A Biographical Sketch of Francisco De Paula Sanz, Spanish Colonial Official
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1977 A Biographical Sketch of Francisco De Paula Sanz, Spanish Colonial Official. Christopher Thomas Williams Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Williams, Christopher Thomas, "A Biographical Sketch of Francisco De Paula Sanz, Spanish Colonial Official." (1977). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3142. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3142 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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University Microfilms international 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John’s Road, Tyler’s Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR 77-28,707 WILLIAMS, Christopher Thomas, 1948- A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FRANCISCO DE PAULA SANZ, SPANISH COLONIAL OFFICIAL. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1977 History, Latin America Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 © 1977 CHRISTOPHER THOMAS WILLIAMS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP FRANCISCO DE PAULA SANZ, SPANISH COLONIAL OFFICIAL A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Latin American Studies Institute by Christopher Thomas Williams B.A., Hendrix College, 1970 M.A,, Louisiana State University, 1972 August, 1977 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my major professor, Dr. Jane DeGrummond, for directing this dissertation, and Dr. Paul Hoffman for helping to improve it. Dr. Leonard C&rdenas read the manuscript and suggested improvements. I must acknowledge my gratitude to the late Don Armando Alba, Director of the Archivo de la Casa de la Moneda in Potosi, for suggesting this topic to me in 1974. Dr. Gunnar Mendoza, Director of the Archivo Nacional de Bolivia, was also helpful during the research phase of this project, as was Dr. Alberto Crespo Rodas, Director of the library of the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz. I appreciate the assistance of Dr. Eduardo Martird of the Law Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires. Mr. Brian Coutts, a graduate student of Dr. Hoffman's, doing research in Seville, aided me by sending microfilm copies of docu ments in the Archivo General de Indias. My work was facilitated by two fellowships for which I am grateful. A Fulbright-Hays fellowship financed my investigations in South America, and a fellowship from Louisiana State University. gave me "aid and comfort" during the actual writing. Finally, I am deeply grateful to my wife Sarah for her patient help, support and encouragement. ii TABLE OP CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................... ii LIST OF TABLES...................................... iv LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS................................ V ABSTRACT........................................... vi ABBREVIATIONS................................. i* INTRODUCTION........................................ x Chapter I. POTOSI IN THE 18th CENTURY: DECLINING FORTUNES OF A BOOM T O W N .................. 1 II. POTOSI AND THE BOURBON REFORMS............. 28 III. SANZ BEFORE COMING TO POTOSI............... 44 IV. SANZ'S EARLY EFFORTS TO INCREASE PRODUCTION AT POTOSI...................... 83 V. POLEMICS OVER THE MITA..................... 116 VI. SANZ'S EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN PRODUCTION IN POTOSI 1797-1808 ...................... 152 VII. SANZ AS A REACTIONARY IN UPPER P E R U ........ 181 VIII. EPILOGUE AND CONCLUSION.................... 208 APPENDIX........................................... 219 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................ 221 VITA ............................................... 228 LIST OF TABLES* Table Page 1. PotosI Production Figures Under Sanz and Under His Two Immediate Predecessors ................................ 178 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration Page Graph I. Estimated Potosi Silver Production,.. 1550-1810................. 11 Map I. The Viceroyalty of Ri6 de la Pl a t a ....... 218 v ABSTRACT The Bourbon Kings of Spain worked to enhance their governing capabilities during the eighteenth century. They borrowed mo d e m institutions such as the intendancy from their relatives in France, and used them to improve adminis tration in Spain. Charles III, on the advice of his enlightened ministers, began extending the reforms to Spain's empire in order to increase colonial revenues. Among these reforms was the creation of a Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata in 1776. Six years later, Spanish authorities applied the intendancy system to the new viceroyalty. The operation of this new administrative unit was an experiment in colonial management and an attempt to strengthen Spain's tenuous hold on her colonies. Francisco de Paula Sanz, the subject of this study, held several important positions in the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata during all but a few months of its existence. A brief examination of his career would therefore be helpful toward understanding how a Spanish colonial official actually dealt with local and viceregal issues, and how policies emerged from bureaucratic conflicts and maneuverings. Sanz was appointed Director of the Royal Tobacco Monopoly for Rio de la Plata in 1777, the year after the viceroyalty was established. He set up the machinery for the Monopoly in Buenos Aires and then spent three years traveling throughout the different provinces to establish branches and to inspect facilities. Following his return to Buenos Aires, Sanz was named Superintendent General of War and Finance for the viceroyalty. During his five years as superintendent, he clashed with his superior, the viceroy, over the prerogatives of their offices. This disagreement was one reason why the superintendency was incorporated into the viceroy*s office and Sanz was made Intendant Governor of Potosi, far to the north in Upper Peru. Sanz arrived in the once wealthy mining town in December 1788. His major task there was to increase silver production. To accomplish this, he encouraged the adoption of modern methods of mining and refining and sought financial aid for the members of the mining community. He also expended great efforts to defend the mita, the system of forced Indian labor which benefited Potosi miners. The Audiencia of Charcas and its liberal Fiscal, Victorian de Villava, tried to malign and diminish the service in the 1790's. But Sanz's public treatises and private maneuverings helped to preserve the institution for another fifteen years. The Indendant Governor continued to work through the next decade to increase the yield of the Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) of Potosi. He secured government loans for mine operators when the area was threatened by drought and the lack of mercury. In 1809, after these crises had subsided, the Audiencia of Charcas deposed its president. Sanz organized and led an armed invasion that threatened the city of La Plata— the first royalist maneuver against Upper Peru's struggle for independence. The following year, radicals in Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy and set up a governing junta. Sanz helped to organize a defense against the expeditionary force that the junta sent to subdue Upper Peru. The rebels were victorious, and Sanz was captured and executed