Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain

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Nueva Vizcaya was the first province of northern Mexico (New Spain) to be explored and settled by the Spanish.

Spanish exploration of the area began in 1531 with Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán's expedition. He called the area "Nueva Galicia" (after his birthplace), although that name later came to be applied to a different area, namely what became the colonial intendencia of Guadalajara. Nueva Vizcaya originally included the area of Spanish settlement north of Zacatecas. Eventually that included most of the area of the modern Mexican states of Chihuahua and Durango, and at times parts of the states of Sinaloa, Sonora and Coahuila.

There was also a province of Nueva Vizcaya in the Spanish Philippines.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Provincia Interna De Occidente 1.2 Independece War Starts 1.3 Sara’s Campaign 1.4 Insurgent’s Trial 1.5 Awaiting Independence 1.6 Under the First Empire 1.7 Province of the Federal Republic of Mexico 1.8 The States Of Chihuahua AndDurango 2 References 3 Footnotes 4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Provincia Interna De Occidente

The objections that had in 1785 led to the division of the provincias internas, forced themselves more strongly than ever upon the home government as the complication of duties increased with growing population and resources. In 1804, accordingly, came a royal decree ordering a redivision of them into two districts, the Occidente and Oriente, the Californias and the southern portions of Nuevo Leon and Nuevo Santander, below the line between Soto la Marina and Parras, being left to the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The new comandante general of each district was to exercise the same authority as the existing commander. ^[1]

[edit] Independece War Starts

Political changes interfered with the observance of this order, till the war of independence made its execution in 1812 a military necessity. Viceroy Venegas thereupon appointed to the command of the Occidente section, the brigadier Alejo Garcia Conde, governor of Sonora and Sinaloa, a deserving soldier nearly half a century in the royal service. ^[2] The Oriente division was offered to the Mariscal de campo, Felix Calleja, and he, declining to accept the position presented it to Simon Herrera, governor of Nuevo Leon, who was slain by insurgents before acceptance, whereupon Colonel Arredondo received the position. Nava, who ruled the united provinces at the opening of the century, was replaced in 1804 by Colonel Pedro Grimarest, and he soon after by Brigadier Nemesio Salcedo y Salcedo, who was presently recalled to Spain. ^[3]

[edit] Sara’s Campaign

In 1811, Bernardo Gutierrez de Sara, a citizen of Revilla, and a strong supporter of the revolutionary movement, had taken refuge in the United States after the suppression of the insurrection in Nuevo Santander, and there sought assistance in behalf of his cause. The welcome accorded to him by the people, and the well-known intentions of the United States government with regard to the Texan frontier, had given rise to no little uneasiness in Mexico, and this was further increased by a report that he was already on his march at the head of a large army, to support the fortunes of the insurgents. ^[4] The troops under Sara s command consisted in fact of only some four hundred and fifty men, many of whom were filibusters from the United States; but with this slender force he invaded Texas in 1812 and took possession of several cities, driving back the forces of Salcedo and Hererra. Warned of this danger, Arredondo, whose forces had been quartered in the ‘’’valley del Maiz’’’, at once marched against the enemy, collecting men and material on his way through Nuevo Santander. Meanwhile, ‘’’Colonel Elizondo’’’, who had been sent in advance, had allowed himself to be drawn into an engagement, and was totally routed. ^[5] A few weeks later, however, Arredondo himself inflicted a crushing defeat on the insurgents, now under the command of Alvarez de Toledo, who had sup planted Sara. Many of the prisoners were executed, including all the filibusters who fell into the hands of the Mexicans, and thus ended all hope of aid from the United States to the cause of the independence. The changes thus made were due less to the increase of population, and the development of the material resources of these provinces, than to military reasons, and with a view to the suppression of revolutionary movements. In the north-west the only troubles to be encountered were the usual hostilities with Indians, but toward the east the revolution had again assumed alarming proportions. ^[6]

[edit] Insurgent’s Trial

Salcedo had filled the office satisfactorily enough, while availing himself of the many opportunities presented by remoteness, and the disorders attending the war for independence, to accumulate a large fortune. When this conflict broke out in the south he exerted himself most commendably by adopting measures to exclude it from his own territory, and by appealing to his purse-strings and patriotism in behalf of his sovereign. While failing to achieve anything noteworthy in the field against the insurgents, he had the unenviable satisfaction of superintending the trial and execution of their great leader, Hidalgo, and his chief officers, in the course of May to July, 1811. ^[7] Nueva Vizcaya was not left wholly intact by the war, and some feeble local efforts were made by ardent patriots. A month before Hidalgo’s capture, a number of insurgents were secured, and the opening of 1812 was marked by a conflict at San Francisco between several hundred men. ^[8]

