In Chilean historiography, Colonial Chile () is the period from 1600 to 1810, beginning with the Destruction of the Seven Cities and ending with the onset of the Chilean War of Independence. During this time, the Chilean heartland was ruled by Captaincy General of Chile. The period was characterized by a lengthy conflict between Spaniards and Native Mapuches known as the Arauco War. Colonial society was divided in distinct groups including Peninsulars, Criollos, Mestizos, Indians and Black people.
Relative to other Spanish colonies, Chile was a "poor and dangerous" place.
Society
Societal groups
The Chilean colonial society was based on a caste system. Local of criollos (American-born Spaniards) enjoyed privileges such as the ownership of encomiendas (Indian labour jurisdictions). Moreover, they were allowed to access some public charges like corregidor or alférez. Mestizos initially made up a small group. In time, they made up the bulk of Chilean society, becoming more numerous than indigenous peoples. Mestizos were not a homogeneous group and were judged more by appearance than by actual ancestry.Villalobos et al. 1974, p. 186. Indigenous people enjoyed the lowest prestige among societal groups in colonial Chile; many of them were used as cheap labour in encomienda but their numbers decreased over time due to diseases and miscegenation. Pehuenche, Huilliche, and Mapuche living south of La Frontera were not part of the colonial society since they were outside the de facto borders of Chile.
Spanish agriculture, centered on the hacienda, absorbed most of the scattered and declining indigenous populations of Central Chile. Thus populations that had previously lived apart in their own villages (pueblo de indios) from their Spanish masters begun to live in Spanish estancias. In Central Chile the dwindling population of Picunche occurred in parallel to import of Mapuche and Huilliche slaves from Araucanía and Chiloé, as well as the arrival of indigenous people from Peru, Tucumán and the transfer of encomienda Huarpes from Cuyo. This mix of disparate populations cohabitating with the Spanish contributed to the loss of indigenous identities.
For many years, Spanish-descent settlers and religious orders imported African slaves to the country, which in the early 19th century constituted 1.5% of the national population. Despite this, the Afro-Chilean population was negligible, reaching a height of only 2,500 – or 0.1% of the total population – during the colonial period. While a minority black slaves had special status due to their high cost of importVillalobos et al. 1974, p. 254. and maintenance. Black slaves were often used as housekeepers and other posts of confidence. Peninsulares, Spaniards born in Spain, were a rather small group in late colonial times, some of them came as government officials and some other as merchants. Their role in high government positions in Chile led to resentment among local criollos.Villalobos et al. 1974, p. 274. Mixing of different groups was not uncommon although marriage between members of the different groups was rare.
During late colonial times, new migration pulses took off leading to large numbers of Basque people settling in Chile mingling with landowning criollos, forming a new upper class.Villalobos et al. 1974, pp. 257–259. Scholar Luis Thayer Ojeda estimates that during the 17th and 18th centuries fully 45% of all immigrants in Chile were Basques.William A. Douglass, Jon Bilbao (2005). "Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World". University of Nevada Press. p. 81. Compared to other Spanish colonies in the Americas the proportion of women among and merchants among Spanish immigrants to Chile were lower and the proportion of non-Spanish immigrants (e.g. French, Irish) higher.
In 1812, the Diocese of Concepción conducted a census to the south of the Maule river, however, this did not include the indigenous population – at that time estimated at 8,000 people – nor the inhabitants of the province of Chiloé. It put the total population at 210,567, of which 86.1% was native Spaniards and 10% were Indian, with a remaining 3.7% of Africans, mulattos, and mestizo descent. Other estimates in the late 17th century indicate that the population reached a maximum total of 152,000, consisting of 72% whites and mestizos, 18% Indians, and 10% blacks and mulattos.Icarito – La Colonia:Población y sociedad
Sex and marriage Indigenous women in the colonial society were noted, from a Spanish point of view, for their sexual liberalism and engaged often sexually with men from other ethnicities. The same was true for the black slaves who due to their "many" intercourses with other groups were strictly prohibited by law to engage in sexual activities with other ethnicities in order to avoid the proliferation of black individuals.
16th century Spaniards are generally known to have been pessimistic about marriage. Many of the initial conquistadores had left their wives in Spain and engaged in adultery in Chile. An example of this is Pedro de Valdivia who held Inés de Suárez as lover. Adultery was explicitly forbidden for Catholics and the Council of Trent (1545–1563) made the climate prone for accusations of adultery. Over the course of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries marital fidelity increased in Chile.
