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Bourbon Palliatives and the Central American Mining Industry, 1765–1800

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Troy S. Floyd
Troy S. Floyd*
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Extract

It has become a well-established fact that agricultural and mineral production underwent marked increase during the eighteenth century in Latin America. An expanding European market, regular and abundant maritime transportation, the lowering of taxes, the reduction of prices of crown monopolies, and the granting of government loans to industry were all factors which, in varying degree, stimulated increased production. Less well known, however, is the fact that in some areas production failed to rise above an unimpressive level despite these favorable conditions and official encouragement. The Central American mining industry, for example, experienced no noticeable change in productivity during the last half of the eighteenth century, although trade increased in volume, stimulative legislation was implemented, and penetrating suggestions—reflecting rays of the Enlightenment— were offered by miners and government officials.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , October 1961 , pp. 103 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1961

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References

1 Ladino is the generic term commonly employed in Central America to designate the lower classes who have acquired Spanish cultural traits. Although mixed-bloods doubtless comprised the great majority, eighteenth-century officials sometimes included free Negroes and even Indians within the general term. Officials revealed the imprecise connotation of the term by observing that certain Indians were “bastante ladino.”

2 Visitas made during the last half of the eighteenth century refer frequently to this ruralization. Descripción geográfico-moral de la diócesis de Goathemala; Colleción de documentos importantes relativos a la República de El Salvador (San Salvador, 1921) [one vol. only], I, 70, 76, 99, 167, 194, 215, 228–229; Estado general … del obispado de Comayagua … por dn. Fr. Fernando de Cardiñanos, obispo de dicha diócesis … Año de 1791, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 578.

3 The overseer of a mandamiento or repartimiento, as assignments of Indian workers were called.

4 de Paula García Peláez, Francisco, Memorias para la historia del antiguo reino de Guatemala, 2d ed., Biblioteca “Payo de Rivera” (Guatemala, 1943–1944; 3 vols.), II, 144.Google Scholar The ayuntamiento of Guatemala complained in 1707 that there had been no ship from Spain for twelve years. Pardo, J. Joaquín, Efemérides para escribir la historia de la muy noble y muy leal ciudad de Santiago de los caballeros del reino de Guatemala (Guatemala, 1944), p. 134.Google Scholar

5 Motten, Clement G., Mexican Silver and the Enlightenment (Philadelphia, 1950), P. 12.Google Scholar

6 Intendant of Nicaragua to Crown, Leon [?], 1788, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 575.

7 A census of adults in 1786 listed 20,114 ladinos and 5,697 Indians in the alcaldía mayor. Josef de Quintana to CG, Los Llanos de Santa Rosa [Honduras], Sept. 5, 1786, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 777. Quintana’s census of adults taken to determine the domestic tobacco market of the captaincy general of Guatemala constitutes, because of its meticulousness, one of the prime eighteenth-century documents on Central American population.

8 Visita general de la prova, de Honduras en el reyno de Goatemala por su gobernador intendte. y comandante general dn. Ramón de Anguiano. Año de 1804, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 501.

9 Josef Esteban Sierra, a spy who posed as a turtle fisherman, found abundant evidence of the smuggling of indigo, cattle, and silver with the British. Itinerario y navegación que practiqué de orn. del M. Y. S. Presidente dn. Martín de Maiorga en la costa del norte para el reconocimto. de estranxeros y noticias conducentes al Rl. Servicio, Guatemala, Dec. 23, 1776, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 450.

10 Quijano, José A. Calderón, “El fuerte de San Fernando de Omoa,” Revista de Indias, 4, No. 11 (Jan.-March, 1943), 131, 142Google Scholar; Untitled chart, Guatemala, March 26, 1757, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 871.

11 CG to Crown, Masaya [Nicaragua], July 18, 1780; CG to Crown, Guatemala, May 30, 1781, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 869; CG to Crown, Guatemala, Feb. 3, 1803, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg, 422.

12 Untitled summary by Council of Indies of efforts to develop the mines, Madrid [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796; Summary on state of treasury of Guatemala by Council of Indies, Madrid, Sept. 30, 1796, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 887.

