforms had mixed results. They did make some parts of the government more efficient, but they also made the local leaders in the Americas (the Criollos) very unhappy. This unhappiness eventually helped lead to the independence of all Spanish colonies overseas. It's not a simple story where the reforms directly caused independence, but the problems and anger they created certainly helped set the stage for local protests and, later, big revolts.

Why Spain Needed Changes
- A New King and New Rules
- French Ideas Come to Spain
Changes in Spain
Changes in Spanish America
What Happened Because of the Reforms?
See also

Why Spain Needed Changes

At the end of the 1600s, Spain was a struggling empire. Its income was falling, its military was weak, and its king, Charles II, had no children to take over. Even before he died in 1700, other European countries were already trying to figure out who would get the Spanish throne and its huge empire. The King of France, Louis XIV of France, got permission from the Pope for his grandson, Philip of Anjou, to become the next king. When Charles II died, he left the crown to Philip, but this led to a big international fight called the War of the Spanish Succession. This war lasted from 1702 to 1713, with countries like Portugal and England fighting against the French House of Bourbon.

A New King and New Rules

The war ended with the Treaty of Utrecht, which officially made Philip V of Spain the king. But the new Bourbon kings had to give up some land to other countries. They lost some European territories to the Austrian Habsburgs, and places like Jamaica, some Balearic islands, and Gibraltar to others.

Spain also had to give the British government the asiento de negros, which was a special contract giving Britain the sole right to sell African slaves to Spanish colonies in the Americas.

Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, quickly started making changes to fix Spain's problems. Before the war, the empire was in bad shape. The military was tiny, the treasury was empty, and there was no government support for businesses or factories. Philip V and his advisors had to act fast to rebuild the empire.

French Ideas Come to Spain

The new Bourbon kings stayed close with France and often used French advisors. French ideas about government and social customs became very popular in Spain, even though they didn't completely replace Spanish laws. This led to many French goods, ideas, and books coming into the Spanish world, which helped spread the ideas of the Enlightenment. People who liked these new French influences were called afrancesados. Also, during the War of Succession, British and Dutch ships blocked the ports of Spanish America. Spain had to ask France for help to export its goods. This was the first time Spanish colonies legally traded with a foreign country, as before, trade with other European countries was usually illegal. This new trade helped the colonial economy, especially in Chile.

Changes in Spain

Charles III of Spain, who started many big reforms.

The first reforms aimed to make Spain's economy and government better. They wanted to modernize farming, build more ships, and improve roads and other infrastructure to help the economy grow across the country. Spain was constantly competing with Britain, France, and Portugal for control of Atlantic trade. These rivalries often led to wars, which made it hard for Spain to focus on its own industries. For example, mercury, which Spain imported, was vital for getting silver out of mines. But French ships blocking the ports made it hard to get mercury to Spanish America. This caused silver mining to drop, and Spain's income decreased. In the end, it was these conflicts at home that often made the reforms less successful.

The problems with the reforms became clear when Spain, under Charles III, lost the Seven Years' War to Great Britain (1756–1763). Charles III's advisors then realized they needed to understand Spain's overseas territories much better. The new wave of reforms included taking more resources from the colonies, increasing taxes, opening new ports for trade only with Spain, and creating several government-controlled businesses (called monopolies).

Changes in Spanish America

José de Gálvez, a key reformer in New Spain.

The Palacio de Minería in Mexico City. The Crown wanted to boost silver mining.

In Spanish America, a book called Nuevo Sistema de gobierno económico para la América (New System of Economic Government for America) by José del Campillo y Cosío (1743) greatly influenced the reforms. He compared Spain's colonies to those of Britain and France, noting that Britain and France got much more benefit from their colonies. He suggested that Spain change its economic relationship with its overseas lands to be more like the mercantilism ideas of France's Jean-Baptiste Colbert.

The Bourbon reforms have been called a "revolution in government" because they completely changed how the government was structured. They aimed to make the Spanish government stronger, reduce the power of local leaders, and increase money for the king.

