1826-1870










Chile under Spanish Rule, 1541-1826



A.) Spanish Conquest and Colonial Rule

The first European to discover Chile was FERDINAND MAGELLAN who stopped there on his circumnavigation of the globe in 1520. In 1535, DIEGO DE ALMAGRO explored the region. Not finding advanced civilizations and precious metals, he quickly returned to Peru; the region was named OTRO PERU (the other Peru).
The next expedition came under PEDRO DE VALDIVIA in 1540. Valdivia founded SANTIAGO DE CHILE in 1541. It was to be the capital of the CAPTAINCY OF CHILE, which was subject to the Viceroyalty of Peru. The city of CONCEPCION was founded in 1550, Valdivia in 1553. Santiago was elevated seat of a diocesis in 1561, Concepcion in 1603, both under the archbishop of Lima. The Jesuit order featured prominent in Chile; the index of prohibited books limited Chileans' access to modern European ideas.
The colony of Chile was frontier country; the Spanish subdued those parts of Chile which had previously been part of the Inca Empire. The Araucanians or Mapuche, living to the south of the Bio Bio River, continued to resist fiercely. In 1598/1603 two southern Chilean outposts, Valdivia and Osorno, had to be evacuated; in the 17th century border conflicts became scarce and a stalemate emerged.
Valvidia was resettled in 1641, Osorno in 1796. The island of Chiloe 1767-1826 was placed directly under the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Chile's Central Valley offered a temperate climate and fertile soil, ideal conditions for European settlement. At first, mining, especially for gold, was the most important economic activity. In the 17th century, Chilean economy focussed on producing farming products such as wheat, cattle (leather) and horses, to supply the Peruvian market.
Chile was the most remote part of the Spanish colonial empire; communications with Spain went via Lima and Panama. This isolation proved an obstacle to immigration and to further economic development. It also contributed to Chilean society developing differently than the societies of other South American regions; a high percentage of Basques among the immigrants to Chile contributed to this phenomenon.


B.) Bourbon Reforms and their impact on Chile

In 1740 the privilege of Liman merchants to have all commerce between Spanish South America and Spain lead across their market was cancelled; Spanish ships were permitted to use the route around Cape Horn.
Peru (Lima) continued to be the main Chilean export markets; Chile's imports now were geographically diversified, the La Plata region becoming of major importance for Chile's economy. In the desert region to the north of the Central Valley, mining picked up, mainly for gold, but silver and copper were also extracted.
Governors founded a number of townships, such as Rancagua and Talca. War with the Mapuche broke out in 1723, 1766 and 1769-70, the cause not being Chilean pressure on the Mapuche but interruption of trade, a trade which was of importance to the Mapuche.
In 1778, the Captaincy of Chile received virtually independent status within the Viceroyalty of Peru; the Cuyo region, beyond the ridge of the Andes and sparsely populated, hitherto regarded a part of Chile, was now allocated to the Viceroyalty of La Plata; the island of Chiloe was placed under the direct administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, under which it remained until the Spanish wirthdrew in 1826.
A mint was opened in Santiago in 1750; the Royal University of San Felipe in 1758. The Jesuits were expelled in 1767; the index of prohibited books continued to be in force, but listed books were smuggled into the country.
The JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS, discovered in 1574, but long neglected (here Alexander Selkirk, the real figure behind "Robinson Crusoe", lived for 4 years, 1704-1708) were used as a Chilean penal colony in the later decades of the 18th century.


C.) Struggle for Independence, 1810-1826

The Independence Movement began in 1810. Foreign ships were permitted to call at 4 Chilean ports in 1811, opening the country to international trade. Both the National Institute (for higher education) and the National Library were founded in 1813. The patriots were split in several political factions. A part of the population remained loyal to the Spanish crown; the frontier town of Valdivia and the island of Chiloe remained royalist.
In 1814 a Spanish expeditionary force reestablished Spanish control, defeating the patriots in the BATTLE OF RANCAGUA. General Mariano Osorio reestablished Spanish control; a number of Chilean patriots were sent as prisoners to the Juan Fernandez Islands; the National Institute and the National Library were closed.
Chilean patriotic leaders, BERNARDO O'HIGGINS and the CARRARA BROTHERS went to Mendoza, Argentina, from where they returned with an army lead by JOSE DE SAN MARTIN, which, crossing the Andes, took the Spanish by surprise. The Spanish were defeated at CHACABUCO (1817), independence was declared in 1818. Another Spanish offensive was defeated in the BATTLE OF MAIPO (April 5th 1818); Chilean independence now was secured. The Spanish held out on the island of CHILOE until 1826.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from infoplease : Chile
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Chile
History of the Juan Fernandez Islands, from Juan Fernandez Islands by Juan Pablo Berlinger
DOCUMENTS Map : Le Chili, avec les Contrees voisines et le pays des Patagons, from Bonne, Atlas Encyclopedique, 1787-88
Map : America del Sur, 1799, from Historical and Political Maps of the Modern Age, administrative regions, in Spanish
Atlas van der Hagen, Maps Chili (No.91, 1630) and Mag. Straits (No.92, 1635), posted at KB, click : bladeren, Atlas van der Hagen, volume IV, volgende kaarten, until you reach the proper page
TEXTES sur la decolonisation de l'Amerique du Sud : le Chili, from cliotexte, 2 texts (1810, 1818) in French
REFERENCE Simon Collier and William E. Sater, A History of Chile, 1808-1994, Cambridge : University Press 1996



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 5th 2004

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics