3. New Spain, Old Headaches

On November 1799, Félix Berenguer de Marquina arrived in New Spain as the newly appointed Viceroy. Berenguer found it impossible to deal with New Spain’s internal problems, not only was he facing a population much frustrated with Spanish rule, but The Audiencia regulated every single one of his actions. As a result, Berenguer opted instead to focus on external problems, mostly reinforcing the ports against pirate raids and securing the northern frontier from the “uncivilized” tribes. 

His indifference towards the woes of the criollos and mestizos resulted in greater discontent, and indirectly provoked a handful of rebellions. The largest of these rebellions include: the Tepic Conspiracy (in which the idea of crowing an Emperor for New Spain was first promulgated) and the Nuevo Leon Incident where a pseudo-Emperor was actually crowned. Collectively these events are known as the Indio Mariano Rebellion.

The uprising began in Tepic, where a handful of influential men under the leadership of José Desiderio Maldonado, began to promulgate the idea of crowning a monarch for New Spain. Maldonado and his men planned to hold a symbolic coronation of a native of Tlaxcala in January 5th 1801 as a form of protest against the Spanish government. The ceremony - however - was interrupted by the local Spanish forces, turning the otherwise peaceful demonstration into a violent confrontation. The violence quelled within a couple of days but Maldonado and several leaders managed to escape to Guadalajara. Rumors that a force of 1,000 Yaquis and Yumas had gathered to assist Maldonado sparked a second uprising a few weeks later. Once again Maldonado’s forces were defeated and the rebels were forced to scatter through out New Spain. Several smaller battles followed though out Jalisco but the rebellion was successfully quelled by the Spring of 1802.

Frustrated by the impotence of his position, when it came to dealing with such situations, Berenguer de Marquina resigned as Viceroy of New Spain just a few years later. His successor, Jose Joaquin de Iturrigaray y Arósetgui, arrived in New Spain on January 6th, 1803.