The importance of the hacienda in 19th century Otumba and Apan, Basin of Mexico

Abstract

One way to evaluate the importance of a settlement type is to look at its changing proportions in relation to other settlement types. This essay examines the relationships between the ciudad, villa, pueblo, barrio, estation ferrocarril, hacienda, rancho, rancheria, and venta sites in two political jurisdictions in the northeastern Basin of Mexico between about 1570 and 1930. Focusing especially on the 19th century, these relationships demonstrate quantitatively the rise of the classic Central Mexican hacienda in the late 18th century and its decline in the early 20th century. The differential increase and decline of hacienda numbers, and of other settlement types, in several ecological zones is shown to reflect major political and geographical events. It is argued that the success or failure of these events between the early 17th and early 20th centuries helps explain the proportional fluctuations observed.