13 For a description of the Guatemalan merchants’ activities, see Floyd, Troy S., “The Guatemalan Merchants, the Government, and the Provincianos, 1750–1800,” HAHR, 41, No. 1 (Feb., 1961), 99–100.Google Scholar

14 Guatemalan merchants contemplated in the 1740’s and in the 1780’s draining the formerly rich gold mine, El Corpus (near Choluteca), which had flooded in 1690. On both occasions, they decided that the cost, estimated in 1787 at 14,000 pesos, was prohibitive. Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

15 Cabildo of Tegucigalpa to CG, Feb. 3, 1766, Boletín del Archivo General del Gobierno [Guatemala], II, Nos. 1-4 (July, 1937), 470 (hereafter cited as BAGG); Alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa to CG, Nov. 29, 1785, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770. I have located no comprehensive picture of Central American mining for a given year; consequently, any general description must be interpolated from sources separate in time.

16 This was a Central American term for small, impoverished miners who usually were ladinos. The economy, like the society, was dominated by a few persons of white blood who were the large merchants, planters, cattlemen, and miners. Beneath them, eking out an existence, were numerous ladinos in each of the economic activities, being known, respectively, as regatones, poquiteros, pegujaleros, and gurruguceros.

17 Testimonio de las diligencias practicadas a consecuencia de real cédula en que sirvió su Magestad conceder a los Mineros … la gracia de que el quintal de Azogue se les dé a 60 ps … [Comayagua], Año de 1771, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 863.

18 Metals production was estimated in 1742 at 300,000 pesos. García Peláez, op. cit., III, 13; the Central American subtreasury accounts for the years 1780, 1783, 1785-93 indicate that quinto receipts averaged 23,000 pesos for the eleven years. Annual production, consequently, would amount to approximately 230,000 pesos, inasmuch as the quinto had been a ten per cent tax since 1723. The tax on gold was reduced to three per cent in 1777 but this would not materially alter the above calculation for gold production was very small. Cuentas de real hacienda, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, legs. 747–750, 790, 802–803, 816–819, 823. A government report in 1825 indicated an average production of 146,255 pesos for 1795–1810, and 254,025 pesos for 1810–1825. Squirer, Ephraim George, States of Central America (New York, 1858), p. 190.Google Scholar

19 Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

20 Motten, op. cit., pp. 12, 16.

21 There were, for example, claims filed in 1747-1752 on five new mines in the district of San Salvador (near Tegucigalpa). The mining region was reported completely abandoned in 1785. Vallejo, Antonio R., “Noticia histórica de las minas de Honduras,” Revista del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales, Tegucigalpa, 17, No. 6 (Dec. 31, 1938), 362 Google Scholar; Alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa to CG, Nov. 29, 1785, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770. Other examples could be cited.

22 Nicaragua’s El Peñon gold fields opened in 1773, a gold mine at Sulaco (Yoro province, Honduras) and a silver mining district in El Salvador began operations in the 1780’s, and as late as 1794 the intendant of Honduras believed that one of the “richest strikes in the kingdom” had been made in the Opoteca district, north of Comayagua. CG to Crown, Guatemala, Nov. 2, 1794, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770.

23 Administrator, Banco de Rescate to CG, Tegucigalpa, Nov. 19, 1788; Assayer, Banco de Rescate to CG, Tegucigalpa, Nov. 20, 1788, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

24 The place where amalgamation took place. de Gamboa, Francisco Xavier, Commentaries on the Mining Ordinances of Spain, Heathfield, Richard, tr. (London, 1830, 2 vols.), II, 326.Google Scholar

25 Testimonio de las diligencias…[Comayagua], Año de 1771, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 863; Juan Ignacio de Garzón, miner of Yuscarán, to CG, Guatemala, May 24, 1775, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 561.

26 Motten, op. cit., p. 19. Indians who used cowhide bags to carry out ore, spoil rock, or water from the mines were called tanateros. The word appears as “tenatero” in Motten’s work but as “tanatero” in Central American documents.

27 Testimonio del expediente… sobre creación de juez veedor para… los minerales de Los Encuentros … Año de 1785, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796; García Peláez, op. cit., II, 146.

