Pre-Revolutionary Caracas: Politics, Economy, and Society 1777–1811 (Cambridge Latin American Studies, Series Number 56)

Almost invariably, late-colonial Caracas has been described as a society full of tensions and a colony at odds with the imperial order. This study, in contrast, portrays a colony, which grew, prospered and matured within the confines of Empire. It depicts the late 1700s as the golden age of caraqueño colonial society and suggests that it was no accident that this late renaissance created an environment which bred the self-confident men who led much of Spanish America to independence. The causes of the independence struggle, and the violence, which accompanied it, are considered in the context of the imperial crisis provoked by Napoleon's invasion of Spain. The findings of this study are based on an exceptionally varied array of new data on the economy and society of late eighteenth-century Caracas, of which a collection of 800 wills is the most impressive. Almost invariably, late-colonial Caracas has been described as a society full of tensions and a colony at odds with the imperial order. This study, in contrast, portrays a colony, which grew, prospered and matured within the confines of Empire. It depicts the late 1700s as the golden age of caraqueño colonial society and suggests that it was no accident that this late renaissance created an environment which bred the self-confident men who led much of Spanish America to independence. The causes of the independence struggle, and the violence, which accompanied it, are considered in the context of the imperial crisis provoked by Napoleon's invasion of Spain. The findings of this study are based on an exceptionally varied array of new data on the economy and society of late eighteenth-century Caracas, of which a collection of 800 wills is the most impressive. Pre-Revolutionary Caracas portrays a colony which grew, prospered and matured within the confines of Empire. It depicts the late 1700s as the golden age of caraqueño colonial society and credits this late renaissance with producing the self-confident men who led much of Spanish America to independence. The population of Caracas can be examined with a great degree of accuracy thanks to the extraordinary compilation of data for the colonial Bishopric of Caracas carried out by John Lombardi. P. Michael Mckinley. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 212-217.