Bourbon Reform & How It Affected the Independence Movement

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Bourbon Reform & How It Affected the Independence Movement
Introduction
Historians refer to the period 1759-1763 as the Bourbon Latin America, due to the praised reform activities that took place during this period. These reforms were developed and facilitated by enlightened government leaders and reformers like Jose Patino and Princes of the House of Bourbon. The importance of these reforms has made the earlier periods of Bourbon Latin America and the later periods of Habsburgs rule to be used together. Historical studies in this topic majorly base their interests on the first Bourbons that were slightly involved in the Spanish Succession War that took place in 1702 to1713. Habsburgs’ regime had devastated Spain as a result of the high number of wars and defeats the empire had realized both internally and externally. This country had faced bankruptcy; Spain soldiers even became weak in wars and escaped from the battles. Spain suffered in America from colonization of the English, the Dutch and the French. This enlightenment era and its effects came to be realized in the eve of Spain’s independence from its colonizers. The Bourbons were inspired to create a New Spain using mercantilist policies that were employed by regimes in the early modern world to revive their economies.
Bourbon Reforms
Filipe V succeeded in this Succession War, which allowed the Bourbon Monarchy to initiate reforms in effort to centralize Spain’s government; reform country’s financial systems; reinstate and reinforce the country’s military forces. The House of Bourbons had three princes, Filipe V (1700-1746), Ferdinand VI (1746-1759) and Charles III (1759-1788) that worked together to facilitate these reforms that modernized Spain completely. These reforms e...

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...restructure their laws and traditions. The whole country became enlightened by spreading around French related materials that influenced other Spanish nationals in the country. Spain began also developing commercial relations with the French that later improved the colonial economical activities that had been initiated earlier through Bourbon’s reforms.
Summary and Conclusion
Bourbons’ monarchy and their reforms agenda greatly transformed the Spanish empire that had been formerly ruined by the Habsburgs’ regime. The country’s structural changes effected imposed increased tensions to the colonies since most of these reforms were targeted at eliminating colonial organizations that had dominated significant positions of the country. These reforms were later reinforced by the ideas borrowed from the French revolution that strengthened the Spain’s independence efforts.

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