The French discourse on the delineations of the Spanish colonies in the early 19th century: The memoirs of Rigobert Bonne and Eustache Hérisson

Abstract

The 19th century proved to be one of the most complicated periods in Spanish history for the Spanish Crown, as it faced both internal conflicts—the French War of Independence—and external conflict—the independence of what were its territories in most of America. France did not remain indifferent to this and always had a clear idea of where to draw the boundaries of what “belonged” to it. Thus, amid the wave of independence movements in the Spanish colonies, the French continued to produce rich cartography to establish these boundaries and settle their power over the new nations that were arising after the period of revolutions. The cartography of Rigobert Bonne, the last cartographer of the French king and the Revolution Era, and one of its disciples, Eustache Hérisson, represent the perfect witness to the changes over the borders of the Spanish colonies during the change of the century. This study aims to analyze such cartography, examine the rich toponyms it offers, and examine the changes in the boundaries created over time between both empires. The main cartography we will rely on will be that of Bonne, one of the most important cartographers of the 18th century, and his disciple Hérisson, a geographer engineer, who lived through the onset of the conflicts and always prioritized the French perspective and the interests of their nation.