Access of elites to the local political power and their permanence. The Cabildo of Salta at the end of the colonial period

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the changes undergone by the composition of the elite in Salta from the last decades of the eighteenth century in relation to the new position the city occupied within the Andean-meridional region. The incorporation of merchants into the society of Salta affected the Cabildo as a reference point of local political power, since access to the council offices allowed them to enter a sort of “career” towards the top of society, where social status, wealth, and political, military, and clerical posts were combined.

Even though the merchants had nearly monopolized the composition of the Cabildo in the last years of the colonial period, they could not completely displace the members of the landowner families that had already put down roots in the elite. Rather, they were frequently incorporated into those families by means of advantageous marriages. These traditional families, however, also deployed certain strategies to keep control over some of the matters under the Cabildo's authority.

The political life in the city council was far from being quiet and peaceful due to the conflicting interests that emerged when the Intendencia was established. From then on, the alliances between some residents and the royal authorities became more complex in opposition to other groups that struggled steadily to defend the preeminence the Cabildo had had before the Bourbon reforms, designed to reinforce the metropolitan power and the power of the authorities in charge of putting into practice policies, especially fiscal ones, in the colonies.