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Almost invariably, late-colonial Caracas has been described as a society full of tensions and a colony at odds with the imperial order. This study, in contrast, portrays a colony, which grew, prospered and matured within the confines of Empire. It depicts the late 1700s as the golden age of caraqueño colonial society and suggests that it was no accident that this late renaissance created an environment which bred the self-confident men who led much of Spanish America to independence. The causes of the independence struggle, and the violence, which accompanied it, are considered in the context of the imperial crisis provoked by Napoleon's invasion of Spain. The findings of this study are based on an exceptionally varied array of new data on the economy and society of late eighteenth-century Caracas, of which a collection of 800 wills is the most impressive.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• List of maps
• List of tables
• Acknowledgements
• Measures and money
• Glossary
• Introduction
• Part I Society
• 1 The Caste society
• Part II Economy
• 2 The export economy 1777-1809
• 3 Agriculture
• 4 Commerce
• Part III Politics
• 5 Elites
• 6 Politics 1777-1808
• 7 The balance overturned 1808-1810
• Epilogue
• Appendices
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Bibliographical appendix
• Index

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CHOICE Review

Late colonial Caracas is traditionally depicted as ravaged by social and racial tension, by economic instability, and by differences with Spain. Notarial evidence (808 wills) and archival research in Spain and Caracas leads McKinley to view this period as a golden age characterized by political stability, harmonious race relations, social calm, communion of interests between creoles and merchants, and a positive relationship between province and metropolis. There was social fluidity, occupational interchangeability, political flexibility, a diverse hacendado class, and a narrow economic spread between rich and poor. McKinley asserts the production sector was not at the mercy of the Spanish mercantile community. He also describes the collective leadership and cohesiveness of the elite. Despite strong ties, the merchant community did not rival the planter class in power or wealth. Napoleon's invasion of Spain, Ferdinand VII's abdication, and the collapse of traditional authority in Spain destabilized the imperial order. McKinley argues persuasively that the push for independence was the work of a radical minority (Simon Bolivar, Tomas Boves), none of whom belonged to the colonial elite, and was reinforced by concomitant retreat by moderates. Extremism and mobilization of the castas led to violence and bloodshed before liberation in 1821. A methodologically innovative, tightly reasoned, succinctly written, revisionist monograph. Graduate readership.-A.J.R. Russell-Wood, Johns Hopkins University