Colonial Chile

[3] Indigenous people enjoyed the lowest prestige among societal groups in colonial Chile; many of them were used as cheap labour in encomienda but their numbers decreased over time due to diseases and miscegenation.

Pehuenche, Huilliche, and Mapuche living south of La Frontera were not part of the colonial society since they were outside the de facto borders of Chile.

[4] In Central Chile the dwindling population of Picunche occurred in parallel to import of Mapuche and Huilliche slaves from Araucanía and Chiloé,[B] as well as the arrival of indigenous people from Peru, Tucumán and the transfer of encomienda Huarpes from Cuyo.

[4] For many years, Spanish-descent settlers and religious orders imported African slaves to the country, which in the early 19th century constituted 1.5% of the national population.

[citation needed] Peninsulares, Spaniards born in Spain, were a rather small group in late colonial times, some of them came as government officials and some other as merchants.

During late colonial times, new migration pulses took off leading to large numbers of Basque people settling in Chile mingling with landowning criollos, forming a new upper class.

[1] In 1812, the Diocese of Concepción conducted a census to the south of the Maule river, however, this did not include the indigenous population – at that time estimated at 8,000 people – nor the inhabitants of the province of Chiloé.

[13] Other estimates in the late 17th century indicate that the population reached a maximum total of 152,000, consisting of 72% whites and mestizos, 18% Indians, and 10% blacks and mulattos.

In the mid Eighteenth Century, the Bourbon administrative reforms divided Chile into intendencias (provinces) and further into partidos (counties) which were also known by the older term of corregimientos.

By that time free mestizo labour had become significantly cheaper than ownership of slaves which made Mario Góngora in 1966 conclude that economic factors were behind the abolition.

[32] The collapse of the Spanish cities in the south following the battle of Curalaba (1598) meant for the Spaniards the loss of both the main gold districts and the largest indigenous labour sources.

[41] Initially Chilean latifundia could not meet the wheat demand due to a labour shortage, so had to incorporate temporal workers in addition to the permanent staff.

[47] Direct trade with Spain over the Straits of Magellan and Buenos Aires begun first in the 18th century constituting primarily an export route for gold, silver and copper from Chilean mining.

By the same time Spains trade monopoly with its colonies was successively weakened by smugglers from England, France and United States.

[49] With the destruction of Valdivia in 1599 Chiloé gained increased importance as the only locale that could supply the Vice royalty of Peru with Fitzroya wood.

[50] In the 18th century the shipbuilding industry in Valdivia, one of the city's main economic activities, reached its peak building numerous ships including frigates.

[51][53] In 1550, Pedro de Valdivia, who aimed to control all of Chile to the Straits of Magellan, traveled southward to conquer Mapuche territory.

[54] Between 1550 and 1553 the Spanish founded several cities[note 2] in Mapuche lands including Concepción, Valdivia, Imperial, Villarrica and Angol.

A contributing factor was the lack a tradition of forced labour like the Andean mita among the Mapuches who largely refused to serve the Spanish.

In their way back home, they ambushed Martín García Óñez de Loyola and his troops that were sleeping without any night watch.

The Spanish cities of Angol, La Imperial, Osorno, Santa Cruz de Oñez, Valdivia and Villarrica were either destroyed or abandoned.

[60] As the Spanish Empire faced a direct threat to its heartland in with the Catalan Revolt of 1640, all resources were put to crush the rebellion.

In Colonial times the Spanish Empire diverted significant resources to fortify the Chilean coast as consequence of Dutch and English raids.

[63] In 1600, local Huilliche joined the Dutch corsair Baltazar de Cordes to attack the Spanish settlement of Castro.

[25][27] While this was a sporadic attack, the Spanish believed the Dutch could attempt to ally the Mapuches and establish a stronghold in southern Chile.

[65] The Dutch occupation of Valdivia in 1643 caused great alarm among Spanish authorities and triggered the construction of the Valdivian Fort System that begun in 1645.

[66][67] As consequence of the Seven Years' War, the Valdivian Fort System, a Spanish defensive complex in southern Chile, was rebuilt and reinforced from 1764 onwards.

Other vulnerable localities of colonial Chile such as Chiloé Archipelago, Concepción, Juan Fernández Islands and Valparaíso were also made ready for an eventual English attack.

In late 1788, suspicion of British attack rose appeared once again, this time stemming from observations of ships off the coast of Coquimbo.