English Imperial Aspirations in the Yucatan and Central America, 1584-1800
| Autor | Maria Fernanda Valencia Suarez |
| Cargo | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (unam-cephcis), México |
| Páginas | 214-246 |
TRACE 81, cemca, enero 2022, págs. 214-246, ISSN: 2007-2392
214
SECCIÓN GENERAL
doi: 10.22134/trace.81.2022.820
E I A Y
C A, -*
A Y
C, -
María Fernanda Valencia Suárez**
Fecha de recepción: 22 de febrero de 2021 • Fecha de aprobación: 22 de noviembre de 2021.
Resumen: Desde las últimas décadas del siglo hasta el final del siglo algunos
ingleses —comerciantes, navegantes, aventureros, académicos, cortesanos, militares, ofi-
ciales del gobierno y miembros del Parlamento— consideraron que las tierras continen-
tales de Yucatán y Centroamérica tenían una ubicación estratégica para competir con
España. Además, consideraban que estaban llenas de riquezas y habitadas por grupos
indígenas con hostilidades entre ellos y España, y por lo tanto habitadas por posibles
aliados de Inglaterra. Por esto, les parecía que sería posible y fácil ocupar la región y
adquirir control de las minas, los recursos y hasta de las ciudades más prósperas de la
América española. De esta manera, Inglaterra podría consolidar su imperio estableciendo
una base para avanzar en su lucha contra España. En este artículo se discuten los ar-
gumentos y los planes militares formulados por ingleses con aspiraciones de dominar
Yucatán y Centroamérica, así como sus intentos y esfuerzos para convencer a otros ingleses
y al gobierno en Londres de brindarles su apoyo. En este documento también se analizan
los obstáculos que enfrentaron y los resultados obtenidos, y se ponderan las circunstancias
que permitieron que algunos planes se llevaran a cabo.
Palabras clave: imperialismo inglés; planes militares; Yucatán; Centroamérica; rivalida-
des anglo-españolas.
Abstract: From the last quarter of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century, some
Englishmen (such as merchants, sailors, adventurers, scholars, courtiers, military men,
government officers and members of parliament) regarded the mainland of Yucatan and
* This work was supported by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México, ) under the Project PAPIIT-IA300417.
** Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias
Sociales (unam-cephcis), México, ferval33@gmail.com.
English Imperial Aspirations in the Yucatan and Central America, 1584-1800
215
Central America as strategically located to compete against Spain. They also considered
it to be full of richness and inhabited by indigenous groups who were hostile towards
Spain so they could be potential allies of England. Due to this, they considered it
was possible, and not difficult, to occupy the region and to control the mines, the resour-
ces and wealthy cities of Spanish America. In this way, England could consolidate its
empire by establishing a stronghold to advance the fight against Spain. In this paper the
arguments and military strategies formulated by Englishmen who aspired to dominate
Yucatan and Central America as well as their attempts to persuade some of their coun-
trymen and the government of London to back them are analysed. This article also
deals with the obstacles they faced, the outcomes achieved and the circumstances that
allowed some of their plans to be implemented.
Keywords: English imperialism; military strategies; Yucatan; Central America; Anglo-
Spanish rivalries.
Résumé : Du dernier quart du e siècle à la fin du e siècle, certains Anglais
— marchands, marins, aventuriers, intellectuels, courtisans, militaires, fonctionnaires et
députés — considéraient le Yucatan et l’Amérique centrale continentale stratégique-
ment situées pour rivaliser avec l’Espagne. Ils la considéraient également comme pleine de
richesses et habitée par des groupes indigènes hostiles à l’Espagne qui pouvaient être
des alliés potentiels de l’Angleterre. Par conséquent, ils ont déduit qu’il était possible, et
pas difficile, d’occuper la région et de contrôler les mines, les ressources et les villes riches
de l’Amérique espagnole. De cette façon, l’Angleterre pourrait consolider son empire en
tablissant un bastion pour avancer contre l’Espagne. Cet article traite des arguments et des
plans militaires formulés par les Anglais ayant des aspirations impériales au Yucatan et
en Amérique centrale, ainsi que des tentatives qu’ils ont faites pour persuader leurs com-
patriotes et le gouvernement de Londres de les soutenir. Il analyse les obstacles auxquels
ils ont été confrontés et les résultats obtenus, en réfléchissant aux circonstances qui ont
permis la mise en œuvre de certains de leurs plans.
Mots-clés: impérialisme anglais; Yucatan ; Amérique centrale ; rivalités anglo-
espagnoles ; plans militaires.
María Fernanda Valencia Suárez
216
England’s longing for becoming an empire and the plans to achieve it arose in
the last quarter of the 16th century due to the growing power and wealth that
Spain obtained from its colonies in the Americas. As this aspiration spread
further and further, exploration ventures, colonial discourses, various publications,
policies and actions took place that in due course emerged the idea of England
as an overseas empire that could challenge and supplant Spain in this region.1
Some English people sailed westward looking for a north-western passage,
lands, treasures, merchandises and new markets while others invested their efforts
in sacking Spanish ports and ships (Andrews 1984, 56, 66-67; De Ita 2000,
16-17; Hanna 2015, 39). Some of them went further, promoting the settlement
of colonies in places not yet possessed by the Spaniards and even proposing
plans and actions to attack and take control of lands that were considered by
Spain to be part of its American Empire.
It was difficult for Spain to keep control of the Caribbean region; colonial
occupation was scattered, large sections of the coast were uninhabited, the white po-
pulation was concentrated in a few towns that were quite isolated from the main
cities of Mexico and Peru, a big part of the indigenous population had fled to
the forest, military defences were feeble and there were neither efficient nor
defensive administrative policies (Reichert 2016, 114; 2017, 20-21). Therefore, the
efforts of the English explorers and promoters of American ventures progres-
sively consolidated English presence in the continent and the Caribbean was
one of the fronts where Spain and England struggled against each other (Bosch
2009, 33-37).
Although some scholars have considered the whole region of Yucatan and
Central America as part of what is called geographically the circum-Caribbean
(Bosch 2009; Von Grafenstein, Muñoz Mata & Nelken 2006), general histo-
riography, both Anglophone and Ibero-American, has tended to equate the
Caribbean with the islands or to focus its attention on shores and ports (Higman
2011; Palmié & Scarano 2011). Most studies dealing with the rise of the British
Empire or the threats that the Spanish Empire faced, which address the Ca-
ribbean region, have regarded continental shores as the targets of buccaneers,
illegal traders and small groups of settlers that attempted to extract natural re-
sources (Beckles 2011; Childs 2012; De Ita 2000; Gibson 2014; Hanna 2015;
Mancall 2007; McFarlane 1994). However, little attention has been given to the
ambitions of some Englishmen who invested imagination and energy in getting
control of inland territories.
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