Reflections on the dossier "Thinking about American colonial borders from the perspective of their officials"

Abstract

The colonization of the far South of America entailed numerous policies of interaction between the newcomers and local native groups. Although the Spanish crown had a bureaucratic apparatus and specific institutions -army, encomiendas, Indian villages, peace treaties, among others- to achieve Indigenous subjugation and the effective occupation of the territory, the implementation of these mechanisms of domination varied notably across the border areas. The crown's difficulties in exercising homogeneous and rigorous control over the vast territory it sought to control -even after the attempt prompted by the Bourbon reforms- allowed the officials in power to define their own interests and implement, more or less creatively, original modes of interaction with ethnic groups and their leaders. This particularity contributed to the borders of each jurisdiction manifesting specific historical characteristics; on this occasion, the focus will be on some of these colonial officials.