Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa
Encyclopedia
Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, marqués de Valleheroso y conde de Jerena (sometimes spelled Bucareli y Urzúa) (January 21, 1717, Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 – April 9, 1779, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

) was a Spanish military officer, governor of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, and viceroy of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

 (from September 23, 1771 to April 9, 1779).

Beginning of his administration

He was governor of Cuba when he was named viceroy of New Spain. He sailed from Havana on August 14, 1771 and arrived at Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

 on August 23. He took command of the colony at San Cristóbal Ecatepec on September 22, and made his formal entry into Mexico City on September 23, 1771. As Spain was at peace, he immediately reduced the size of the army to save costs. Before the reduction, the army consisted of 10,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry, not including the regiment La Corona, the urban guard in Mexico City, Puebla and Veracruz, and the companies of Alvarado and Tlacotalpan. With the reduced army, he took special care to reinforce the presidios in the north, to fight the Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...

s and Jumiles, who were continuing devastating incursions into Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...

. The Indians taken prisoner were deported to Cuba, together with their families.

In 1771 he tried to reconcile the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

s and Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

s in the colony, strongly divided over issues of the evangelization of California. The following year he prohibited the importation of foreign goods and recalled the circulating coins in order to replace them with others containing the likeness of King Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

. He founded a military hospital in the old College of San Andrés. In 1776 he founded another hospital for the poor in Mexico City and on January 20, 1777 he inaugurated the hospital of San Hipólito, for the insane.

In 1772 Pedro de Fagos and Fray Juan Crespi
Juan Crespi
Father Juan Crespí was a Majorcan missionary and explorer of Las Californias. He entered the Franciscan order at the age of seventeen. He came to America in 1749, and accompanied explorers Francisco Palóu and Junípero Serra. In 1767 he went to the Baja Peninsula and was placed in charge of the...

, leaving from San Diego, founded the port and presidio of San Francisco, in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...

. Bucareli sent two expeditions to lay stronger claims to the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

. Juan Josef Pérez Hernández was sent in 1774. Bruno de Heceta
Bruno de Heceta
Bruno de Heceta y Dudagoitia was a Spanish Basque explorer of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Bilbao of an old Basque family, he was sent by the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María Bucareli y Ursúa, to explore the area north of Alta California in response to information that there were colonial...

 (or Hezeta) commanded the second expedition, with Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was a Spanish naval officer born in Lima, Peru. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain , this navigator explored the Northwest Coast of North America as far north as present day Alaska.Juan...

 as second in command.

Economic reforms

He convened a meeting of mineowners on May 3, 1774, which developed regulations to govern the industry. In July 1776, Bucareli granted the mineowners the right to form a trade association to manage the industry (the Mining Tribunal), and granted tax breaks to the mineowners, already very rich. One rich mineowner, Pedro Romero de Terreros
Pedro Romero de Terreros
Pedro Romero de Terreros , the first Count of Regla, was a mining magnate and philanthropist in 18th century Mexico.-Early life:...

, who had already lent 400,000 pesos to the previous viceroy, lent another 800,000 to Bucareli. Romero de Terreros also donated a ship of 80 guns to the navy. Baron Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...

 asserted that Mexican miners were among the best paid in the world.

On January 17, 1774, the liberal government of Charles III established free trade between New Spain, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, and the recently created Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada
Viceroyalty of New Granada
The Viceroyalty of New Granada was the name given on 27 May 1717, to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739...

. Bucareli had promoted this measure with the ministers of the government. He repaired Fort San Diego in Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...

, to guard the port and the new commerce with South America. In 1779 free trade between Spain and the Indies took effect.

On February 25, 1775, he inaugurated the Monte de Piedad (government pawn shop, modeled on the one in Madrid) to give assistance to the poor.

Judicial reforms

A royal decree of March 11, 1776 initiated what became known as the Great Judicial Reform of 1776 in the Indies. The Audiencia was a longstanding governmental institution in New Spain. The first Audiencia in the colony was named on December 13, 1527. Although it was a legal court, the highest in the colony, and although the oidores were judges, the body also exercised important legislative and sometimes executive powers in the government of New Spain.

However, supreme power within the colony was vested in the viceroy. Much power was concentrated in the viceroy's hands. One of his ex oficio positions had been president of the Audiencia, giving him important judicial powers along with his executive and legislative ones. The Crown had shown a strong preference for military men as viceroys, and those that did not have a military background generally had an ecclesiastical one. None were lawyers.

Under the reforms of 1776, the Audiencia become more independent of the viceroy. He was not longer presiding officer. That function was taken over by the newly created regent of the Audiencia. The new tribunal was intended as a check on the viceroy. Spain issued the document Instrucción de regentes (Instruction to Regents) on June 20, 1776. This contained 78 articles setting out detailed instructions and standards.

Some historians ascribe this reform to the influence of José de Gálvez
José de Gálvez
José de Gálvez y Gallardo, marqués de Sonora was a Spanish lawyer, a colonial official in New Spain and ultimately Minister of the Indies . He was one of the prime figures behind the Bourbon Reforms...

, a royal inspector sent to the colony by Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

 in 1764. Gálvez traveled around the colony reporting on its administration and other aspects until 1772. He had unlimited authority, outranking even the viceroy.

Later administration

It fell to Bucareli to finish the fort of San Carlos (1776), which Viceroy Carlos Francisco de Croix had begun. This fort was designed with new tactical ideas in mind, and located in the plain at Perote, Veracruz.

He suppressed many bandit gangs. In 1776 he tried to deal with a plague of locusts. He embellished the Alameda (Mexico City park). He promoted the drainage of the Valley of Mexico. In 1778 he planned the Mexico City street which today bears his name. On August 1, 1778, the Royal School of Surgery was founded.

On January 21, 1779, just before Viceroy Bucareli's death, Ignacio Allende
Ignacio Allende
Ignacio José de Allende y Unzaga , born Ignacio Allende y Unzaga, was a captain of the Spanish Army in Mexico who came to sympathize with the Mexican independence movement. He attended the secret meetings organized by Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, where the possibility of an independent New Spain was...

, hero of Mexican independence, was born in San Miguel el Grande
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...

, Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....

.

On February 12, 1779, under orders from Bucareli, Princesa
La Princesa (1778)
La Princesa was a Spanish frigate or corvette built at the Spanish Navy base at San Blas and launched in 1778. She is sometimes called a frigate and sometimes a corvette...

and La Favorita sailed from the port of San Blas, Nayarit
San Blas, Nayarit
San Blas is both a municipality and municipal seat located on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the state of Nayarit.-City:San Blas is a port and a popular tourist destination, located about 100 miles north of Puerto Vallarta, and 40 miles west of the state capital Tepic. The town has a population of...

 to explore the Pacific coast to the north. This expedition explored as far as Alaska.

Viceroy Bucareli died in office April 9, 1779, of an attack of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....

. He was interred, among expressions of grief from the public, in the cemetery adjacent to the church of Guadalupe. He left various writings, including Allosgusstio ad Patres Concilii IV, Provincialis Mexicani, die X Octobris ann. 1771, Reglamento para el cuerpo de militares inválidos de la Nueva España, and Collección de todas las providencias de su gobierno. He was succeeded on an interim basis by Francisco Romá y Rosell
Francisco Romá y Rosell
Francico Romá y Rosell was a Spanish royal official in Valladolid and New Spain. He was the first regent of the Real Audiencia of Mexico...

, president of the Audiencia.

An able administrator, he improved the public treasury, commerce, and the monetary system. Mexican historians consider him one of the most outstanding viceroys.

Bucareli Sound, in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, is named after him.
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