Government Changes

Most of the changes in Spanish America happened in the second half of the 1700s, after José de Gálvez did a big inspection (called a visita general) of New Spain (1765–1771). Gálvez later became the Minister of the Indies. During his inspection, he found the government in New Spain to be very disorganized. He reorganized the tax system, rewarded loyal Spanish merchants, jailed corrupt tax collectors, and pushed the local economy towards mining. The reforms started in New Spain were then used in other parts of Spanish America.

Earlier, in 1717, a new Viceroyalty of New Granada was created from parts of the Viceroyalty of Peru to improve how the colonies were managed. This new viceroyalty was created, then stopped for a few years, and then permanently set up in 1739. This change showed that Spain realized the northern part of South America was too far from Peru to be managed well. Other areas like Guatemala and Venezuela also became more important. In 1776, another new area, the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, was also created from the Viceroyalty of Peru as part of Gálvez's big government changes.

Creating new viceroyalties also showed that the Spanish kings realized there was a lot of illegal trade happening in Spanish America. They wanted to bring this trade into the official system so they could collect taxes from it. While some people think the reforms aimed to stop illegal trade, it seems many illegal trade routes were simply made official so the crown could tax them.

Also, after José de Gálvez introduced comercio libre [es] (free internal trade), merchants in Spanish America asked the king for new consulados (merchant courts). These courts would solve business disagreements and help build up the colony's infrastructure. They would also try to start new economic projects. The consulados showed that Spain was trying to make its American colonies important parts of the monarchy, not just faraway lands. But like many other changes, the consulados also shifted power away from the Criollo elite and into the hands of Spaniards born in Spain. When Criollos lost control of these roles, they also lost much of their control over trade and the economy, which further weakened their power.

Another part of the Bourbon reforms focused on how cities were set up. In Spanish America, cities were planned around a main public square, and much of city life happened there. During the reforms, the Spanish kings wanted to change this "Plaza Mayor" model, where the square was a daily market and festival space, to a "Plaza de Armas" model, where the square would be cleared for military activities. These changes involved building projects, moving things around, and some projects that were never finished. Even though they were only partly put into practice, some of these ideas continued to be used even after the colonies became independent.

Under Charles III, all colonial matters were handled by a single ministry, which took power away from the Council of the Indies. Also, the progress that Americans (Criollos) had made in local government over the past 150 years, often by buying official positions, was stopped. Instead, Spanish officials (who were supposed to be more skilled and fair) were directly appointed.

Charles III and Charles IV also reversed the progress Criollos had made in the high courts (audiencias). Under the Habsburgs, the king had sold audiencia positions to Criollos. The Bourbon kings ended this. By 1807, only 12 out of 99 audiencia judges were Criollos.

Trade and Money

The main goal of the War of Succession was to decide which European countries would control Atlantic trade. When the war ended in 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain lost important lands and also gave the British government the asiento de negros, the monopoly to sell African slaves to Spanish colonies. This meant Spain lost a lot of money and also created ways for British merchants to trade illegally. With these losses, Spain relied heavily on its American colonies to stay a strong European power.

The Bourbon Reforms made Spain's economic policy more like mercantilism. This idea means countries try to sell as much as possible and buy as little as possible to get more wealth.

A big goal of the reforms was to increase legal trade with Spanish America to collect more tax money for the king. But this was often difficult because of illegal trade and more foreign merchants. One way to reduce illegal trade was to move the Casa de la Contratación (the House of Trade that managed Spanish trade with its colonies) from Seville, where illegal trade was common, to Cádiz in 1717. However, illegal trade simply moved to Cádiz with it.

Then, in 1778, the Free Trade Decree (Reglamento para el comercio libre) was passed. The king believed that free and protected trade between Spain and the Americas was the best way to make Spain great again. This act is seen as a key part of the Bourbon reforms. The Free Trade decree opened all ports in the colonies to trade with Spanish-controlled ports in the colonies or Spain. This meant that the special trade privileges that only a few ports had enjoyed were now gone. It's important to know that this "free" trade was only free in a limited way. There were still some geographic limits, and places like Venezuela and New Spain were left out at first.