[edit] Awaiting Independence

Toward the close of 1814, Trespalacios and Caballero planned an outbreak at Chihuahua, but the plot was revealed to Garcia Conde, who now controlled the ‘’’Occidente’’’ section from this point, and promptly nipped the movement by arresting the principals. This comparative exemption was mainly due to the watchfulness of the authorities, including the clergy, who exercised most effectively the pardoning power. Brigadier Bernardo Bonavia y Zapata, governor intendente of Nueva Vizcaya, and his lieutenant at Durango, the asesor, Angel Pinilla y Perez, were conspicuously zealous in the royal cause. Chihuahua had its usual Apache raids to meet, and Durango suffered in 1820 brief irruption from rebellious Opatas, which was quelled without any serious bloodshed. The visit of the explorer, Pike, and the momentary reestablishment of Jesuits, in 1819, caused a temporary excitement. ^[9] In 1812, the provinces were cheered by receiving the liberal constitution(Constitution of Cadiz) conceded to the colonies by Spain, with the prospect of an audiencia. Although the constitution was suspended soon after by the viceroy, Nueva Vizcaya managed to elect a representative to the cortes, till its revival, in 1820, provided also an assembly and provincial deputations. Loyalty to Spain was most pronounced at the opening of this third decade so much so that when Iturbide turned against his viceregal master, General Cruz, ruler of Nueva Galicia, and the second power in the country, went to Durango to make a final effort in behalf of the tottering cause ofSpain. He entered that city July 4, 1821, attended by officials from Zacatecas and other points, with a few hundred soldiers. Negrete, Iturbide’s lieutenant, followed in pursuit, and laid siege to the city early in August, with about 3,000 men. ^[10] The defence was maintained for over three weeks, with brisk firing and occasional sorties, varied by assaults, which involved severe losses. Negrete finally planted a battery against a vulnerable point, and on the August 30 gained a decided advantage. By this time defection had assisted to undermine the zeal of the royalist. A truce was accepted, and on September 3 the garrison surrendered, with the honors of war, and permission to retire with Cruz toSpain. ^[11]

[edit] Under the First Empire

M. Urrea was installed as jefe politico, while Antonio Cordero, who had governed atDurango as civil and military governor for the last three years, was rewarded for prompt adhesion with the comandancia general of the Occidente section, in place of Garcia Conde, who had delayed. In the following year the empire was received with the acclamation usually accorded to success, and Chihuahua andDurango were gladdened with the prospect of separate comandancias de armas. ^[12]

[edit] Province of the Federal Republic of Mexico

When shortly after the federalists rose against Iturbide,Chihuahua joined with equal readiness in the cry, after a momentary objection from Janos. In Durango measures were at first taken against the movement, but on March 5, 1823, the troops declared in favor it it, followed by the people. Comandante general Cordero resigned, however, as did Brigadier I. del Corral, civil and military governor atDurango, whereupon the diputacion provincial declared the intendente Juan Navarro successor to the latter, and Gaspar de Ochoa, colonel of the pronouncing garrison, as commander in place of Cordero. ^[13]

[edit] The States Of Chihuahua AndDurango

By decree of July 19, 1823, the supreme congress decreed the division of Nueva Vizcaya into two provinces, to be known asChihuahua andDurango, respectively, the capital of the former receiving the title of city and becoming the seat of a diputacion provincial. The act was just toChihuahua, to which was already conceded a population of over 100,000, with requirements that made necessary a separate administration from that residing at the distant and uncongenialDurango. Nevertheless, a party persuaded the chamber to reunite the two provinces, including New Mexico, under the appellation Estado Interno del Norte, with capital at Chihuahua.Durango, however, raised objections. She demanded that her chief city be retained as capital, or that she be made a separate state or territory, on the ground of her large population, with resources far superior to those ofChihuahua and of several existing states. ^[14] The appeal found hearing, and on May 22 and July 6, 1824, the separation was affirmed, New Mexico being declared a territory of the federation. In the following year the two states, issued their constitution, in accordance with the federal organic law of the republic. Chihuahua established only one legislative chamber of not less than eleven deputies, whileDurango indulged also in a senate of seven members, thereby supplying additional food for the party feuds which quickly began to unfold. ^[15]

[edit] References

• Oakah L. Jones, Nueva Vizcaya: Heartland of the Spanish Frontier (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988).

[edit] Footnotes

(References based in a not in copyright work)

[edit] External links

• Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain from the Handbook of Texas Online