UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Merchants
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Merchants and Family Business in San Luis Potosí, México: The Signs of an Economic Upsurge, 1820-1846 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Sergio Alejandro Cañedo Gamboa Committee in charge: Professor Eric Van Young, Chair Professor Rachel Klein Professor Everard Meade Professor Michael Monteon Professor Max Parra Professor Paul Vanderwood 2011 Copyright Sergio Alejandro Cañedo Gamboa, 2011 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Sergio Alejandro Cañedo Gamboa is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2011 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page………………………………………………….…………... iii Table of Contents………………………………………………….………... iv List of Figures……………………………………………………….…........ vi List of Tables………………………………………………………….…….. vii List of Graphs………………………………………………………….……. viii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….…… ix Vita……………………………………………………………………….…… xiii Abstract…………………………………………………………………...…. xiv Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 1 Chapter 1. Signs of Growth: The San Luis-Tampico Route and the New Mercantile Houses…………………………………….. 14 The Organization of Regional Spaces…………………….. 14 The Tampico-San Luis Potosí Route: Signs of Prosperity 21 Changes in Market Structure in the City of San Luis Potosí……………………………………………… 32 Wholesale and Retail Stores: the First Evidence of Economic Upsurge………………………………………….. 46 Conclusion……………………………………………………. 81 Chapter 2. Fiscal Politics and Tax Revenue Tendencies: How the Economy of San Luis Potosí Expanded, 1828-1846……. 84 From Colonial Taxes to Taxes in Sovereign States during the Republican Era…………………………………………… 88 Suelos alcabalatorios and Fiscal Policies in San Luis Potosí………………………………………………………….. 93 Requests for a Single Suelo………………………………… 114 The Municipal Consumption Tax and the Multiplication of Suelos…………………………………………………………. 121 The Attempts to Eliminate the Alcabalas and the Establishment of New Direct Taxes……………………….. 133 Alcabalas and Consumption Taxes. A Rising Trend in Government Revenue……………………………………….. 140 An Indicator of Economic Activity: Alcabalas on Real Estate Transactions………………………………………….. 161 Pure Silver and Assay Silver Taxes: Another Reliable Indicator……………………………………………………….. 168 Conclusion…………………………………………………….. 175 iv Chapter 3. A Provincial Family: The Gordoas 1800-1845……………. 179 The Early Days, Family Structure, and Patriarchal Relations………………………………………………………. 185 The Origins of Wealth………………………………………… 199 The Family Properties ...………………………………......... 204 Economic Activity…………………………………………….. 213 The Malpaso Hacienda……………………………….. 213 Hacienda San José del Maguey…………………….. 218 The Mine of Nuestra Señora del Refugio…………… 228 Mining Operations and Labor…………………….. 242 Sale or Auction of Mining Production……………. 246 The Shareholders, Shared Earnings, and Losses………………………………………………. 247 Conclusion……………………………………………………. 255 Chapter 4. The Gordoas: Social Capital and Positions in the Government…………………………………………………… 260 Voluntary Contributions and Forced Loans: The Gordoas’ Investment of Social Capital……………………. 26 4 José María Gordoa and His Revenue Office…………….. 275 Luis G. Gordoa: Politician and Man of Prestige…………. 278 The Third Generation: Cresencio María, Man of Scandal……………………………………………………….. 288 Conclusion……………………………………………………. 294 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 297 Bibliography………………………………………………………………….. 304 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Main routes, cities, and towns of the region of San Luis Potosi…………………………………………………………… 16 Figure 1.2. Map with locations of pulpería retail stores at the end of eighteenth century in the city of San Luis Potosí…………. 39 Figure 2.1: Receptorías of the Province of San Luis Potosí prior to 1789. Four suelos, four receptorías ……………………….. 102 Figure 2.2: Receptorías of the Province of San Luis Potosí from 1789 to 1825. Three suelos, three receptorías……………. 104 Figure 2.3: Receptorías of alcabalas and tobacco according to Decree 26 of 4 July 1825. Four suelos (Partidos fiscales)………………………………………………………… 106 Figure 2.4: Receptorías of alcabalas and tobaccos as per Decree 33 of 20 March 1827. One suelo (Partidos Fiscales)………… 108 Figure 2.5: The tax administration of the capital and 16 receptorías as per Decree 51 of 20 October 1831 (Specifies security bond value)…………………………………………… 110 Figure 2.6: Regionalization based on the value of the receptoría and trade routes, 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s…………………….. 112 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Main wholesale and retail stores in the city of San Luis Potosí, owned by Mexican and foreign merchants, 1820-1843………………………………………………………….. 53 Table 2.1: Revenue from municipal tax according to Decree 111 of the State Congress, 1828-1830…………………………………. 