The use of violence as a mechanism of social change in the society of colonial Paraguay at the beginning of the 18th century

Abstract

Violence was used in the region of Paraguay since the beginning of the conquest. The indigenous populations fought for their territories with the Spanish settlers, with the Portuguese and their allies, the Tupi, and underwent periods of territorial retraction that alternated with others of advance on Asunción, mainly from the second half of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century. The process of retraction of the indigenous territory and advance on territories formerly occupied by the Creole population and the Jesuit missions took place when the Jesuit reductions settled on the banks of the rivers Paraná and Uruguay. This situation had a negative impact on the population of Asunción and generated a new pocket of violence with the Jesuit missions because of the dispute over the territory and available resources. This paper discusses the factors that triggered the armed conflict between the people of Asunción, colonial authorities and the Jesuit missions and the violence used by each group to defend its interests within the framework of the Revolution of the “Comuneros” that lasted from 1721 to 1735 and was described as the first revolutionary movement in America.

Key words: violence, indigenous populations, Jesuit missions.