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Biography of Revillagigedo, Conde deName: Revillagigedo, Conde deBirth Date: 1740 Death Date: May 12, 1799 Place of Birth: La Habana, Cuba Nationality: Cuban Gender: Male Occupations: viceroy Revillagigedo, Conde de Juan Vicente Güemes Pacheco y Padilla, Conde de Revillagigedo (1740-1799), was viceroy of New Spain and one of its ablest and most efficient administrators.Juan Vicente Güemes Pacheco was born in La Habana, Cuba. His father was viceroy of New Spain from 1746 until 1755. The young and ambitious Juan Vicente joined the Spanish military service, gaining renown during the Spanish siege of Gibraltar against England.Viceroy of New SpainAs viceroy of New Spain (1789-1794), Revillagigedo gained the respect and admiration of its people. He strove to make effective José de Gálvez's reforms and inaugurated the intendant system. He improved the administration of finances and justice, enlarged the school system, and reorganized the colonial militia. He founded the General Archives and inaugurated in 1793 the Museum of National History. To keep himself informed of the desires and grievances of the people, he placed a locked box in a …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…of cotton and other textile fibers.Revillagigedo also encouraged explorations of the California and northern Pacific coast as far as the Bering Straits. However, under his administration Spain was forced to yield to England--as a result of the Nootka Sound controversy--territories on the northwest Pacific coast, thus acknowledging that Spain could not claim territories not effectively occupied.At the end of his enlightened administration in 1794, Revillagigedo left a more modern and prosperous Mexico with an efficient and honest government. He returned to Spain, where he died on May 12, 1799. Further Reading Valuable information on Revillagigedo's administration is in Donald E. Smith, The Viceroy of New Spain (1913), and C. H. Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (1947). Further background can be found in three works by Lillian E. Fisher: Viceregal Administration in the Spanish American Colonies (1926), The Intendant System in Spanish America (1929), and The Background of the Revolution for Mexican Independence (1934). |