Querétaro Obrajes: Industry and Society in Provincial Mexico, 1600-1810

Abstract

EXTILE manufacturing during Mexico's early history meant primarily the production of cotton, economically vital long before the arrival of Spaniards, and wool, which became important after the introduction of merino sheep in the 1540s. These two branches of manufacturing, together forming a large part of Mexico's domestic economy, showed similarities in organization, labor, and technology, but they differed in one very significant way. The production of wool became more capital intensive and specialized with the concentration of workers and equipment in one building, called an obrafe. Spaniards established obrajes throughout central and southern Mexico, and the towns of Queretaro, Mexico City, Puebla, Valladolid, Texcoco, and Tlaxcala soon became recognized as manufacturing centers.' By the late eighteenth century, Queretaro, located 120 miles northwest of the viceregal capital, had outdistanced most of its competitors and supported one of the largest woolen industries in Mexico. From its foundation as a frontier outpost in 1531, the town grew into a major commerical, agricultural, and manufacturing center, and by 1810 had a population of over 50,000. The industrial growth that took place in the eighteenth century was based on patterns that had been

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