A Crisis of Sovereignty

The French emperor Napoleon’s invasion of the Iberian Peninsula caused a massive global disruption that was felt in the far reaches of the New World. People living under Spanish rule in Central and South America, especially the elite, had to confront a crisis in monarchical sovereignty and decide where their allegiance would lie. The documents in this section illustrate how a crisis that began in the Iberian Peninsula affected the daily lives of people throughout Spanish America. Initially, most maintained their loyalty to Ferdinand VII, the Spanish King forced to abdicate to Napoleon. Although produced by elites, the documents also suggest how the crisis unleashed uprisings by indigenous people and popular sectors in Mexico and South America.

"Naciones: la guerrera España, y la tranquila y abundante América, unidas por el amor y la fidelidad sostienen el Trono de Fernando Séptimo"
"Nations: the warrior Spain, and the calm and abundant America, united by love and fidelity, support the Throne of Ferdinand the Seventh"
1809-10-14

This striking document draws one’s eyes to the framed image of King Ferdinand XII of Spain surrounded by Greek muses symbolizing loyalty, abundance, just warfare, and knowledge. Under the image, the caption reveals that Mexico City lawyers were behind the commissioning of the image in October of 1809. The general director of the royal academy of San Carlos in Mexico designed and drew this image, which was printed in Mexico immediately after news of Napoleon’s invasion of Iberia crossed the Atlantic. Through it, the elite class in Mexico displayed their loyalty to their King and their displeasure at the forced abdication at the hands of French usurpers. Little did elites in Mexico City know that they stood on the cusp of the dissolution of Spain’s Atlantic Monarchy. Independence came for Mexico in 1821, but only through its adoption of a monarchy, which only four years later was replaced by republicanism. The refined aesthetics of this image are jarring when juxtaposed with the instability, violence, and transformations unleashed by war and independence.

Letter to the Marqués del Valle del Tojo regarding his exile and sale of his properties, page 1
Letter to the Marqués del Valle del Tojo regarding his exile and sale of his properties, page 1
1812-11-27

The Marqués del Valle del Tojo held economic and political power in the region between Bolivia and Argentina, and this letter reflects the ways the Constitution of Cadiz of 1812 began to affect the indigenous labor drafts in one of the most productive silver mines in the world. This letter was written by Manuel Duran de Castro in Potosi to his wealthy boss, the Marqués del Valle del Tojo. Manuel Duran de Castro, who was in charge of the Marqués’ real estate in Potosi, wrote to the Marqués to inform him of the impending sale of his properties. By November 1812, when the letter was written, the Cádiz Constitution had abolished the mita, a system of forced labor drafts critical for production in the Marqués's Potosí mines. Although constitutional changes may have prompted the Marqués' interest in selling his properties, the sale was delayed by an embargo. A dozen mysterious killings in the area had also made sales difficult. Given existing threats to his wealth and property caused by constitutional and local instability, it should not be surprising that the Marqués del Valle left the royalist ranks and joined the patriot cause against the Spanish Cortes.

Copy of a representation to Fernando VII from the Spanish Peninsular denizens of Zacatecas reporting on the revolutionary violence against them, page 1
Copy of a representation to Fernando VII from the Spanish Peninsular denizens of Zacatecas reporting on the revolutionary violence against them, page 1
1813

The strikingly elegant handwriting on this thin parchment begs the King of Spain for help with security and protection from the "ferocious" indigenous people of Zacatecas, Mexico in 1813. The problem was that by 1813, King Ferdinand VII was imprisoned in France after having abdicated the Spanish throne to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1808. The crisis in sovereignty that ensued sparked destabilizing violence, especially in the region of the Mexican Bajío, which included Zacatecas.