Captaincy General of Venezuela - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Captaincy General of Venezuela was an administrative district of colonial Spain

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

, created in 1777 to provide more autonomy for the provinces of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, previously under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Granada

Viceroyalty of New Granada

The Viceroyalty of New Granada was the name given on 27 May 1717, to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739...

and the Audiencia of Santo Domingo

Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo

The Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo was the first court of the Spanish crown in America. It was created by Ferdinand V of Castile in his decree of 1511, but due to disagreements between the governor of Hispaniola, Diego Colon and the Crown, it was not implemented until it was reestablished by...

. It established a unified government in political (governorship

Governorate

A governorate is an administrative division of a country. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states, provinces, or colonies, the term governorate is often used in translation from non-English-speaking administrations.The...

), military (captaincy general

Captain General

Captain general is a high military rank and a gubernatorial title.-History:This term Captain General started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of commander in chief of an army in the field, probably the first usage of the term General in military settings...

), fiscal (intendancy

Intendant

The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...

) and judicial (audiencia) affairs. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms

Bourbon Reforms

The Bourbon Reforms were a set of economic and political legislation introduced by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon throughout the 18th century. The reforms were intended to stimulate manufacturing and technology in order to modernize Spain...

and laid the groundwork for the future nation of Venezuela, in particular by orienting the province of Maracaibo towards Caracas.

Antecedents

The Bourbons had already taken steps towards reorganizing their overseas possessions and Venezuela, in particular. When the New Granadan Viceroyalty was reestablished in 1739, the governor-captain general of Caracas was given military jurisdiction over the provinces of Maracaibo, Cumaná, Guayana, Trinidad and Margarita. The 18th century also marked a period of marked economic growth for Venezuela. Cocoa plantations were established along the littoral valleys, which resulted in large importations of slaves

Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies

Slavery in the Spanish colonies began with the enslavement of the local indigenous peoples in their homelands by Spanish settlers. Enslavement and production quotas were used to force the local labor to bring a return on the expedition and colonization investments...

. The growth of the cocoa-exporting economy was fomented by the Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas, which was granted a full monopoly over exports and imports in 1728. The Company's second largest export was tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

. It also promoted the exploration and settlement of Venezuela's frontiers, most famously under the Expedition of the Limits, 1750-1761 headed by José de Iturriaga y Aguirre, which resulted in new settlements in the Guayana region. This growth was not experienced evenly, and the monopoly hurt small farmers, who continued to sell most of their product in the contraband trade. Resentment of the Company exploded in open revolt in 1749 headed by Canarian immigrant

Canarian people

The Canarians are an ethnic group living in the archipelago of the Canary Islands , near the coast of Western Africa...

Juan Francisco de León.

Establishment

The Captaincy General, which was essentially a new viceroyalty in all but name, was actually created slowly over time by centralizing fiscal, administrative, military and ecclesiastical rule in Caracas. The first step was the creation of the Intendancy

Intendant

The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...

of Caracas, by Minister of the Indies, José de Gálvez

José de Gálvez

José de Gálvez y Gallardo, marqués de Sonora was a Spanish lawyer, a colonial official in New Spain and ultimately Minister of the Indies . He was one of the prime figures behind the Bourbon Reforms...

in 1776. The new intendancy (superintendencia de ejército y real hacienda) covered the provinces of Venezuela

Venezuela Province

Venezuela Province was a province of the Spanish Empire and later of Venezuela .At one time Calabozo was its capital....

(Caracas), Cumaná

Cumaná

Cumaná is the capital of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located 402 km east of Caracas. It was the first settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland America, in 1501 by Franciscan friars, but due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times...

(sometimes New Andalusia

New Andalusia Province

New Andalusia Province was a Spanish province in the 16th century. It was first colonized by Spaniards in 1569, led by explorer Diego Hernández de Serpa. It comprised what is now eastern Venezuela, western Guyana, and far northern Brazil...

), Guayana

Guayana Province

Guayana Province was a province of the Spanish Empire and later of Venezuela. It was incorporated into the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1776 and covered a territory roughly equal to today's Guayana Region and Guyana....

, Maracaibo

Maracaibo Province (Spanish Empire)

Maracaibo Province or Maracaybo Province from 1676 to 1824 was a province of the Spanish Empire. It resulted from a merger of the former Province of Mérida with the territory of Maracaibo....

, Trinidad and Margarita

Margarita Province

Margarita Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Orinoco Department which was created in 1824.Capital: Asunción.Cantones:* Asunción Canton* Norte Canton ....

