Upper Peru (Spanish: Alto Perú; Portuguese: Alto Peru) is a name for the land that was governed by the Real Audiencia of Charcas.1 The name originated in Buenos Aires2 towards the end of the 18th century3 after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the Viceroyalty of Peru to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776.4 It comprised the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas (since renamed Sucre).
Following the Bolivian War of Independence, the region became an independent country and was renamed Bolivia in honor of Simón Bolívar.
History
By 1821, the Spanish colonial empire in Latin America was falling apart because of the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, and the troops of generals Bolívar and Sucre, who had already liberated Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, were already approaching the Upper Peru region.
Following the defeat of Spanish Royalist forces at the Battle of Ayacucho in December 1824 and the effect collapse of Spanish power in Upper Peru, province governors scrambled in the ensuing power vacuum. In this context, the governor of Chiquitos, Colonel Sebastián Ramos, considered to have the province incorporated into Brazil, at least until Spanish sovereignty in South America was restored.
Fearing that the new revolutionary government would punish him, Ramos sent his adjunct, Captain José María de Velasco, to Cuiabá (Captaincy of Mato Grosso, Brazil) in March 1825 to arrange for the occupation of Chiquitos into the Captaincy of Mato Grosso. Despite Emperor Pedro I of Brazil not being informed and only three of the seven council members of Mato Grosso present, a treaty declaring the annexation of Chiquitos was passed in Mato Grosso.
In the following month, due to the disapproval of returning council members and the denouncing of the annexation by Emperor Pedro I, the treaty between Mato Grosso and Chiquitos was annulled in May 1825. In the weeks following, Brazilian troops evacuated the province without clashing with revolutionary forces, looting was reported to have occurred by Brazilian forces during their retreat.
Generals Antonio Jose de Sucre and Simón Bolívar received reports of a Brazilian incursion into Chiquitos and Moxos (the latter of which only being a rumor) and believed it to be a local initiative rather than an action sanctioned by Brazil’s federal government, given that the expedition was led by a low-ranking retired lieutenant. While Sucre and Bolívar championed a peaceful resolution, they made clear that any attempt by Brazil to retain the province would be met with force, including the expulsion of Brazilian troops and Bolívar’s intention to spread the revolution into Mato Grosso and the rest of Brazil.
Over the following months, tensions between the provinces slowly decreased as looted goods were returned.5
Spanish conquest of Charcas
Initially, the province of Charcas was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776 when the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was established.
As a Río de la Plata province
The Assembly of Buenos Aires advanced to the province of Charcas as part of the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata and had elected representatives of the Provinces of Upper Peru for the Congress of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata.
Counterrevolution
When the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata gained independence, the Viceroy Abascal incorporated Upper Peru to the Viceroyalty of Peru including the province of Charcas.
Brazilian Intervention
The occupation occurred in the region Upper Peru (now Bolivia) between July and December 1822, which mobilized the Portuguese royal troops stationed in the Captaincy of Mato Grosso and occupied three of the Peru departments: La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and the so-called Department Maritmo (Atacama).
Colombian Occupation
Between 1823 and 1828 Colombian troops occupied Upper Peru with the leadership of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, born in Cumaná, as the continuation of the Campaigns of the South. The Republic of Bolívar (based on the Upper Peru) was considered to be a satellite state of Gran Colombia.
Claims by Argentina and Peru
Argentina and Peru claimed some territories of Upper Peru for historical reasons.
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