28 Motten, op. cit., p. 21.

29 Instrucción a que se ha de arreglar la Admon. de la Cassa y fondo de rescates… de Tegucigalpa … Tegucigalpa, Jan. 30, 1780, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

30 Barreteros marked out with crowbars the outline of veins for barrenadores, or powder men. Motten, op. cit., p. 18. Repasadores trampled the crushed ore to expedite amalgamation. Alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa to CG, Dec. 6, 1784, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

31 Roasted copper pyrites used in the patio process to counteract an excess of lime. Motten, op. cit., p. 23.

32 Untitled summary … Madrid [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

33 The government handled transportation of mercury from the coast to Comayagua by inviting bids from the owners of recuas. Between 1769 and 1772, the successful offer was from 14 to 22 pesos a quintal. Testimonio de lo actuado sȓe. condución de Azogue … Guatemala, 1784, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 469; Mercury from Spain was sometimes transported across the isthmus to Panama and from there to Realejo, Nicaragua. Testimonio. Año de 1751, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770.

34 Testimonio de las diligencias … [Comayagua], Año de 1771, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 863.

35 Lib. iv, tit. 19, leyes 8–9, tit. 21, leyes 1–4, Recopilación de Leyes de los Reynos de las Yndias, 2d ed. (Madrid, 1756), 4 vols., II, 119, 122.

36 Subdelegado of Tegucigalpa to CG, Aug. 8, 1793, BAGG, VII, No. 4 (July, 1942), 243. The leading district, Yuscarán, had a juez de minas in 1770, who presumably looked after labor and supply only. The alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa said in 1785 that all districts had jueces de minas. If this were true, the position must have been titular only for most districts. Their impoverished state would certainly not permit supporting a juez in addition to paying an inspection fee to the alcalde mayor. Testimonio de las diligencias … [Comayagua], Año de 1771, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 863; Alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa to CG, Dec. 6, 1785, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

37 Francisco Felix de la Rossa y Aguayo to CG, Tegucigalpa, Feb. 3, 1766, BAGG, II, Nos. 1–4 (July, 1937), 470–473.

38 Durán, José C. Díaz, “Historia de la casa de moneda del Reino de Guatemala, desde 1731 hasta 1773,” Anales de la Sociedad de Geografía e Historia [Guatemala], 18 [special number] (March, 1942), 204–205 Google Scholar; Joseph Salvador de Cásseres to CG, Guate-mala, Aug. 23, 1765, BAGG, II, Nos. 1–4 (July, 1937), 464.

39 Howe, Walter, The Mining Guild of New Spain and Its Tribunal General, 1770–1821 (Cambridge, 1949), p. 14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

40 Untitled summary … Madrid [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796; CG to Crown, Guatemala, Oct. 8, 1776, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770.

41 Royal Cédula, Madrid, Feb. 20, 1769, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 798.

42 Untitled summary … Madrid [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

43 Royal Cédula, Madrid, July 17, 1773, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 798.

44 The price of mercury was 60 pesos a quintal by 1789 and the crown’s desire in 1792 to effect a reduction of 20 pesos was not carried out. My guess is that the local treasury officials decided not to allow it. Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797; Visita general de la prova. de Honduras … Año de 1804, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 501.

45 Floyd, op. cit., pp. 101–106.

46 Instructions to Gálvez, Sep. 23, 1779, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 451. Gálvez established restrictions on the exchange of indigo and cattle similar to those placed on metals. The restrictions on all three industries were abolished during the last decade of the century.

47 Testimonio. Comisión, Instrucción, Embargos, Deposición, Arresto, Sumario, Cargos y Confesiones de los oficiales Rs. de Comayagua, 1784, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 469.

48 The alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa, Ildefonso Ignacio Domezain, was, like Gálvez, a military hero of the campaign against the British, participating in the Criba and Roatán campaigns. AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 869.

49 Instrucción a que se ha de arreglar … fondo de rescates… Tegucigalpa, Jan. 30, 1780, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796. The bank also dispensed mercury and powder.

