ABSTRACT
The administrative reforms were begun under King Philip V and continued through the rule of his successors, Ferdinand VI and Charles III. One of the most significant reforms of the Bourbon kings, especially during the reign of Charles III, involved changes in economic thinking. The ascendance of the Bourbons to the Spanish throne—a primary outcome of the War of the Spanish Succession—meant that the eighteenth century in America would be a century of reform. The Bourbons realized that channeling all trade through one Spanish port and five American ports (Havana, Callao, Portobelo, Veracruz, Cartagena) stifled trade and encouraged piracy. The intendancy was French in concept, and the intendant held wide administrative and fiscal powers; this person worked to curb corruption, encourage trade and industry, and facilitate the honest collection of taxes and other royal revenues.
