Concept in Definition ABC

Considered one of the institutions most important and influential in the area of ​​the colonial city, the Cabildo was one more step in the complex and rich hierarchy institution that Spain had established in America once conquered this. Along with other institutions of greater and lesser importance, the Cabildo was in charge of certain functions that were specifically designed for the city environment and whose ultimate objective was to represent the King in the American territories.

Unlike other positions such as Viceroy, Corregidor and others, the Cabildo was an instrument collegiate that was made up of several people and that exercised its functions according to the interests and designs of this. Traditionally, the Cabildo was made up of those neighbors or individuals of the best lineage and power, that is, mostly Spanish and, in certain cases, some high-ranking and powerful Creoles. In this sense, the town councils of all America were one of the most traditional institutions, contrary to what was always thought: their interests did not seek to please those of the entire

population if not that generally they tried to maintain the privileges and rights of those who had greater power.

One of the most important characteristics of the Cabildo is that its jurisdiction was limited to the city and (in some cases) to the surrounding territories. In this sense, the Cabildo was a institution political, legal and administrative who was dedicated to control, organize and manage the issues that had to do with that limited social space, not as it happened with other institutions that might have to take care of entire regions.

The town councils were one of the last institutions created by the Spanish to disappear once the American territories were independent. His presence and his power in many regions of the interior were central and although Spanish officials were replaced by creoles, the institution itself continued to exist for decades as a form of control and driving from the city area.

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