The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America, vol. 1, The Colonial Era and the Short Nineteenth Century

The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America (CEHLA) represents a major and very welcome effort to summarize what scholars know about Latin American economic history from its pre-Columbian beginnings to the present. The editors received the collaboration of some of the best economic historians, who wrote lengthy essays in their respective fields. The project includes scholars from Europe, the United States, and Latin America in a judicious mix. The volume under review covers the period up to approximately 1850.CEHLA is organized chronologically and topically rather than by region. In the first part, chapters by Patrick Karl O’Brien on the overseas economic expansion of Europe and by Patrick Manning on African connections focus as much or more on Western Europe and Africa as on Latin America (and O’Brien brings Asia into the equation as well). An essay on the pre-Columbian economies by Rebecca Storey and Randolph Widmer is a bit too summary, and the authors do not understand well the Inca land tenure system.Part 2, titled “Natural Resources and Factor Endowments,” includes an impressive overview of colonial environmental issues by the late Elinor Melville, demonstrating how Spanish and Portuguese settlers modified American environments. Linda Newson, writing on demographic factors of colonization, relies on William Denevan’s pre-Columbian population estimates. She provides a good summary of the debate over the indigenous demographic collapse and offers regional analysis, including an excellent discussion of mission demography on the peripheries. John Monteiro shows how labor developed in sometimes contradictory ways from coerced labor systems to more modern ones.In the third part, dealing with economic organization and sectoral performance, John Coatsworth examines the political economy and economic organization of the colonies. He repeats his argument that colonial institutions on the whole tended to inhibit economic growth, showing in detail why that was the case. Carlos Sempat Assadourian concentrates on agriculture and land tenure systems from before European colonization to independence. However, his discussion is limited almost exclusively to Mexico and the Andes, leaving out vast swaths of territory and a multitude of other agrarian and land tenure systems.A chapter by the late Enrique Tandeter also contrasts the free labor regime of Mexico with the coercive regime of the Andes. Tandeter also addresses briefly the post-independence mining economy. Premodern manufacturing is analyzed by Aurora Gómez-Galvarriato. Her essay is suggestive in that it examines sugar as an example of manufacturing and deals with pre-Columbian textile manufacturing. She shows that mining was the crown’s priority, to the detriment of other sectors, including manufacturing. Also, she claims that the extensive use of coerced labor and the poverty of the population made Latin America an environment not very conducive to subsequent indus-trialization. Graciela Márquez reinforces Coatsworth’s points about the inefficiency of the colonial regime in her essay on commercial monopolies and external trade. Carlos Marichal, in discussing money, taxes, and finance, does not have such a jaundiced view of the colonial period. He argues that the financial system was better off in the colonial period than in the first few decades after independence. In turn, the Bourbon and Pombaline reforms improved significantly the efficiency of the tax systems. He also discusses the disastrous fiscal regimes of the post-independence period, showing that only Chile and Brazil were able to maintain some semblance of fiscal order.The last part is dedicated to Leandro Prados de la Escosura’s essay on the economic impact of independence. Rather than a blow-by-blow description of each country, the author first examines the grand interpretations of Latin America’s economic performance, such as dependency theory and comparisons to the United States. He argues that comparisons with Asia and Africa, two continents affected by colonialism, are more apt. From his perspective, the nineteenth century was relatively positive for Latin America, compared with most world regions.In sum, CEHLA, volume 1 is a welcome addition to the field. Especially those who want to gain an overview of the economic history of early Latin America not limited by national boundaries will find much here. The bibliographic essays at the end are extremely valuable. However, this collection falls short in that regional coverage is uneven: Mexico and the Andes receive the majority of attention, with Brazil a distant third. Countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, or Chile do not receive their due. Further, the way CEHLA is organized slights the nineteenth century. Other than in the last, rather schematic essay, the first decades after independence receive short shrift. Of course, less is known of this period, but the assumption that the period from independence until 1850 continues colonial patterns must be reexamined. Despite these weaknesses, the editors are to be commended for putting together the single best summary of Latin American economic history up to 1850

Archaeology · Colonialism · Economic history · Genealogy · Indigenous · Latin Americans · Political science · Population · Portuguese · Sociology · Demography · Ecology · Economic Theory and Policy · History · History and Politics in Latin America · Law · World Systems and Global Transformations

• Financing a new nation

  Open Access•John Muse-Fisher•Journal of Global History•2012

  Add to list

• The Colonial Origins of the Divergence in the Americas

  Open Access•Robert C Allen, Terrence E Murphy et al.•The Journal of Economic History•2012

  Add to list

• The Alternative Business History

  Open Access•Gareth Austin, Carlos Dávila et al.•The Business History Review•2017

  Add to list