Merchants in Seventeenth-Century Mexico City
A Preliminary Portrait
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2827922 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Louisa Schell Hoberman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1977 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 479 |
| Publication date | 1977-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Hispanic American Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2168 • E-ISSN: 1527-1900 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2514026 |
| OpenAlex | W4232047885 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
| References cited | 1 |
T HE merchant community in colonial Latin America is a social stratum whose history and structure help elucidate two central themes in the historiography: the composition of the elite and the means by which it maintained its control in a society lacking both a traditional aristocracy and, until the 1760s, a modem army; and the emergence of an economy with distinctive products, labor systems, marketing arrangements, and international relationships. The purpose of this article is to contribute to our understanding of these topics by examining one component of this elite, the wholesale merchants, in mid-seventeenth-century Mexico City, an important moment and place in the consolidation of upper-stratunm rule and the development of an American economy. Three questions will be asked about the wholesale merchant commulnity. First, did the merchants exercise political power and, if so, in what fashion? Pierre Chaunu speaks of the shadowy figure of the merchant behind the viceregal throne, held back from political eminence by vestiges of social prejudice.' But mercantile participation in and attitudes toward the govemment have not been systematically explored, nor has due consideration been given to informal types of merchant influence. Second, what was the nature of merchant activity and how did it contribute to an economy peculiar to New Spain? Woodrow Borah's classic discussion of the hacienda as the characteristic institution to emerge and flower after the drop in mining production and the decline of Atlantic trade in the seventeenth century2 has yet to be challenged from the perspective of the hacienda itself
Art · Art history · Portrait · Historical Studies in Latin America · Historical Studies on Spain · History · History and Politics in Latin America · Latin American history and culture
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| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,4 |
| Citation span | 1984 - 2021 (38) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |