Chapter 9: The Colonial Economy PDF

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Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted. CH PTEIR 9 THE COLON A OM SPA I N ' S ECONO IC PO ICIES JJ.:c ,oth ur antili nKE"r and m unuy, it lb.an ·wous ands no o e,e protectionist io hich meant that th ted by limi im p lut m ped b 1ion of !hose in the pply pam ~ ilh r uy and old back Lo e main pon to pamn, any Indians and {. ti ot I SL n iao vm h th p. ni t hund · ·r numbers dropped to just over h i t mu 'nning UI)', mil i lh legitimate I n in th ixt ti mu th m i rir 121 Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  128 L l\"I C I 11' I! E q CEJtO'ii\L T1: nqu h, d La.r numbers and ud1 men \ ere ms ous, peciall iI diversUi. at nd mn i bloode · tock and expeci.meatetl ad ml re Is in min111~ shipbuilding. ugllr ing..' poured into the col · n rgyfn n, h- ite 0 I been noted f the millions of na- ll I nu oryin 11£d r> i r.anc n.md u~y_.-ill had t notably the Domini.can friar in 1h I , but i1 Tl aucls was rcl en I Ill p o ~ ·r en.oomend er uirerl to co ,.I r l JN1nucmo, r , ct labo.r). eate WI e. ow~rer, tndiao wrn ra es.1lln in nt Ul il pe.rs , 1h lo uen: a used by lndiao. popu decline ith fl ·bor r oi d 11 nimi rno, b ck my, s nd ag J bor d in~ d b1 peona , advanced individual b au e.mplo and nol repaid llulddy. Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  Dl.t Cm 1 Er?l ~mplo could hold 11 w rk in rp Lu I rvitud rnminuin l ad anr n die, bmth tern ould also rk to the d nl s labo. who uld a rumu l t d bt and urc~ and 1.hcn rnov on to another pl Th~ d gr of force rhaL employers couJd ex:m Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  130 Ll \fl NC 1. rne V ICE.ROYALTl" varied acm.rding m ti.me. place, and the av.ill.able labor pool, but c:om:ive ebt peonage was probably not widespread in the colonial period. On on rom abo p ic was a nyover from pr hispanic um , wh n v rythin that had to be moved was transported on the backs of porter or tamanes. Despite a legal limit of · fty pounds for , ch load, it was not uncommon for tamem co b forced to carry twic.e iliat wcigpl over moun tain passes. Prominent Spaniards. aniving at Veracruz were conveyed to th.e capital two hmuired.miles distant in sedan chairs carried by Indians. o many camf.T.i mccumbed to fati,gu that a royal ordered the incre:as d w nd hors _ao ithe opening of mads for carts. But the sight of men bent under naggering loads M!mained wnili T. _ INING The lands of the panish Indies belonged to th pa so:verci~ personally, but thm subjects rere allo d to exploit ilit: tand althe pleasure o e ruJc:n. The royal qumto (fifth ) of American ri appl"ed to Indian t u , predo _ metals and j ,,,,els1 and th - sal of slaves, to d tt' a mv examples. The crown was, eref'ore, no less anxious. to promote the search for gold and silv r than th m awricious coloni Th n:h for pre iou m erals continued unabated. and ultima y suc.cmd:ed. Jt was silver. however. not gold, tba pr vided die: great weaJth of coiani:al Mexico. By the1:arly 1530s silva: was being mined in ou.s lo-- cation , ut not until a unner- mry th fall o enochtithm wa a gri t mik! mad Between 1546 and 1548 e fabulous silver deposns of Zara1eras vere revealed, anch.ithio a few years mo - ri min o - - d in Guanajuato, San Luis Po[ - 1 - chuca. and oth - ites. Later silver strikes lD Pa:rm1 and Chihuahua purred ttlement the far nonh duri11g th C£Hturies. grea weal th ml dramatically I.fan fo onomy f th tololl. Mining camps, some of whkh became the impo:rtant dti we see today, sprouted in many locations in onhffil Mexico. B the ead, years of t h e ~ ttnth cenwry Zai.:atecrul bad becom the thud largest dty in the c:olony, su.rpass only by the capital and Puebla. A ecam.e very wealth and lived. in ostanation. Othu entrt>pra:icurs madt:: thm by upp :n those who fl mmm ,camp king ilv. Comm was profitable for merchants who risked taking chcir goods over the dangerous trails, past ubdued Indians. Others esta lished sand provided diverse services for th - mim:r:s. Equally pro. perous farmen fumishc. e food that was so much in demand i:n th ba.rnm nonh. At fust rattle and sheep w1~re,4IDVeo north in herds. but ~tnally ranchei:s saw the wisdom of, tibli hlns ran in th vicinity of the min : th! th i ofth grea &estock: spreads.of northern Mexico. Until lhe lare eight.emth centmy whe:n Guanajuato became the dud producn, most U r was min d in Zac.atecas and areas funh r north, where no laig s enmry Indi n pop- ulations existed. E-ven so, panfards first tried to enslave focal Indians or force them to work in r p rtlml nto. Condi ons w onerous. ar undergr und n th d damp shafts th the danger of floods or explosions. Workas cli.mbe:d up crude ladders to haul out the he.!vy ores. Some SUc-CllDlbed w early death and others tried to lee. In this sitna: on, minas n.m:red Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  The Coloma} Economy 131 m recruiting Indians from west£m a:nd central Mexico with promises of pay-and ~mption from tribute. prompting an inflow of free native labor~. a1ong with Africans and mixed.- cc p pl tha continu throughout th co oni Ip ·od. Paywu prob bl the b tin the ear)yye..m; ofw.'lge labor and often included ore sharing. 'The mines at Zacate:cas thrived, gen rating a third of Mexic.o's sil r with some fi thousand laborers at the height of p~ d dion in the seventeenth c.enn.uy. These work built th city cem:er wh:c.re Spaniards li ed. at the sa.me ti.me creating thrir owu communities around the outs.kins. Many of these barrios knit lo ed'I p opl who h d th:nk nd J':ngt1_j tic ffiliations, and so multi- th_nj At east in the raS1C of' Zaratecas over tim.e they created municipal and r-tligi