The image of the ideal colonial administrator in the views of Spanish statesmen in the first half of the 18th century

The article examines the views of Spanish administrators in the 18th century regarding the transformation of the colonial administration system. The development of reform projects for overseas policy began in the 1720s and actively evolved in the 1740s during the Anglo-Spanish War over the Asiento from 1739 to 1748. In the opinion of bureaucrats, the main tool for reform was administrative activity, and the key figure in this process was the administrator. The purpose of this work is to reconstruct the characteristics of the new manager in Spanish America. The report analyzes three so-called colonial treatises from the 1720s to 1740s – “A General Representation of the State of the Royal Treasury” from 1725, “A New System of Economic Management for America” from 1743, and “Secret Reports on America” from 1748 – which describe the problems of the crown's possessions in the New World. By utilizing the method of the Cambridge School of intellectual history, it is possible to determine the common views of members of the Spanish administration regarding the necessary characteristics of the ideal administrator in the governed overseas territories. The use of historical sociology and postcolonial imagology methods allows for a comprehensive exploration of the topic, defining both the image and character of power and the rulers themselves. The novelty of this study lies in the use of materials from “A General Representation,” a little-studied source in modern domestic and foreign historiography, as well as the identification of new aspects and themes in the well-known work “A New System.” The examination of assessments of American administrators’ activities allows for the identification of new requirements for the administrator: concerning their social status, skills, duties, and ethos. Additionally, the criteria for selecting candidates for colonial positions at various levels are analyzed. Based on this, a conclusion is drawn about the evolution of qualitative requirements for the representative of metropolitan interests in the colonial environment: concerning the existence of estate restrictions and elements of vassal ethos on one hand, and the crown's striving for professionalization of the administration in the New World on the other.

Spanish Empire, Bourbon Dynasty, War of Asiento, West Indies, problems of colonial governance, colonial administrator, image of the administrator, vassal ethos, public sphere, corruption