Reinstatement of Royal Power
- Political organization
The oligarchy of the "brancos da terra" (mixed race) that had established itself in Ribeira Grande had perverted the democratic basis of the system of chambers that had established itself over the previous centuries despite advances and setbacks. The operation to liquidate this oligarchy was extremely surprising and decisive – in a spirit of enlightened despotism that prevailed at the time and brought Louis XVI of France to the guillotine - and it was carried out by two frigates that arrived at Praia with the Governor, Ouvidor, military commander and garrison to arrest the main people responsible and take them for trial in the metropolis on one of the frigates. The other remained for a while with the relevant garrison and soldiers from Portugal to eclipse the atmosphere of chaos. The climate of administrative modernisation that was created in other islands by the Ouvidor, José da Costa Ribeiro, now spread also to Santiago and Fogo, all the more quickly because the structures had already been implemented, but just perverted by those holding the positions.
The foundations were then all in place for what could be considered at the time to be a modern public administration for Cape Verde, with a military structure (military companies and militias), juridical system (ouvidor and chamber judges), all supervised by the Governor and covering the entire inhabited archipelago.
It could even be argued that the colonial era in Cape Verde started when the Grão Pará e Maranhão Company became established, as the archipelago had not been a colony up to that point, and it had just concluded a move towards de facto autonomy in its economic, administrative and even political structures.
The oligarchy of the "brancos da terra" (mixed race) that had established itself in Ribeira Grande had perverted the democratic basis of the system of chambers that had established itself over the previous centuries despite advances and setbacks. The operation to liquidate this oligarchy was extremely surprising and decisive – in a spirit of enlightened despotism that prevailed at the time and brought Louis XVI of France to the guillotine - and it was carried out by two frigates that arrived at Praia with the Governor, Ouvidor, military commander and garrison to arrest the main people responsible and take them for trial in the metropolis on one of the frigates. The other remained for a while with the relevant garrison and soldiers from Portugal to eclipse the atmosphere of chaos. The climate of administrative modernisation that was created in other islands by the Ouvidor, José da Costa Ribeiro, now spread also to Santiago and Fogo, all the more quickly because the structures had already been implemented, but just perverted by those holding the positions.
The foundations were then all in place for what could be considered at the time to be a modern public administration for Cape Verde, with a military structure (military companies and militias), juridical system (ouvidor and chamber judges), all supervised by the Governor and covering the entire inhabited archipelago.
It could even be argued that the colonial era in Cape Verde started when the Grão Pará e Maranhão Company became established, as the archipelago had not been a colony up to that point, and it had just concluded a move towards de facto autonomy in its economic, administrative and even political structures.