A main reason for freeing trade was that King Charles wanted to end the monopoly of Cádiz, a Spanish port, over trade with the Americas. Cádiz couldn't handle the huge demand from the Americas, and the king wanted to stop relying so much on this monopoly for money. Many important advisors, like Gálvez, supported free trade.

Another goal was to get raw materials from Spanish America more efficiently and create a market in the Americas just for Spanish goods. The Bourbons, with the help of José Patiño, started new ways to make and import goods from Spanish America to Spain. One successful idea was setting up royal monopolies and trading companies as early as 1717. These companies controlled crops like tobacco and sugar in Cuba, and cacao in Venezuela. By charging higher prices for Spanish imports and paying lower prices for exports from Spanish America, these companies made huge profits that mostly benefited Spain, not the colonies. For example, in the 1750s, the royal monopoly on Cuban tobacco made over 500 million pesos in profit.

Venezuela was one of the first places where these trade reforms were tested. Starting in the 1730s, the Royal Guipuzcoana company of Caracas had a monopoly on Venezuelan trade. People in Venezuela were frustrated with this, leading to a revolt against the company in 1749. While the revolt was quickly stopped, the Bourbons did limit the company's power afterward, which mostly helped the wealthy Criollo elites who profited from cacao trade.

The way trade was shipped also changed after 1740. Instead of the old Habsburg fleet system, which was slow and easily attacked, Spain moved to a single-ship system. This was more competitive with foreign merchants and opened more Spanish American ports to trade across the Atlantic.

Tobacco became a very successful crop after state monopolies were expanded. Many colonies also started producing a lot of other resources. These became vital for European powers and British colonies, even though much of this trade was considered illegal because it wasn't carried on Spanish ships. Most Bourbon kings tried to stop this illegal trade by increasing customs taxes, but it didn't work very well.

An example of Bourbon involvement in the Peruvian tobacco industry shows that the Bourbons were good at making money from their monopolies. They understood how to organize things and control illegal markets. Sometimes, when monopolies seemed to fail, it was due to problems in Europe or changes in policies back in Spain. When conflicts arose because of these policies, the monopolies were sometimes made less strict.

Merchants in Cádiz benefited greatly from these changes, and much wealth went to the already rich Spaniards born in Spain. Criollo merchants, however, saw their profits decrease as monopolies were broken up. But many of them simply started investing in mining, especially in New Spain.

In New Spain, economic reforms aimed not just to increase money for the king, but also to make the king's government essential to the local economy. José de Gálvez, the inspector general in New Spain, made rules about workers' wages (1769). This rule set wages for free workers and conditions for contracts and debt repayment. Under the Bourbons, these wage rules directly affected the lower classes and created the organization Spain needed for more economic success and control.

Buenos Aires and Taxes

Buenos Aires was perfect for bringing goods from the Americas to Spain. The port city was very important for getting silver out because it was close to the rich Potosí mines. Silver could easily be sent to Spain from there. However, Buenos Aires was also a center for illegal trade along the Atlantic coast.

The Bourbons started big projects to gather information about their American colonies. They made very detailed maps showing land, mineral deposits, bridges, canals, forts, and mines. These maps helped the Bourbons achieve their goals, like restarting old mines and creating new ones. They also used these maps to collect taxes more efficiently, based on what the colonies produced and consumed.

Also, the practice of "tax-farming" ended. Before the reforms, people, especially wealthy Criollos, could buy the right to collect taxes from the king. They would pay the king an estimated amount upfront, and then collect the taxes themselves. But with this practice gone, and the government collecting taxes directly, tax rates were higher and couldn't be negotiated. This was part of the king's effort to regain control over the American colonies, as he felt Criollos had too much power through things like selling official positions and tax-farming.

Tax collection became more efficient under the "intendancy system." In 1778, Charles III created the "Decree of Free Trade," which allowed Spanish American ports to trade directly with each other and with most ports in Spain. This meant trade was no longer limited to just a few colonial ports. Tax reductions were given to the silver mining industry to encourage silver production, which had dropped in Spanish America in the early 1700s. Spain relied heavily on silver for tax money, especially from the Potosí mines. In 1736, the tax on silver was cut in half to encourage more silver production to be reported. Over the 1700s, the demand for silver made Buenos Aires an important port. Between 1776 and 1783, 80% of the goods leaving Buenos Aires were silver shipments.

