Natives, Iberians, and Imperial Loyalties in the South American Borderlands, 1750–1800

Francismar Alex Lopes de Carvalho is Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Bonn, Germany.

• 1. Introduction. - 2. Prelude: Negotiating Loyalties in Missions, Towns, and Fortifications.- 3. The Policy of “Pacification” and the Continuation of War.- 4. Formal and Informal Alliances.- 5. Mission Secularization and Insurgency.- 6. Labor Circuits and the Intersected Lives of Blacks and Natives.- 7. Ethnic Soldiering and the Force of Privilege.- 8. Discipline and Insubmission.- 9. Supply and Smuggling.- 10. Conclusion.

“This is an excellent study based on extensive archival research that sheds new light on the contingent loyalties and fragile imperial rule that characterized the South American borderlands in the late colonial period. It makes an important contribution by adopting an ‘‘entangled’ history approach’ attentive to Indigenous agency and transcending national narratives … . It will be of great interest to historians of Indigenous colonial relations, imperial competition, frontier spaces, and the Iberian world in the Americas.” (Guillaume Candela, Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 104 (1), February, 2024)