Bourbon Reforms

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The Bourbon Reforms were a series of measures taken by the Spanish Crown in the 18th century (under the House of Bourbon), intended to increase political and economic control over Spain itself, and later also over its American colonies.

The main goal of the reforms was for the Crown to regain the powers that the kings of the House of Habsburg had delegated in corporations such as the Church and the traders' guilds; thus the reforms would eliminate intermediate entities which often defended interests other than those of the Crown of Spain.

After the restitution of the Spanish Crown to the Bourbons, in 1700, and the ensuing War of Succession (1713), Spain had to surrender its possessions in Europe and allow British trade with the Americas. Philip V of Spain took measures intended to counter the decline of Spanish power, increasing the numbers of the armed forces and protecting the local economy from competition. However, they did not take into account the South American colonies, which were considered as mere sources of precious metals.

The failure of these measures became evident when Spain, under Charles III, lost the Seven Years' War with Great Britain (1756–1763). However, the king's counselors secured more detailed reports of the colonies, and understood the need to take them fully into account. The new wave of reforms included larger exploitation of resources in the colonies, increased taxes, the opening of new ports allowed to trade only with Spain, and the establishment of several state monopolies.

Politically, the colonial matters were concentrated in a single, special ministry; the native bureaucracy of the Americas (criollos) was replaced by (supposedly more qualified) Spanish officials appointed directly by the Crown, and the territories were better divided for administrative purposes. The extremely large Viceroyalty of Peru was split in three adding (the Viceroyalty of New Granada and the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata).

In the case of the Church, one of the major effects of the reforms was the expulsion of the Jesuit Order from their missions.