Political organization
The government of Chile or Nueva Toledo was created by Emperor Charles V in 1534 and placed under the governorship of Diego de Almagro. It ran south from 14° S to 25° S latitude, as far south as present-day Taltal. Capitanía General de Chile, or Gobernación de Chile, remained a colony of the Spanish Empire until 1818 when it declared itself independent. In the mid Eighteenth Century, the Bourbon administrative reforms divided Chile into intendencias (provinces) and further into partidos (counties) which were also known by the older term of corregimientos. The partidos were further divided into distritos (districts) akin to Chile's modern communes. In 1786 two intendencias were created: Santiago and Concepción. By the end of the 18th century, Santiago was divided into thirteen partidos. manuscript 1795. Partido Administrative centreSantiagoCiudad de Santiago del Nuevo ExtremoCopiapóVilla de San Francisco de la SelvaHuascoVilla de Santa Rosa del HuascoCoquimboCiudad de San Bartolomé de la SerenaCuzcúzVilla de San Rafael de RozasQuillotaVilla de San Martín de la ConchaValparaísoPuerto de ValparaísoAconcaguaVilla de San Felipe el RealMelipillaVilla de San José de LogroñoRancaguaVilla de Santa Cruz de TrianaColchaguaVilla de San Fernando el Real de TinguiriricaCuricóVilla de San José de la BuenavistaMauleVilla de San Agustín de Talca
The intendencia of Concepcion had six partidos: Cauquenes, Chillán, Itata, Rere, Laja, and Puchacay. A third intendencia, Coquimbo was created in 1810. The area of Chiloé may be considered a fourth intendencia, but instead of reporting to the governor/capitain it reported directly to the viceroy, beginning in 1777. The intendencia, partido and distrito system was replaced in 1822 with departamentos, distritos and cabildos.
Labor forms
Encomienda Beyond subsistence, the 16th century economy of Chile was oriented towards large-scale production. Spanish colonizers used large amounts of indigenous labour following the slave labour system used in the sugar cane plantations of the Mediterranean islands and Macaronesia. This system of labour successively killed the production base leading to the imposition of the encomienda system by the Spanish Crown in order to prevent excesses. In Chile Spanish settlers managed to continue to exploit indigenous labour under slave like conditions despite the implementation of the encomienda. Rich Spanish settlers had over time to face opposition to their mode of production by Jesuits, Spanish officials and indigenous Mapuches.Salazar 1985, pp. 23–25.
Over the course of the 17th century, the indigenous population of Chile declined making the encomiendas less and less important.Villalobos et al. 1974, pp. 160–165. Chilean encomenderos who had encomiendas in Cuyo, across the Andes, introduced to Chile indigenous Huarpes who they hired to other Spanish without encomiendas.Villalobos et al. 1974, pp. 166–170.
The encomienda system was abolished in 1782 in Chiloé, in 1789 in the rest of Chile and in 1791 in the whole Spanish Empire. La rebelión huilliche de 1712 El Llanquihue. Published on July 29, 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012.Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando and Estelle, Patricio. 1974. Historia De Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Chile. p. 237.
Inquilinaje
Formal slavery
The Spanish were familiar with the institution of slavery. In the Mediterranean islands and Macaronesia the Spanish and Portuguese had a slave labour system used in sugar cane plantations. In the Iberian Peninsula slavery was declining did still occur in the 16th century. The import of black slaves into Chile was a response to a long-term population decline among indigenous peoples. Slavery was a legal labour form in Chile from 1536 to 1823 but it was never the dominant way of arranging labour. Slavery of black people bloomed from 1580 to 1660. The end of the boom is associated to the Portuguese Restoration War and Portugal's loss of several slave trading posts in Africa.
Formal slavery of indigenous people was prohibited by the Spanish Crown. The 1598–1604 Mapuche uprising that ended with the Destruction of the Seven Cities made the Spanish in 1608 declare slavery legal for those Mapuches caught in war. Rebelling Mapuches were considered Christian apostates and could therefore be enslaved according to the church teachings of the day. This legal change formalized Mapuche slavery that was already occurring at the time, with captured Mapuches being treated as property in the way that they were bought and sold among the Spanish. Legalisation made Spanish slave raiding increasingly common in the Arauco War.Valenzuela Márquez 2009, pp. 231–233 Mapuche slaves were exported north to La Serena and Lima. Slavery for Mapuches "caught in war" was abolished in 1683 after decades of legal attempts by the Spanish Crown to suppress it. By that time free mestizo labour had become significantly cheaper than ownership of slaves which made Mario Góngora in 1966 conclude that economic factors were behind the abolition.Valenzuela Márquez 2009, pp. 234–236
Economy
The collapse of the Spanish cities in the south following the battle of Curalaba (1598) meant for the Spaniards the loss of both the main gold districts and the largest indigenous labour sources.Salazar & Pinto 2002, p. 15. After those dramatic years the colony of Chile became concentrated in the central valley which became increasingly populated, explored and economically exploited. Following a tendency common in the whole Spanish America haciendas were formed as the economy moved away from mining and into agriculture and husbandry.
In the 1650–1800 period, the Chilean lower classes grew considerably in size.Salazar 1985, p. 49. To deal with the poor and landless population a policy of founding citiesThese cities were often in fact more of villages or towns due to their size. and granting lands in their surroundings was implemented. From 1730 to 1820 a large number of farmers settled in the outskirts of old cities or formed new cities.Salazar 1985, p. 58. Settling as a farmer in the outskirts of old cities (La Serena, Valparaíso, Santiago and Concepción) was overall more popular than joining a new city since it secured a larger consumer market for agricultural products.Salazar 1985, p. 52. Chilean haciendas (latifundia) engaged little in the supply of Chilean cities but focused on international exports for revenues.Salazar 1985, p. 88.