Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas
| Captaincy General of the Internal Provinces | |||||
| Capitanía General de las Provincias Internas | |||||
| Captaincy General of Spain | |||||
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| Capital |
Arizpe 1776-1787, Durango 1787-1821 (Western division) Monterrey 1787-1821 (Eastern division) |
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| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||
| King | |||||
| • | 1776–1788 | Charles III | |||
| • | 1886–1898 | Ferdinand VII | |||
| Captain General | |||||
| • | 1776–1783 | Teodoro de Croix | |||
| Historical era | Spanish Empire | ||||
| • | Administrative reorganisation | 1776 | |||
| • | Treaty of Córdoba | 1821 | |||
| Today part of |
 Mexico United States
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The Provincias Internas, also known as the Comandancia y Capitanía General de las Provincias Internas (Commandancy and Captaincy General of the Internal Provinces), was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire created in 1776 to provide more autonomy for the frontier provinces of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present-day northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. The goal of its creation was to establish a unified government in political, military and fiscal affairs. Nevertheless, the Commandancy General experienced significant changes in its administration because of experimentation to find the best government for the frontier region as well as bureaucratic in-fighting. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms and was part of an effort to invigorate economic and population growth in the region to stave off encroachment on the region by foreign powers. During its existence, the Commandancy General encompassed the Provinces of Sonora y Sinaloa, Nueva Vizcaya, Las Californias, Nuevo México, Nuevo Santander, Nuevo Reyno de León, Coahuila (formerly Nueva Extremadura) and Texas.
The Provincias Internas were the brainchild of José de Gálvez. He hit upon the idea during his time as royal Visitador General (Inspector General) to New Spain from 1761 to 1772. His initial idea was to create a full-fledged viceroyalty or captaincy general out of the northern provinces, but the low population of the area and large military expenses of the area in comparison to its revenues, prevented this. Instead the chief official of the area received the military title of commander or commandant general (comandante general in Spanish) in addition to being the chief civil executive officer of the region. Due to objections from the viceroys of New Spain, Gálvez was unable to implement his plan during his time as visitador, but a few years after his return he was appointed Minister of the Indies. This was essentially a new office created by King Charles III which made Gálvez, for all purposes, independent of the Council of the Indies (of which he was also an honorary member). From his new position, Gálvez was able to implement his vision for Spanish America. In addition to the Provincias Internas, Gálvez also created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and the Captaincy General of Venezuela (which was essentially a new viceroyalty in all but name). He also recommenced the stalled project of replacing the older corregimientos and alcaldías mayores with intendants. Gálvez appointed Teodoro de Croix as the first Commander General of the Provinicas Internas.
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Wikipedia