Charles III also started the difficult process of changing the complex government system from the previous Habsburg kings. The Corregidores (local officials) were replaced with a French idea called the intendant. The intendants were directly responsible to the king and had a lot of power over economic and political matters. This system helped collect more money. Intendants were mostly based in large cities and successful mining areas. Almost all new intendants were Peninsulares (people born in Spain), which made the conflict worse between Peninsulares and Criollos, who wanted to keep some control over local government. The intendancy system pushed the Criollo elite further out of power.

The intendancy system was part of the Bourbons' new approach to boost the economy of Spain itself. Intendants were meant to encourage economic activities that produced goods for export, focusing on getting raw materials rather than manufacturing.

Mapping the Colonies

The Bourbons started huge projects to gather information and map the natural resources in their American colonies. This was to help them use the colonies' resources more efficiently. These projects included counting people (censuses) and making many detailed maps. Different types of maps showed land, mineral deposits, bridges, canals, forts, and important features like mines. Maps of mines showed plans of mining towns and technical drawings of equipment. These maps helped the Bourbons achieve other reform goals, like restarting old mines and creating new ones. They also used these maps to collect more accurate taxes from their colonies based on what they produced.

Farming Changes

In farming, the Bourbons created government monopolies over crops and even over buying those crops. They focused on crops grown for export, like sugar, indigo, cochineal (a dye), tobacco, and cacao. The government was in charge of taking these raw products and turning them into finished goods. Through this whole process, the king's government focused on collecting tax money. Spanish merchants also benefited from these changes. This shift to focusing on export crops and commercial farming further limited the colonies' freedom, as they became direct sources of raw materials for the Spanish Empire. This increased the need for trade between Spain and the colonies, as colonies exported raw goods and needed to receive processed and manufactured goods from Spain.

Military Changes

The Bourbon reforms brought a new way of organizing the military in Latin America. The Bourbons were worried that other European empires might try to invade their lands. So, they built fortresses and military bases. They also strongly encouraged the creation of militias (groups of armed citizens) made up of people from different backgrounds and races to support their regular army. The military was one area where Criollos still had some political power. The Bourbons even encouraged Criollos to create and control these militias. Criollos were also asked to set up towns and collect money to support their militias and build defenses. Soon, these militias became much larger and more powerful than the regular Spanish army. In New Spain alone, there were 6,000 Spanish soldiers compared to 23,000 militia members. Some believe militias were organized by race, but other studies show that men from all races, especially mixed-race people, joined them. These militias helped the Spanish army, which was busy with conflicts back home. Eventually, these militias formed the basis for independent armies and turned against Spain. Spain was outnumbered and already fighting abroad, which put them in a tough spot they had created themselves.

After losing Havana and Manila badly in the Seven Years' War, a secret group in Madrid was formed to plan military reforms. They decided to:

Strengthen forts.
Send more regular soldiers from Spain to the colonies and create new colonial units so Spain wouldn't need to send reinforcements during emergencies.
Put artillery under the main Royal Artillery Corps.
Completely reorganize and greatly expand the existing colonial militias.

The number of soldiers in the forts (Presidios) in the Provincias Internas (internal provinces) grew from 734 men in 1729 to 3,087 in 1787. These forts and patrols helped keep northern Mexico relatively safe.

By 1784, the militia in New Spain had grown to 18,000 well-organized men, plus another 15,000 less organized troops. In Central America, the Captain-General of Guatemala had an additional 21,136 militiamen.

Mining Improvements

The Bourbons made many changes to mining to reverse the decline of mines in New Spain and to increase Spain's wealth. Mines had been struggling due to old technology and high costs. As tunnels went deeper, flooding became a bigger problem, and it cost more time and money to get minerals out. So, the Spanish king tried to restart old mines and create new ones. These reforms included giving mine owners control over labor costs by allowing them to pay lower wages. They also lowered the prices of gunpowder and made its supply more efficient, along with a more steady and cheaper supply of mercury, which was used to refine silver. The reforms also gave tax breaks for mine production. In 1787, new mining rules were created in New Spain, and the Tribunal de Minería was set up in Lima to make mining more efficient. In 1792, the Tribunal opened a new mining school, but it had limited success.