50 Lib. iv, tit. 24, ley 2, Recopilación, II, 133.

51 Seigniorage fees at the mint in Guatemala City were one and one-half per cent of the value of the metal exchanged.

52 The government did not specify its exchange rate for gold, but the price would presumably have been higher than that offered by rescatadores.

53 Instrucción e inspección de las Minas del Peñón … El Peñón, Oct. 15, 1777; CG to Crown, Masaya, Sept. 9, 1780, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 729.

54 The Mexican expert, Pedro Antonio de la Fuente, reported that the mines had excellent potential but soon would be ruined if the present haphazard way of working them continued. Treasury records indicate that the mines did soon decline.

55 The intendancy was established only in the gobierno of Comayagua in 1786, but two years later it was extended to include the alcaldía mayor of Tegucigalpa.

56 Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

57 Tobacco growers of Aquiquisquillo to the Director of the Monte Pío de Cosecheros de Añil, San Vicente [July?], 1786, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 588.

58 Testimonio del expediente instruído sobre creación de juez veedor para… los minerales de Los Encuentros… Año de 1785. The crown invested an additional 12,000 pesos in the mine in 1787 but advised in the same order that no other private loans would be granted. Untitled summary … Madrid [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

59 The villages–Gotera, Chilanga, Sencembla, Guatajiagua, and Cacaopera–had a total adult population in 1786 of 3,682 Indians. Josef de Quintana to CG, Los Llanos de Santa Rosa, July 21, 1786, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 777. Presumably about half, or 1,841 of the adults were male. Thus Sánchez’ repartimiento of 200 could be drawn, theoretically, from a labor pool of 460 Indians.

60 In addition to 1783-1785, complaints of the Lencas were taken down in 1796 by the intendant Ignacio de Santiago y Ulloa who was less sympathetic toward Sánchez than Ortiz had been. Altogether, the complaints make up hundreds of manuscript pages in legajos 796 and 797 of the Audiencia of Guatemala, AGI. The teniente once reported to the intendant that he feared a mass uprising, after Indians at Guatajiagua stoutly refused to report for work, saying: “If we must die one by one from the whip in the mines, it is better that we all die together.” Jacinto Cid Pizarro to intendant, Mineral de los Encuentros, April 29, 1793, Testimonio A, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

61 Junta Superior de RI. Hacienda to Crown, Guatemala, Oct. 15, 1786, Untitled summary, … Madrid, [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 798.

62 Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

63 Sánchez to Cid Pizarro, Mineral de los Encuentros, June 19, 1793, Testimonio A, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

64 Sánchez to alcalde mayor of El Salvador, Mineral de los Encuentros [November, 1783], Testimonio No. 2, Aug. 31, 1785, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

65 Ortiz to CG, Guatemala, April 13, 1785, Testimonio del expediente instruido sobre creación de juez veedor para … los Minerales d Los Encuentros Año de 1785, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

66 The intendant Santiago de Ulloa had formerly served as alcalde mayor of a mining district in Peru. Testimonio F, April 15, 1796, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

67 Royal Order, El Pardo, Feb. 23, 1784, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 729.

68 Untitled summary … Madrid [1795?], AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

69 Royal Cédula, Aranjuez, June 1, 1792, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 796.

70 Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797.

71 Peñalver to CG, Guatemala, June 27, 1794, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770.

72 Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797; Peñalver to CG, Guatemala, April 2, 1793, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 770; Visita general de la Prova, de Honduras … Año de 1804, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 501.

73 Intendant to Min. of Indies, Comayagua, Nov. 20, 1790, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 797; Visita general de la Prova, de Honduras … Año de 1804, AGI, Aud. de Guatemala, leg. 501.

74 Students of the Enlightenment in Central America apparently did not experiment with new mining techniques as did scholars in Mexico (Motten, op. cit., pp. 27, 30-31), since no account of such activity appears in John Tate Lanning’s The Eighteenth-Century Enlightenment in the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (Ithaca, 1956). Nor, for that matter, did the Economic Society of Guatemala give attention to mining until 1811 when it attempted, unsuccessfully, to raise funds to engage a mineralogist from Mexico. Shafer, Robert J., The Economic Societies in the Spanish World (1763–1821) (Syracuse University Press, 1958), p. 231.Google Scholar