<P> The Bourbon Reforms were not a unified or entirely coherent program, but a series of crown initiatives designed to revitalize the economies of its overseas possessions and make administration more efficient and firmly under control of the crown . Record keeping improved and records were more centralized . The bureaucracy was staffed with well - qualified men, most of them peninsular - born Spaniards . The preference for them meant that there was resentment from American - born elite men and their families, who were excluded from holding office . The creation of a military meant that some American Spaniards became officers in local militias, but the ranks were filled with poor, mixed - race men, who resented service and avoided it if possible . </P> <P> The first century that saw the Bourbons on the Spanish throne coincided with series of global conflicts that pitted primarily France against Great Britain . Spain as an ally of Bourbon France was drawn into these conflicts . In fact part of the motivation for the Bourbon Reforms was the perceived need to prepare the empire administratively, economically and militarily for what was the next expected war . The Seven Years' War proved to be catalyst for most of the reforms in the overseas possessions, just like the War of the Spanish Succession had been for the reforms on the Peninsula . </P> <P> In 1720, the Villasur expedition from Santa Fe met and attempted to parley with French - allied Pawnee in what is now Nebraska . Negotiations were unsuccessful, and a battle ensued; the Spanish were badly defeated, with only thirteen managing to return to New Mexico . Although this was a small engagement, it is significant in that it was the deepest penetration of the Spanish into the Great Plains, establishing the limit to Spanish expansion and influence there . </P> <P> The War of Jenkin's Ear broke out in 1739 between the Spanish and British and was confined to the Caribbean and Georgia . The major action in the War of Jenkins' Ear was a major amphibious attack launched by the British under Admiral Edward Vernon in March 1741 against Cartagena de Indias, one of Spain's major gold - trading ports in the Caribbean (today Colombia). Although this episode is largely forgotten, it ended in a decisive victory for Spain, who managed to prolong its control of the Caribbean and indeed secure the Spanish Main until the 19th century . </P>

Three different types of spanish settlements in the new world