Mine production grew a lot under the Bourbons, with silver output increasing by over 15 million Pesos in Mexico alone. Some historians say this growth was due to the Bourbon reforms, while others say it was more because entrepreneurs (business people) invested more in mining during this time. For example, in Zacatecas, a mining area with huge changes in production, historian Tandeter says the growth in the early 1700s was due to individual entrepreneurs. Their investments led to better mining technology and lower costs.

The city of Potosí also saw increases in silver production. The mita system (forced labor for indigenous people) was still in place. Merchants could still be involved in mining by buying the rights to mita workers and by selling goods to indigenous people.

The Catholic Church and the Reforms

The Catholic Church played a big role in the Bourbon Reforms, especially in the viceroyalties (territories governed by a viceroy, a ruler acting for the king). The Catholic Church was very important in Spanish America, and the new colonies were seen as a chance to spread Catholicism.

The Church and the King in Spanish America had a clear alliance. Church institutions had some freedom from the King. The fuero eclesiástico, or clerical immunity, meant that church members were protected from royal courts. Any civil or criminal offense by a cleric would be heard in a church court, not a royal one. This privilege extended to all clerics, nuns, priests, monks, and friars, and even to land owned by them. This meant the Spanish King couldn't easily enforce justice or collect taxes on church property.

Spreading Christianity to Maroons (Africans who escaped slavery and lived with indigenous people) was important for controlling African resistance. In the 1500s, converting native peoples was seen as a way to conquer them peacefully. It was used to "pacify" (make peaceful) Africans who had escaped slavery and settled in Spanish America. In places like Ecuador, Mexico, and Panama, making Maroon societies peaceful depended heavily on spreading Spanish Catholicism. This often caused tension with the relationships Maroons had already built with Catholic priests. However, bringing Christianity didn't stop the development of local religious traditions of Africans and indigenous Americans.

One of the biggest changes in the Bourbon Reforms was the expulsion of the Jesuits. The Society of Jesus, whose members are called Jesuits, had become one of the most powerful groups in the colonies and had a lot of influence until the Bourbon Reforms. First, in 1750, a treaty between Spain and Portugal exchanged land in South America. Spain's plan to give Portugal land with seven Jesuit missions led to strong Jesuit resistance and a war between Spain and Portugal in 1762. In 1767, Charles III of Spain ordered 2,200 Jesuits to be removed from the colonies. Of these, 678 were from Mexico, and 75% of the Mexican Jesuits were born in Mexico.

The Jesuits were more than just missionaries. They were very smart and influential business people and controlled large parts of the American colonies. Also, the Jesuits were very loyal to the Pope. So, the King likely felt it was best to make sure people in the American colonies were more loyal to him than to any other group.

Many colonists were unhappy about the expulsion of the Jesuits. Some historians believe the Bourbon Reforms helped American-born Spaniards (Criollos) gain more confidence. The expulsion of the Jesuits showed ideas of breaking away from the colonial past, aiming for progress, and separating the Catholic Church and the government. These factors played a big role in modernizing Spanish America. Spanish soldiers went to Mexico and rounded up the Jesuits to be sent to Italy. But when they arrived, Pope Clement XIII refused to let them into papal territory. The Jesuits were then sent to Corsica, but it took a while to get them onto the island due to a rebellion there. An advisor to Charles III, Bernardo Tanucci, also didn't welcome the Jesuits into Naples, and they were threatened with death if they crossed the border back to Naples. Historian Charles Gibson called the expulsion of the Jesuits a "sudden and devastating move" by the Spanish King to show his power.

Another view is that the Jesuits were expelled mainly because the Bourbons needed someone to blame after King Charles's failures in the Seven Years' War and due to riots in Madrid caused by his reforms. Charles created a group that blamed the unrest in Madrid on the Jesuits. Historians Andrien and Kuethe argue that "claims of a Jesuit-led conspiracy allowed the crown to find a scapegoat without confronting directly the broad array of popular and conservative political forces opposed to reform."