127 Table 2.2: Suelos alcabalatorios and their location, 1846……………….. 139 Table 3.1: Genealogy of the Gordoa y Barrios family, and descendants of Antonio María Gordoa y Barrios from his marriage to his first wife, María del Carmen Bravo…………… 190 Table 3.2: Genealogy of the second marriage of Antonio María Gordoa y Barrios, to Margarita Ruiz de Esparza……………… 191 Table 3.3: Fragment from “Cuenta de división y partición de los gananciales habidos en los bienes del finado señor licenciado don Antonio María Gordoa desde diciembre de 1832 hasta fin de 1836”………………………………………. 205 Table 3.4: “Haberes de los interesados” in accordance with the calculations in the “Cuenta de división y partición de los gananciales habidos en los bienes del finado señor licenciado don Antonio María Gordoa desde diciembre de 1832 hasta fin de 1836”……………………………………… 209 Table 3.5: Fragment from the “Liquidación de los haberes que corresponden a los señores dueños de esta hacienda de Señor San José del Maguey a consecuencia del inventario de 31 de agosto de 1844”…………………………… 222 Table 3.6: Memoria (cost of production report) número 12 de la Negociación de Nuestra Señora del Refugio, 18 to 23 March 1844………………………………………………………… 244 Table 3.7: Genealogy of the first and second marriages of Francisca Gordoa y Bravo……………………………………….. 251 vii LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 1.1: Main wholesale and retail stores in the city of San Luis Potosí, 1797-1843………………………………………… 71 Graph 2.1: Total revenue recorded in the customs office of the capital of San Luis Potosí, 1826-1828, 1830-1833 (annual income)…………………………………………………. 143 Graph 2.2: Income from alcabala of 5 and 3 per cent on consumption on foreign merchandise, and 12 and 8 per cent on national products 1830………………………………… 147 Graph 2.3: Income from alcabala on consumption of imported and domestic goods, 1831…………………………………………… 148 Graph 2.4: Income from 2.5 and 3 per cent of alcabala on the consumption of imported goods, and 6.25 per cent of alcabala on domestic goods, 1832…………………………….. 151 Graph 2.5: Income from 2.5, 3, and 5 per cent of alcabala on the consumption of imported goods and 6.25, 8, and 12.5 per cent on domestic goods, 1833…………………………….. 151 Graph 2.6: Monthly revenue of the customs office of the Capital of San Luis Potosí, 1828, 1830-1833…………………………….. 153 Graph 2.7: Monthly income of customs of the Capital of San Luis Potosí (1828-1833) and of the treasury of state government of San Luis Potosí (1834-1847)…………………. 154 Graph 2.8: Exercise of extrapolation and interpolation, 1826-1847…….. 159 Graph 2.9: Amounts collected from alcabala of 6% applied to real estate transactions, 1830-1844…………………………… 163 Graph 2.10: Income from silver assay tax in the treasury office of the government of San Luis Potosí, 1832-1847….. 174 Graph 3.1: Surpluses and deficits of Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mine, 1834-1845………………………………………………… 237 Graph 3.2: Surpluses and shortages per week. 1839, 1841-1845. 238 Graph 3.3: Costo de la memoria (cost of production) and valor de venta de frutos (value of ore sales), 1844.………………….. 240 Graph 3.4: Costo de la memoria (cost of production) and valor de venta de frutos (value of ore sales), 1845…………………… 241 Graph 3.5: The Mining Company Nuestra Señora del Refugio, distribution of 24 barras between 1833 and 1834………….. 248 Graph 3.6: The Mining Company Nuestra Señora del Refugio, distribution of 24 barras as of 1835…………………………… 249 Graph 3.7: Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mining Company, distribution of the 24 barras as of 1844………………………. 252 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS So many people and institutions have supported my work during the past decade; it is a pleasure to acknowledge them here. First, I would like to thank Professor Eric Van Young who trusted in me and considered my early research proposal feasible. My gratitude to Professor Van Young is very special, since my entrance into the UC system meant an invaluable opportunity to know the academic world from a very different perspective. In Mexico many students in search of doctoral programs look to the capital city of the country trying to find academic opportunities. I did something different, looking toward the north, and I consider that this decision brought me the best opportunity I could ever had to mature intellectually. I am also grateful to the entire faculty of the Department of History at UC San Diego, but special thanks go to Professors Rachel Klein, Michael Monteon, Dain Borges, Michael Bernstein, Christine Hunëfeldt, Everard Meade, and David Ringrose, and to Professor Max Parra of the Department of Literature. I also want to thank to the Department’s staff, who so graciously attended my requests over the years. I remember perfectly the first day I stepped onto the fourth floor of the Social Sciences