. Up to this point Maracaibo, Guayana and Trinidad's governance had been directly supervised by the Bogotá Audiencia; the other three provinces by the one in Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

. The following year a joint governorship-captaincy general

Captaincy

A captaincy is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. Each was governed by a captain general.-In the Portuguese Empire:...

with powers over military and administrative matters was established for the same provinces. Regional governors and military commanders were subordinated to the governor-captain general of Caracas. To maintain uniformity in judicial matters, in 1777 the provinces of Maracaibo, Margarita, Cumaná, Guayana and Trinidad were transferred to the Santo Domingo Audiencia, which had taken appeals from the Province of Caracas since 1742. Judicial matters were finally centralized in 1786 with the creation of the Audiencia of Caracas, which had jurisdiction over these same provinces and the new Barinas Province

Barinas Province

Barinas Province was a province of the Spanish Empire and later of Venezuela.It was founded on 15 February 1786, with territory formerly part of the Maracaibo Province. It was abolished in 1821 as part of Gran Colombia, and recreated in 1830 with Venezuelan independence.Current Apure State and...

, which had been established in the intervening years from the frontier regions of Maracaibo Province. The Audiencia was composed of a regent judge, three judges and a crown attorney. The governor-captain general served as its president. It was to carry out justice and to watch over the action of royal officials in the area of its jurisdiction and only communicated directly with the Council of the Indies in Spain.
A consulado was established in 1793 to oversee the new captaincy general's trade. In religious matters all of the provinces were also placed under the direction of the new archdiocese

Metropolitan bishop

In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

of Caracas

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Caracas , is an ecclesiastical territory over which it exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the Archbishop of Caracas, as a representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela. It was founded as the Diocese of Caracas on June 20, 1637, and was...

in 1803. Two new diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

s, Mérida and Guayana were created, as well. Previously areas of the new diocese of Mérida had been part of the archdiocese of Bogotá

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bogotá is part of the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia. It was founded as the Diocese of Santafé en Nueva Granada on 11 September 1562...

, and Guayana had been part of the diocese of Puerto Rico

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, comprising the northeast portion of the island of Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States...

. Control of the Province of Trinidad was lost to the British in 1797.

Legislation establishing the Captaincy General

The Royal Decree establishing the Captaincy General:

The King.—Inasmuch and keeping in mind what has been reported to me by the current Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of the New Kingdom of Granada and the governors of the Provinces of Guayana and Maracaibo on the inconveniences that are created in the indicated provinces, as well as those of Cumaná and Islands of Margarita and Trinidad, by remaining united as they are to the Viceroyalty and Captaincy General of the indicated New Kingdom of Granada, because of the distance at which they find themselves from its capital Santa Fe, resulting as a consequence the delay in the decisions with the most grave harm to my Royal Service.
Therefore, to avoid these and greater harm, which would result in case of an invasion, I have best resolved the absolute separation of said Provinces of Cumaná, Guayana and Maracaibo, and islands of Trinidad and Margarita, from the Viceroyalty and Captaincy General of the New Kingdom of Granada, and add them in government and military matters to the Captaincy General of Venezuela, in the same manner that they are in regards to the administration of my Royal Treasury to the new Intendancy established in said Province and city of Caracas, its capital. In the same manner I have resolved to separate in judicial matters from the Audiencia of Santa Fe, and to add to the old one of Santo Domingo, the two mentioned Provinces of Maracaibo and Guayana, in the same manner that Cumaná and the islands of Margarita and Trinidad are, so that they find themselves under the same immediate Audiencia, Captain General and Intendant, be better ruled and governed with better utility to my Royal Service. Accordingly, I order the Viceroy and Audiencia of Santa Fe restrained from, and to abstain from, the knowledge of the respective matters which corresponded to them before the separation implied here; and order the governors of the Provinces of Cumaná, Guayana and Maracaibo, and Islands of Margarita and Trinidad, to obey as their Captain General, the one that today is, and in the future will be, of the Province of Venezuela, and carry out the orders that in my Royal Service he communicate to them in government and military matters; and that in the same way the governors of the Provinces of Maracaibo and Guayana observe the provisions that in the future my Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo issues, accepting the appeals that are lodged before it according to and in the manner they have been, or should have been done, before the Audiencia of Santa Fe; such is my will. Given in San Ildefonso on the eighth of September of 1777.—I the King.