The focus on the government's strong role in church reforms sometimes made the church seem against change and modern ideas. Many nuns in the 1700s resisted the idea of the church and government joining forces. Many priests and nuns were hesitant because they feared the government would gain too much power and try to change the Catholic Church's beliefs. While the Catholic Church and the Spanish King formed an alliance that lasted for centuries, these changes were part of a movement to make the church follow the government. Removing the fuero (immunity) also removed what the King likely saw as unnecessary middlemen, making the government stronger. Also, at this time in Europe, there was a growing idea of separating Church and State, and the Bourbons were quite modern in their understanding of this.

However, the relationship between the Church and the Bourbon reforms in Spanish America wasn't always the same everywhere. While the trends mentioned above were seen in the main areas of Spanish America, missionaries still played an active part in the Spanish colonial empire, even during the height of the reforms. Missionaries were often sent with soldiers into new frontier areas as a more humane and cheaper way for the king to convert, control, and bring new indigenous peoples into the empire.

What Happened Because of the Reforms?

The Bourbon reforms did succeed in raising money and increasing silver production in Spanish America. While changes in tax collection and trade policy greatly helped the colonies' economies, local industries suffered. Changes like removing taxes on Spanish wine and blocking local production methods were meant to encourage people to buy Spanish products. During this time, as local production struggled, wealth increasingly went to the Criollo and government elites, and less to the lower classes. While some regions, like Buenos Aires, saw growth, in other places, especially smaller towns or rural areas, the lack of wealthy Criollo elites and the huge differences in wealth distribution led to unrest. This eventually turned into complaints, and then riots and revolts.

Historians have different ideas about how successful the Bourbon reforms were. But even though the laws passed by the Bourbons did a lot to reform the Empire, it wasn't enough to keep it together. Many of these reforms created the conditions for unrest that kept growing until the movements for independence. However, it's important not to think of this as a simple, straight line where the reforms just caused more and more unrest until everything broke and revolts started. For example, while the militias created during this time did eventually become the basis of independence armies, this didn't become a big problem until much later. There were many riots, but they usually didn't threaten the whole system, rarely made big demands, and were usually in response to something specific.

When studying these reforms, especially the economic ones, it's important to pay close attention to where the money being made was going. Much of it went to the Criollo elites in the cities, to government elites, and to the Spanish treasury in the Americas. The wealth being created was not being shared with the lower classes. This, along with more rules and duties, especially for indigenous people, created a society that was very difficult for the common people in colonial Spanish America.

Tensions continued to grow, and widespread unhappiness led to more and more revolts in the Andean region. In the mid-1700s, the number of uprisings steadily increased. From 1750 to 1759, there were 11 recorded, while 20 years later, from 1770-1779, there were more than 20. The next decade, the Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II was mainly driven by the frustrations of the indigenous community, but it also included black slaves and Criollos. This alliance between different groups didn't last, and the Spanish army crushed the uprising. The Revolt of the Comuneros, led by a Criollo, made demands in Bogota that would benefit Criollos and Indians, but it was not successful. The people of New Spain, especially the peasant class, felt the oppression of the Bourbons but didn't revolt in the same way as their southern neighbors. Rising land costs, disease, crime, and farming problems increased tensions in New Spain. It's important to note that while a threat, the Tupac Amaru II revolt did not aim to overthrow the Spanish king. Tupac Amaru himself claimed to be loyal and only carrying out the King's will. The unrest in the late 1700s was not about independence or Enlightenment ideas, and often used traditional Spanish law and Catholic beliefs to justify itself. However, some scholars see it as a step towards the eventual independence of the American colonies.

Not all rebellions were violent. In Venezuela, the movement was mostly an economic protest that the government's response turned into a rebellion. It involved smaller farmers and merchants, many of them Criollos, and their cry was 'long live the King and death to the Vizcayans'. Even at its peak, "the rebellion remained a moderate movement, basically a peaceful protest, led by a man who in no way was a revolutionary." In the end, while the leader was executed, there was limited violence, and the revolt led to fewer privileges for the Caracas company. This example shows that not all revolts were bloody.