Puebla’s Eighteenth-Century Agrarian Decline: A New Perspective

Abstract

B Y the end of the eighteenth century, Puebla's economic dynamism was a faded memory. Chroniclers of the period bemoaned this loss of prestige in artisan and trading realms, and documented the shift of agrarian supremacy to other climes. Modern historians propose theories to explain the perceived transformation of New Spain's economic balance. In its heyday, Puebla was a center for both internal and external commerce, administered the mercury monopoly (azogue), produced textiles which were sold as far away as Peru, and grew wheat for international consumption. The general decline of Puebla's economy affected all these areas, but in this essay I will attempt to shed new light on the gradual deterioration of Poblano agriculture over the course of the century. Spanish settlers populated the Puebla area soon after the conquest, transforming the region into Mexico's breadbasket. Iberian-oriented farms supplied wheat for Mexico City; bizcocho for the naval fleets of both the Atlantic and the Pacific; and cereal for Yucatan,' Cuba,2 and, at times, Venezuela.3 Wheat from the Atlixco area commanded a higher price than