The Royal Decree [Real Cédula] of June 13, 1786, was the first to establish the Real Audiencia, describe its functions and to define its limits (subsequent ones defined further faculties and appointed members):

His Majesty has resolved in view of everything, that the Province of Maracaibo continue united, as it is, to the Captaincy General and Intendancy of Caracas, keeping what is provided by the Royal Decree [Real Cédula] of February 15 of this year on the addition of the City of Trujillo
Trujillo, Trujillo
Trujillo is the capital city of Trujillo State in Venezuela. About 40,000 people live in this city.Founded by one the "Conquistadores de America", Diego García de Paredes, son of Diego Garcia de Paredes , , Spanish soldier and duellist, native of Trujillo in Extremadura, Spain. This city is...

and its jurisdiction to the Government of Maracaibo; and the creation for the present of a separate Command
Command (military formation)
A command in military terminology is an organisational unit that the individual in Military command has responsibility for. A Commander will normally be specifically appointed into the role in order to provide a legal framework for the authority bestowed...

in the Province of Barinas. And to avoid the harm that would arise for the inhabitants of said Provinces of Maracaibo, Cumamá, Guayana, Margarita and Island of Trinidad, comprising the same Captaincy General, of having to recur for appeals in their affairs to the Audiencia Pretorial of Santo Domingo, the King has resolved to create another in Caracas, comprised for now of a Regent Dean, three judges [oidores] and a crown attorney [fiscal]; leaving the same number of ministers in the one in Santo Domingo and limiting its district to the Spanish part of that island, the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico; to which end His Majesty will of course name the ministers who should serve in one and the other.

Independence

During the independence process the provinces of Caracas, Cumaná, Barinas, Margarita, and the newly separated ones of Barcelona

Barcelona, Anzoátegui

Barcelona is the capital of Anzoátegui State, Venezuela and was founded in 1671. Together with Puerto La Cruz, Lecheria and Guanta, Barcelona forms one of the most important urban areas of Venezuela with a population of approximately 950,000.-History:...

, Trujillo

Trujillo (state)

Trujillo State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its capital is Trujillo. The state is divided into 20 municipalities and 93 parishes. Trujillo State covers a total surface area of 7,400 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 711,400....

, and Mérida

Mérida (state)

Mérida State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Mérida.Mérida State covers a total surface area of 11,300 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 843,800.- Climate and Vegetation :...

established a Republic of Venezuela in 1811, which claimed the area of the Captaincy General. The provinces of Maracaibo and Guayana, along with the city of Coro, rejected the republic, and after a year of civil war this First Republic collapsed. The provinces that had created the Venezuelan Republic were reconquered by Frigate Captain Domingo de Monteverde

Juan Domingo de Monteverde

Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas , commonly known as Domingo de Monteverde, was a Spanish soldier, governor and Captain General of Venezuela from June 1812 to 8 August 1813. Monteverde was the leader of Spanish forces in the Venezuelan War of Independence from 1812 to 1813...

, who usurped power from the appointed Captain General Fernando Miyares

Fernando Miyares y Gonzáles

Fernando Miyares y Gonzales was a Cuban Captain General, born in Santiago de Cuba, in 1749.Unaware that Emparán had been deposed by the municipal council of Caracas, the Spanish Council of Regency appointed Miyares as his replacement as Capitan General of Venezuela on April 29, 1810...

. Because of this the Cádiz Cortes

Cádiz Cortes

The Cádiz Cortes were sessions of the national legislative body which met in the safe haven of Cádiz during the French occupation of Spain during the Napoleonic Wars...

erected the Province of Maracaibo into a separate Captaincy General with Miyares at its head, but did ratify Monteverde as Captain General of the smaller Venezuela. During this period, the Province of Maracaibo elected a representative to the Cortes, José Domingo Rus, who served from March 3, 1812, to May 10, 1814, and continued to represent the province before the crown after Ferdinand VII abolished the Cortes. With the Ferdinand VII's return, Venezuela was reunited in one captaincy general.

In 1812 a new Audiencia appointed by the Cortes was able to return in Caracas. Under the leadership of Dominican-born

Criollo (people)

The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...

Regent José Francisco Heredia (father of Cuban poet, José María Heredia y Heredia

José María Heredia y Heredia

José María Heredia y Heredia was a Cuban poet, born at Santiago de Cuba.He studied at the University of Havana, and was called to the bar in 1823. In the autumn of 1823 he was arrested on a charge of conspiracy against the Spanish government, and was sentenced to banishment for life...

), the Audiencia put up fierce resistance to Monteverde's attempts to rule the Captaincy General under martial law

Martial law

Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

. After an interruption due to the restoration of the Republic and attempts by Pablo Morillo

Pablo Morillo

Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, aka El Pacificador was a Spanish general....

to suspend the Audiencia, both the Audiencia and the Captaincy General continued to function until 1821.

Independence for Venezuela was consolidated in 1821 under the Republic of Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...

. The government of the new Republic did not take into account the autonomy that the Captaincy General had experienced for several decades. Instead its founders in the Congress of Cúcuta

Congress of Cúcuta

The Congress of Cúcuta was a constituent assembly where Gran Colombia was created. The Congress elected Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander president and vice-president, respectively....

looked to the full territorial area of former Viceroyalty of New Granada as the basis for its territorial claims, and created a centralized state. Gran Colombia fell apart in 1830 when the areas of Venezuela and Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

seceded from it.

Antecedents

Establishment

Legislation establishing the Captaincy General

Independence

See also