Politics and Trade in Southern Mexico 1750–1821

Ancient Maya Commerce : Multidisciplinary Research at Chunchucmil

“…For example, 11 Aztec cities conquered by Montezuma in the fifteenth century paid a yearly tribute of 2,000 decorated cotton blankets and 40 bags of cochineal dye each. Demand for cochineal in Europe during the colonial period was even greater (Baskes 2000;Hamnett 1971). Cochineal adheres more firmly and produces a deeper color in wool, introduced to the New World in the colonial period, than in prehispanic fabrics made of cotton and agave fiber.…”

Macehuales and the Corporate Solution: Colonial Secessions in Nahua Central Mexico

“…Although Bourbons took over the Spanish throne in 1700, reformers under the dynamic reign of Charles III (1759-1788) enacted the most ambitious changes (see, e.g., Brading 1971;1987;Hamnett 1971;Lynch 1989). elites. At the end of the eighteenth century in many communities, land used by indigenous religious confraternities was sold, while plantation agriculture expanded rapidly as the Yucatán's export economy in henequen grew under the Bourbon policy of free trade (Farriss 1984:355-388).…”

Risky Ventures: Reconsidering Mexico's Colonial Trade System*

“…In 1778, Yraeta, referring in a letter to his lack of liquidity at that moment, complained, 'I have no money' because 'it's necessary to advance funds to the hacenderos for their acquisitions with not a little risk.' 19 Finally, the wealthy merchants furnished many of the colony's alcaldes mayores with the goods and capital that they needed to trade on credit with the Indians of their districts (Hamnett 1971;Baskes 2000). In 1782, for example, Manuel Ramó n de Goya, a prominent Mexico City merchant, entered into a company with the entering alcalde mayor of Zimatlán in the southern province of Oaxaca.…”