Captaincy General of Venezuela
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2015) |
Captaincy General of Venezuela Capitanía General de Venezuela | |||||||||||||||||||
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1777–1824 | |||||||||||||||||||
Coat of arms of Caracas
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Anthem: Santiago de León de Caracas | |||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | Spanish (official) Wayuu, Pemon, Warao, Yanomamö | ||||||||||||||||||
Government | Captaincy | ||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||
• Royal Decree | September 8, 1777 | ||||||||||||||||||
April 19, 1810 | |||||||||||||||||||
1824 | |||||||||||||||||||
Currency | Spanish colonial real | ||||||||||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | VE | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Captaincy General of Venezuela (
History
Antecedents
In 1494, despite the presence of
Establishment
The Captaincy General, which was essentially a new viceroyalty in all but name, was actually created slowly over time by centralizing fiscal, administrative, military and ecclesiastical rule in Caracas. The first step was the creation of the
A consulado was established in 1793 to oversee the new captaincy general's trade. In religious matters all of the provinces were also placed under the direction of the new archdiocese of Caracas in 1803. Two new dioceses, Mérida and Guayana were created, as well. Previously areas of the new diocese of Mérida had been part of the archdiocese of Bogotá, and Guayana had been part of the diocese of Puerto Rico. Control of the Province of Trinidad was lost to the British in 1797.
Legislation establishing the Captaincy General
History of Venezuela |
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Chronology |
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The Royal Decree establishing the Captaincy General:
The King.—Inasmuch and keeping in mind what has been reported to me by the current Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of the New Kingdom of Granada and the governors of the Provinces of Guayana and Maracaibo on the inconveniences that are created in the indicated provinces, as well as those of Cumaná and Islands of Margarita and Trinidad, by remaining united as they are to the Viceroyalty and Captaincy General of the indicated New Kingdom of Granada, because of the distance at which they find themselves from its capital Santa Fe, resulting as a consequence the delay in the decisions with the most grave harm to my Royal Service.
Therefore, to avoid these and greater harm, which would result in case of an invasion, I have best resolved the absolute separation of said Provinces of Cumaná, Guayana and Maracaibo, and islands of Trinidad and Margarita, from the Viceroyalty and Captaincy General of the New Kingdom of Granada, and add them in government and military matters to the Captaincy General of Venezuela, in the same manner that they are in regards to the administration of my Royal Treasury to the new Intendancy established in said Province and city of Caracas, its capital. In the same manner I have resolved to separate in judicial matters from the Audiencia of Santa Fe, and to add to the old one of Santo Domingo, the two mentioned Provinces of Maracaibo and Guayana, in the same manner that Cumaná and the islands of Margarita and Trinidad are, so that they find themselves under the same immediate Audiencia, Captain General and Intendant, be better ruled and governed with better utility to my Royal Service. Accordingly, I order the Viceroy and Audiencia of Santa Fe restrained from, and to abstain from, the knowledge of the respective matters which corresponded to them before the separation implied here; and order the governors of the Provinces of Cumaná, Guayana and Maracaibo, and Islands of Margarita and Trinidad, to obey as their Captain General, the one that today is, and in the future will be, of the Province of Venezuela, and carry out the orders that in my Royal Service he communicate to them in government and military matters; and that in the same way the governors of the Provinces of Maracaibo and Guayana observe the provisions that in the future my Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo issues, accepting the appeals that are lodged before it according to and in the manner they have been, or should have been done, before the Audiencia of Santa Fe; such is my will. Given in San Ildefonso on the eighth of September of 1777.—I the King.
The Royal Decree (
His Majesty has resolved in view of everything, that the Province of Maracaibo continue united, as it is, to the Captaincy General and Intendancy of Caracas, keeping what is provided by the Royal Decree [Real Cédula] of February 15 of this year on the addition of the City of Trujillo and its jurisdiction to the Government of Maracaibo; and the creation for the present of a separate Command in the Province of Barinas. And to avoid the harm that would arise for the inhabitants of said Provinces of Maracaibo, Cumamá, Guayana, Margarita and Island of Trinidad, comprising the same Captaincy General, of having to recur for appeals in their affairs to the Audiencia Pretorial of Santo Domingo, the King has resolved to create another in Caracas, comprised for now of a Regent Dean, three judges [oidores] and a crown attorney [fiscal]; leaving the same number of ministers in the one in Santo Domingo and limiting its district to the Spanish part of that island, the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico; to which end His Majesty will of course name the ministers who should serve in one and the other.
Independence
The independence movement for Venezuela began with the establishment of the
With Ferdinand VII's return, Venezuela was reunited in one captaincy general.In 1812 a new Audiencia appointed by the Cortes was able to return in Caracas. Under the leadership of
Independence for Venezuela was consolidated in 1821 as part of
See also
- History of Venezuela
- Captaincy General
- Viceroyalty of New Granada
- First Republic of Venezuela
- Gran Colombia
- List of governors of Venezuela Province
References
- ^ Callao-Lima, Peru. United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel. 1920. p. 26.
- ^ Lawrence, Sondhaus (2012). Naval Warfare, 1815-1914. p. 13.
- ^ Von Tschudi, Johann (1847). Travels in Peru. p. 33.
- ^ The Political Power of Covert Commerce: The Rebellion of Juan Francisco de León, 1749–1751, Jesse Cromwell. 'The Smugglers' World: Illicit Trade and Atlantic Communities in Eighteenth-Century Venezuela (Chapel Hill, NC, 2018; online edn, North Carolina Scholarship Online, 19 Sept. 2019), https://doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636887.003.0010, accessed 22 Jan. 2023.
- ^ Morón, Guillermo (1995). ""La Real Audiencia de Caracas," Historia de Venezuela". Enciclopedia Británica de Venezuela. Vol. 4. Caracas. pp. 49–65. Libro primero, cápitulo cuarto. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 978-84-00-07091-5
- ISBN 980-6397-37-1
- “León, Juan Francisco de” in Diccionario multimedia de Historia de Venezuela. Caracas: Fundación Polar, 1995.
- Amezaga y Aresti, Vicente. Hombres de la Compañía Guipuzcoana. Caracas, 1963.
- Arcila Farias, Eduardo. Economia colonial de Venezuela. 1946.
- Baglio, Assunta. 1996. La Guaira, puerto comercial de la Colonia. Infometro, XVIII, (150), 1996. 17–19.
- Basterra, Ramón de. Una empresa del siglo XVIII. Los Navíos de la Ilustración. Madrid: Cultura Hispánica, 1970 [1925].
- Morón, Guillermo. "Venezuela, integración territorial de" in Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela. Caracas: Fundación Polar, 1997. ISBN 980-6397-37-1
- Ramos Pérez, Demetrio. El Tratado de límites de 1750 y la expedición de Iturriaga al Orinoco. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Instituto Juan Sebastián Elcano de Geografía, 1946.
- Vila, Marco Aurelio. Antecedentes coloniales de centros poblados de Venezuela. Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1978.