Struggling against Independence

Loyalist Exiles’ Views on Imperial Rule During and After the Spanish American Revolutions

Resumo

This article examines how loyalist exiles from the Spanish American revolutions drew upon their experiences to debate the best ways to preserve imperial rule in the remaining colonies. Delving on the stories of José Domingo Díaz and Miguel Tacón – Puerto Rico’s Intendant in the 1820s and Cuba’s Captain General in the 1830s, respectively –, it traces how they advocated for an imperial project rooted in unrestricted obedience to colonial officers, the consolidation of Captain General’s power, and the opposition to local autonomies. To do so, they weaponized their experiences in the continent and the Caribbean, claiming that the Spanish Empire should learn from royalists’ mistakes in order to halt the advance of revolution and the emergence of racial war. The diagnosis was simple for them: constitutional rule undermined the royalist cause, thwarting their attempts to preserve racial hierarchies and political stability. Therefore, the solution appeared straightforward too: the Spanish Empire should adopt a new colonial order in which the monarchy unapologetically decided to reinforce its power and racial hierarchies in the Spanish Antilles. Díaz and Tacón’s stories illuminates the impact of the mainland independence on the transformations experienced by the Spanish Empire during the Age of Revolution.