Charles III and the Bourbon Reforms in Spain

Charles III, king of Spain from 1759 to 1788, brought reforming ministers such as Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes and the Count of Floridablanca into government. They promoted agriculture, roads and manufacturing, encouraged the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country, reduced some guild restrictions and in 1778 opened trade between more Spanish and American ports.

In 1766 a decree banning long cloaks and broad-brimmed hats, meant to improve public order, helped spark the Esquilache Riots in Madrid; the government blamed the Jesuits and expelled them from Spain and its empire in 1767. In the Americas, the 'Bourbon Reforms' sent new royal officials called intendants, raised taxes and tightened control over colonial trade.

These measures increased revenue but angered many colonial subjects, contributing to uprisings such as the rebellion led by Túpac Amaru II in Peru in 1780 to 1781. Charles III's reign shows enlightened reform serving both modernization and imperial control.