11 Characteristics of a Viceroyalty

The discovery of America and the transformation of these lands into European colonies necessitated the formation of a new system of government, one that was more decentralized, and would allow treating territories so far from the metropolis. To get to know in depth this system of government that was so important for the rise of the American people, in this lesson from a Professor we must talk about the characteristics of a viceroyalty.

The viceroyalties They're a territorial division and a form of government used in the colonies of European nations, which gives great autonomy to the region. The call viceroy occupies the position of greater government, being an extension of the king in the colony.

The viceroys were in charge of governing and administering the entire region, enjoying great freedom, since the distances between the colonies and the metropolis, made it necessary for someone to act before the news reached the king.

The first of the viceroyalties was created at the end of the fifteenth century,

realizing the Catholic kings that the American colonies were too far away to be governed in the same way as the peninsular territories. The idea was to create an autonomous form of government with its own decisions, but always depending on the interests of the kings.

To better understand the concept of viceroyalty, we must talk about its main characteristics, in order to understand the reasons that led the Spanish monarchs to create this system. The main characteristics of the viceroyalties are the following:

1. They are born as a response to the arrival of the european settlers, causing nations to need a new way of governing far-flung territories.
2. Viceroy was created being a kind of supreme governor above which only the king was.
3. The viceroyalties were formed for the pursuit of riches, since the idea of ​​the kings is that the viceroys will be in charge of extracting all the precious materials necessary for this.
4. They were regions with huge social inequalities, There was a social scale in which the peninsulares were the most important, while others such as the criollos or the mestizos were scales below.
5. The viceroyalties based their wealth on the exploitation of slaves, being these used to obtain the resources that the European monarchs wanted to prosper.
6. The caste system it was even regulated, with rules and manuals on what each person was like depending on their skin or family.
7. The wealth and benefits were for the Peninsula, so the colonies were very poor, receiving almost nothing of the resources it took.
8. viceroyalties they could not trade freely with other states, since they were tied to their metropolises and could only supply products to them.
9. The nobles and clergy had enormous privileges, being the most powerful people right after the viceroy.
10. Were created government positions, occupied by peninsular nobles, to carry parts of the viceroyalties.
11. They were societies very religious, because many orders dealt with education in these areas.

To conclude this lesson on the characteristics of a viceroyalty, we must list the Viceroyalties that have existed throughout history of Spanish colonialism, to understand in which part of the world this form of government took place and thereby understand the reasons that led to the creation of viceroyalties.

The best known of all are the spanish Viceroyalties, being the most numerous and also being the first to exist, since the rest of the European nations copied this system for their colonies. These varied over the years, since the more regions Spain dominated, the more variety of territorial entities were necessary. I saw themSpanish kingdoms were the following:

• Viceroyalty of the Indies: The first viceroyalty in American history, existing between 1492 and 1535, and serving to locate all the territories that Christopher Columbus was discovering.
• Viceroyalty of New Spaina: A viceroyalty that existed between the years 1535 and 1821. Its extension varied over the years, but in general we can say that it covered the territories of Mexico, Cuba, Philippines, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and part of Canada and USA.
• Viceroyalty of Peru: A viceroyalty that existed between 1542 and 1824. Its extension was that of almost all of South America at the beginning, but over the years and with the creation of new viceroyalties it became only what we currently know as Peru.
• Viceroyalty of New Granada: A viceroyalty that existed between 1717 and 1819, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama.
• Viceroyalty of the River Plate: A viceroyalty that existed between 1776 and 1819, and that included the current countries of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile.