Sunday, June 8, 2014

7. South by Southwest and Back to New Spain

For Aaron Burr, the war between the United States and Britain, began much too soon. Before he could spring his plan into action, New Orleans had been reinforced, and Wilkinson was deposed form his position as governor of the territory. Furthermore, it was now clear the France had thrown its weight in favor of the United States as Louisiana was now officially part of the American Republic. Burr found a new opportunity, when New Spain declared its independence, in the summer of 1808. 

The early years of Jose Joaquin de Iturrigaray’s time as a viceroy could have been described as the calm before the storm. Like his predecessor Iturrigaray arrived to a New Spain in the midst of rebellion. But in contrast to his predecessor, Iturrigaray had a friendly and jovial character that made him popular amongst the population. 

An unusual viceregal union; Iturrigaray with his María Inés de Jáuregi - daughter of the Viceroy of Peru - and his children. 

He had brought with him a large quantity of arms from Cuba to supply the regiments of Veracruz, Mexico, and Puebla in order to quell any major uprisings in the main cities of New Spain. And the military was indeed successful at this task. He sponsored the Prussian explorer, Alexader von Humboldt, who arrived in 1803 to make extensive, and much needed, research on New Spain’s geography. Humboldt’s publishing’s had a curious effect on the criollo and mestizo populations; the news of New Spain’s riches stirred a sense of national pride. Iturrigaray himself was impressed and openly expressed the possible potential that an autonomous New Spain could achieve. 

The viceroy’s sympathy towards the criollos resulted in major discontent amongst the peninsulares, which provoked The Audiencia into disallowing most of Iturrigaray’s proposals. Tensions between the Audiencia and Iturrigaray escalated, when the viceroy Iturrigaray appointed Francisco Antonio de Velázquez command of the defenses along the Gulf Coast, as Velazquez had been previously tried for treason for assisting the criollo conspiracies. When a new rebellion broke out Guanajuato under Pedro Martin, the Viceroy asked for further funding and assistance in putting down the rebellion. The Audiencia not only refused but was now openly looking for a replacement for Iturrigaray. 

However the wars in Europe delayed the possibility of any replacement arriving anytime soon. On July 13 1808, news was received in Mexico City that Charles IV had abdicated and the French were now occupying Spain. That same week a group of criollo councilmen presented Iturrigaray with a plan to form a provisional autonomous government in New Spain with Iturrigaray at its head. The plan was accepted by Juan Francisco Azcárte and Diego Leña, leaders of the Ayuntamientos in Mexico City and Veracruz. The Audiencia would never recognize the plan, but this did not stop the creation of a congress parallel to it by the criollos.

The spark ignited sooner than anyone anticipated! When a representative of the Junta of Seville finally arrived in New Spain later that summer, the peninsular government recognized and ordered the arrest of Iturrigaray and other insurgent leaders. At the same time Melchor de Talamante, a leader in the criollo government openly declared the dissolution of all political ties between Spain and what he called
‘The Sovereign State of The Americas’. At Talamante’s cry Mexico City broke into riots. The Spanish forces, lead by Gabriel J Yermo, were moved in to suppress the revolt. 

On September 9th 1808, before Yermo managed to enter the capital, Jose de Iturrigaray publicly announced his resignation as viceroy of New Spain, his support for the insurgency, and the abolition of the Audiencia. Because Yermo’s forces were at the gates of Mexico City at the moment of his announcement, Iturrigaray hastily left the city and fled to Queretaro, where the governor, Miguel Dominguez and his wife Josefa Ortiz had openly declared in favor of the insurgency. In Queretaro, Iturrigaray met Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest who had managed to raise a considerably sized militia in a rather short time and James Wilkinson an American with a rather odd proposal.

Rather than heading east towards New Orleans, Burr and his forces marched south into New Spain.When Juan Bautista de las Casas and Erasmo Seguin [1] declared their support for the rebellion, Burr seized the opportunity and offered his support to the insurgents. With Burr’s aid Tejas easily fell into the rebels hands and San Antonio became the hub of all northern rebellions. Early in 1809 Burr’s army had crossed the Rio Bravo and captured Laredo in Santander [2]. Once there, Burr was informed that Wilkinson had contacted Iturrigaray in Queretaro and was negotiating the terms for their support. Though the ex-viceroy had little to offer at the time Burr was conscious that support for each other would be beneficial for both parties.

Viceroy. Leader. Rebel. Patriot.

[1] Juan Seguin’s father. 

[2] Tamaulipas used to be called Santander during the viceroyalty. The name remains in TTL. 

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