Discussion

Vizcardo y Guzman was one of the hundreds of Jesuits, both peninsulars and Creoles, that must abandon Spanish America when Charles III expulsed their religious order from all his domains. A Creole born in the Andes, Vizcardo and Guzman wrote his “Letter to the Spanish Americans” in exile. He lost access to his inheritance, and was forbidden to return to the Peru, which created a great resentment evident in his writing.

When reading the excerpt of “Letter to the Spanish Americans” (Links to an external site.) focus on his use of the term Spanish America. Who are these Spanish Americans? Why do the Spanish Americans deserve a treatment equal to the peninsulars? How are the natives and Casta population include in this ‘Spanish American’ group?