Resistance to Empire - From Tupac Amaru to Simon Bolivar

I. Patterns of Resistance

• A. Resistance was common, began early

  • 1. Spaniards and Portuguese had to deal with armed resistance almost immediately

  • 2. Some groups took a long time to conquer

    • a. A rump Inca state existed at Vilcamba until 1572 (last Inca: Tupac Amaru I)

    • b. Tayasal of the Itza Maya in Guatemala remained independent until 1697

  • 3. Others were never conquered, such as the Auracanians of southern Chile

  • 4. Amerindians also many forms forms of resistance besides rebellion

    • a. escape - this was particularly true in jungle regions, like Brazil

    • b. cultural resistance - holding on to pre-colonial practices

      • i. language

      • ii. religion

      • iii. traditional family structures

      • iv. community identity

    • c. suicide and infanticide

    • d. homicide (as opposed to full-scale revolt)

• B. Rebellion was usually rooted in local concerns

  • 1. Peasant villagers fought in defense of embattled communities 

  • 2. Rarely did they challenge the colonial order itself, but sought to defend community rights 

  • 3. Often these peasants conceived these communities being older than or even existing outside of the colonial state

  • 4. Thus they did not automatically accept colonial power

  • 5. Land often a cause of rebellion, but not the only cause

  • 6. Peasant rebellion also was meant to defend community autonomy and ethnic identity

II. Maroon/Quilombo communities

• A. In many areas, escaped slaves formed communities outside the colonial order

• B. In the Caribbean, these communities mostly formed by mass escape

  • 1. Jamaican maroons produced mostly y English invasions in mid-1600s

  • 2. In the Guayanas, also triggered mostly by foreign invasions 

• B. Most active area for marroon communities was Brazil, where they are called quilombos

  • 1. Large slave population and open frontier made this possible

  • 2. Most famous was Palmares c.1600-1695

III. General Patterns of Revolt

• A. Indian revolts most likely in times of strong colonial government

• B. Increasing population in 1700s seems to have triggered revolt because of land pressures

• B. Slave revolts most likely during times of weak government

III. Bourbon Reforms of mid 1700s would trigger new kinds of resistance

• A. 1700 - Hapsburg line replaced by French Bourbons
• B. Felt strong enough by mid-century to seek reform
  • 1. Weaken local, creole power in favor of royal and penisulare power
  • 2. Rationalize trade
  • 3. More efficiently siphon off colonial wealth
  • 4. Strengthen Empire against outsiders, e.g. British, Dutch, French.
• C. Colonial reaction
  • 1. Greatly stimulated economy
  • 2. Deeply upset local groups who saw power, traditional life threatened
  • 3. Amerindians disliked efforts to bring them into modern economy
  • 4. Lay basis for independence

IV. Tupac Amaru II and the Comuneros Revolt

• A. Comuneros Revolt
  • 1. New Granada (Columbia, primarily) 1781
  • 2. Perhaps 20,000 rebels
  • 3. Essentially a tax revolt and a revolt against Bourbon efforts to strengthen govt.
  • 4. Sought to increase creole power, but not to overthrow empire
  • 5. Fundamentally conservative - sought a return to pre-Bourbon laws
• B. Tupac Amaru II
  • 1. Peru and Bolivia (and other Andean regions) 1780-81
  • 2. Led by the mestizo Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera
  • 3. Claiming descent from Inca royal family, styled himself as Tupac Amaru II
  • 4. Tapped into a kind of "Inca nationalism" and hatred for the corregidores
  • 5. Sparked an Indian rebellion throughout Andes
  • 6. Called for reform, pledged loyalty to king, asked non-Indians to join him
  • 7. However, became a race war to expel Spaniards 
  • 8. Mestizos, mulattos in militias sided with creoles, defeated Tupac Amaru
  • 9. Spanish crown removed corregidors, paid more attention to Indian grievances
  • 10. Left elites shaken - would not join in independence wars against Spain