Not all of the sixty-seven documents presented here are the product of the cabildos of New Spain in 1808 as one would assume from the title. Only thirty-four of them are from cabildos; the others are from individuals or from other official bodies of New Spain, Cuba and Spain. All of them do relate to the action taken as a result of the receipt of the news of Ferdinand VII’s elevation to the throne and his subsequent imprisonment in France by Napoleon.
Although this news, according to the documents reproduced here, was first received in Campeche and Mérida, the order of presentation is by place or origin of the document and not chronological according to receipt or action reported. Nor are the documents presented in the order that they are to be found in volume 46 of the section “Historia” of the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City. Each communication is numbered separately here even if one is a covering letter to the following report. Furthermore, in one case the covering letter (document XIX) on page 93 should be followed by document LVII, reproduced here on pages 158-166, as it does in the bound volume in the Archivo General de la Nación. Both documents XIX and LVII were the work of Joaquín Pérez de Arceo, dated Veracruz, July 23, 1808. However, this date and place is not cited for document LVII in the work under review.
Pérez de Arceo was not a member of the cabildo of Veracruz, nor is his position identified by the compiler. His communication, one of the few mentioning independence, is extremely interesting. He proposes that New Spain cut itself off completely from all foreign trade and foreign contacts and become completely self-sufficient by developing internally its own industry. To do otherwise, he maintains, invites slavery of New Spain to foreign industrialized nations, as had already occurred with Spain. Agriculture, according to the author, can never make a nation wealthy; only the development of a country’s own industry can bring independence. Spain, relying on foreign trade, had become decadent. Hence the Spanish American world should close its doors completely to this danger, industrialize and arm itself against foreign penetration.
The cabildos and other government officials represented in these documents generally proclaim their adherence to Ferdinand VII and offer to assist in any way possible in restoring him to the throne. Some offer funds; some ask for arms to withstand the French threat to America; and a few adopt specific measures to assure the continued adherence of the masses, especially the Indians, to the Spanish throne. Most of the documents are dated between July 7 and August 27, 1808, and represent primarily the action of Central Mexico (that is, the provinces of Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico, Guanajuato, Veracruz, and Michoacán), Guadalajara and the Yucatan peninsula. They are particularly interesting in that they show that in all these provinces the cabildos responded to the enthronement and imprisonment of Ferdinand VII in the same manner and with the same alacrity as did the cabildos of Spain. The Cabildo of Veracruz, on July 22, 1808, suggested that Iturrigaray bring together representatives to consider the situation. The Cabildo de Mérida, on the other hand, announced on July 30, 1808, its adherence to the Junta Suprema de Sevilla.
Those interested in this period of Mexican history will surely welcome having this material available in print.
