Resumen de Trinidad, 1776-1840: from colonial backyard to Crown colony: Neptune's Trident
At the end of the 18th century the Caribbean island of Trinidad served as a testing ground for the Bourbon Reforms in Spanish America, allowing non-Spanish Catholics to settle down in Ultramar for the first time. In 1797, however, the situation changed drastically, when the British conquered the isle. This paper deals mainly with the transition process and the peculiar situation that marked Trinidad during the years before and after the conquest. Remarkably, Spanish civil rights remained in force, and the responsible appealing court continued to be in Caracas. The result was a fusion of Spanish law, English law, and governmental despotism. The chaos in administration and politics led to a conflict between the French conservative planters (mostly Catholics) and the British merchants (mostly Anglicans), who fought for their own civil rights. While the so-called "English Party" tried to establish an assembly, the French planters fought for maintaining the status quo. The conflict ended as late as in 1838, when Spanish law was definitively abolished.
