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The Division of Some Mexican Haciendas during the Liberal Revolution, 1856-1862

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Jan Bazant
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Extract

In the middle of the nineteenth century, ecclesiastical wealth in Mexico consisted basically of real estate and mortgages. The Church avoided investments in mining, industry and commerce. There were regional differences, the Church being richer in some parts of the country than in others: in the two most important cities, Mexico and Puebla, the different ecclesiastical corporations owned about half of the total real estate, whereas in some of the smaller cities, such as Veracruz, Jalapa, Orizaba, Córdoba and San Luis Potosí, the Church was proportionately much poorer. The urban real estate consisted of houses rented on fairly favourable terms to both rich and poor, monastic buildings and churches. In the countryside, the Church was considerably poorer than in the cities: its haciendas were few compared to the number of those privately owned, and their value amounted to about 5 per cent of that of all rural estate. Real estate formed about one-half of Church possessions; the other half consisted of mortgages.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , May 1971 , pp. 25 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

1 On the function of the Church as a banker, see Costeloe, Michael P., Church Wealth in Mexico. A Study of the ‘Juzgado de Capellanias’ in the Archbishopric of Mexico, 1800–1856 (Cambridge University Press, 1967)Google Scholar.

2 One Mexican peso = one U.S. dollar.

3 These opening paragraphs are, in effect, a brief summary of my book, Alienation of Church Wealth in Mexico. Social and Economic Aspects of the Liberal Revolution, 1856–1875 (Cambridge University Press, 1971)Google Scholar.

4 Memoria de Hacienda y Crédita Público (Mexico City, 1870), p. 995Google Scholar.

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13 Protocolo de Cabildo, 1858, f. 134; 1861, fs. 14 and 21; Archive General de la Nación, Bienes Nacionales, Leg. 734, unnumbered.

14 Decree September 1869. Decretos expedidos por el Congreso Constituyente del Estado libre y Guanajuato en los años de 1869 a 1871.

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28 Exposición que elevan al soberano Congreso de la Unión varios proprietarios, pidiendo la insubsistencia de la llamada ley agraria que se publicó en el Estado de Aguascalientes el 17 de agosto último (Mexico City, 1861)Google Scholar.

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