Instructions on writing the paper:

 You need to analyze its content and write your comment in ONE paragraph (100-200 words) NO MORE THAN 200 WORDS. In your answer to the question I will post along the document, you must include examples from the material to show you have both read the document/material and understood its content. YOU HAVE TO DIRECTLY ANSWER THE WUESTION IN THE FIRST SENTENCE. AFTER THAT, YOU GIVE EXAMPLES AND EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER. YOU NEED TO CITE SOURCES (AT LEAST 3 IN-TEXT CITATIONS) NOT REFERENCE PAGE NEEDED IN THIS PAPER.

READ:  “A priest report on Social Conditions in Mexico- Manuel Abad y Queipo,” Problems in Modern Latin American History. Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood and Anna Rose Alexander, 16-21. New York: Rowan and Littlefield, 2019. 

Promt: 

By the end of the eighteenth century, Spanish America was dealing with various changes produced by the so called Bourbon Reforms. In order to increase the authority of the monarch and his control over colonial territory, these reforms focused on limiting traditional privileges to colonial subjects. The Catholic Church was one powerful colonial institution, whose power the Spanish monarch tried to diminish. 

In his report, bishop Manuel Abad y Queipo defended the clergy fuero, which the Crown was threatening to end. This fuero provided legal privileges to members of the clergy, by which they could be process in an ecclesiastical court instead of in a secular court (with not-religious judges). However, he also provides an interesting description of the various social groups in colonial Spanish America. While reading the report, you can see the different interest that these social groups had, and how this diversity made colonial society even more complex. 

AGAIN, THE FOLLOWING QUESTION MUST BE ANSWRED IN THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE AND THEN THE REST OF YOUR PAPER SHOULD SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Do you believe the Spanish monarchy was able to attend the needs or interests of these various social groups? Do you believe this  diversity of interests would have made possible the various social groups to unify against the Spanish monarch or in favor of independence?