Page "Guaraní people" Paragraph 26

The missions were turned over to priests of other orders, chiefly Franciscans, but under a code of regulations drawn up by the viceroy and modeled largely on the Jesuit system.

Under a chaotic political regulation, the missions rapidly declined.

Most guaraníes returned to the countryside.

According to the official census of 1801, fewer than 45, 000 guaraníes remained ; cattle, sheep, and horses had disappeared ; the fields and orchards were overgrown or cut down and the churches were in ruins.

The long period of revolutionary struggle that followed completed the destruction.

In 1814, the mission Indians numbered 8, 000, and in 1848 the few who remained were declared citizens.