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The Debate on Sunday Markets in Nineteenth–Century Ecuador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Rosemary D. F. Bromley  and
R. J. Bromley
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Extract

One of the most characteristic features of a society is the way in which it organizes its time, designating special days and hours for work, religion, rest, recreation and commerce. Socially accepted patterns of temporal organization are essential to the development of communal activities such as festivals, sports, religious ceremonies, market-place trade and industrial production. Once introduced, patterns of temporal organization tend to establish themselves more and more firmly through time as they become rooted in the customs and traditions of the local population. They are only likely to be changed as a result of wide-ranging social, economic and demographic changes affecting the whole fabric of society. Any possible changes in established temporal patterns usually have both advocates and opponents, and actual changes often result from temporary or permanent shifts in the balance of power between different socio-economic groups, or from shifts in opinion promoted by external factors.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , May 1975 , pp. 85 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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References

* An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Latin American Studies in Southampton, in March 1974. The authors are indebted to the staff of the Municipal, Gubernatorial and Ecclesiastical Archives in Quito, Latacunga, Ambato, Riobamba, Pílaro and Pelileo, in Ecuador, and to the staff of the Archivo Nacional de Historia in Quito, the Archivo Histórico Nacional in Bogatá, the Archivo General de Indias in Seville and the Public Record Office in London, for making the documentary material in their charge available for examination. Thanks are also due to Mr Robson Tyrer of the Department of History, University of California, Berkeley, for assisting the authors in finding several important references. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support which each of them received from the Department of Education and Science Parry Studentships, and from the Frederick Soddy Trust.

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13 See Bromley, R. J., ‘Traditional and Modern Change in the Growth of Systems of Market Centres in Highland Ecuador’, forthcoming in Robert, H. T. Smith (ed.), Periodic Markets in the Tropics (Melbourne, 1975).Google Scholar

14 John, V. Murra, ‘The Economic Organization of the Inca State’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1956), pp. 235–44;Google ScholarIbid., ‘Social Structural and Economic Themes in Andean Ethnohistory’, Anthropological Quarterly, 34 (1961), 7–9;Google ScholarIbid., ‘An Aymara Kingdom in 1567’, Ethnohistory, 15 (1968), 115–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

15 Louis, Baudin, Daily Life in Peru under the Last Incas (London, 1961), pp. 241–45;Google ScholarIbid., A Socialist Empire: The Incas of Peru (Princeton, 1961), pp. 267;Google ScholarIbid., Let Incas (Paris, 1964), pp. 117–9.Google Scholar

16 Roswith, Hartmann, ‘Märkte im alten Peru’ (doctoral dissertation, Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, 1968).Google Scholar

17 Ibid., pp. 93–4.

18 Vicente, Restrepo, Los Chibchas antes de la conquista española (Bogotá, 1895), p. 127.Google Scholar

19 Jiménez de la Espada, M. (ed.), Relaciones Geográflcas de Indias: Peru (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, tomos 83−5, 1965).Google Scholar

20 Ibid., II, 220.

21 See George, Kubler, ‘The Quechua in the Colonial World’ in Julian, H. Steward (ed.), Handbook of South American Indians, loc. cit., pp. 334–50;Google Scholar J. H. Rowe, ‘Inca Culture at the time of the Spanish Conquest’, in Ibid., pp. 183–330; Foster, op. cit., pp. 1–76, 104–11; Henry, F. Dobyns, ‘An Outline of Andean Epidemic History to 1720’, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 37 (1963), 493–515;Google ScholarIbid., ‘Estimating Aboriginal American Population: An Appraisal of Techniques with a New Hemispheric Estimate’, Current Anthropology, 7 (1966), 395–449;CrossRefGoogle ScholarSmith, C. T., ‘Depopulation of the Central Andes in the 16th Century’, Current Anthropology, 9 (1970), 453–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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23 See for example Colmenares, G., Haciendas de los Jesuitas en el Nuevo Reino de Granada (Bogotá, 1969), pp. 37, 224–30;Google ScholarRosemary, D. F. Bromley, ‘Urban-rural Interrelationships in Colonial Hispanic America: A Case Study of Three Andean Towns’, Swansea Geographer, 12 (1974), p. 18.Google Scholar

24 David, Kaplan, ‘The Mexican Marketplace in Historical Perspective’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1960), pp. 156–61;Google ScholarIbid., ‘City and Countryside in Mexican history’, América Indígena, 24 (1964), pp. 63–64;Google ScholarIbid., ‘The Mexican Marketplace Then and Now’, in June, Helm (ed.), Essays in Economic Anthropology: Proceedings of the 1965 Annual Spring Meeting of the American Ethnological Society (Seattle, 1965), pp. 83–4.Google Scholar

25 See for example Guthrie, C. L., ‘Trade, Industry and Labor in Seventeenth Century Mexico City’, Revista de Historia de América, 7 (1939), 503–34;Google ScholarDusenberry, W. H., ‘The Regulation of Meat Supply in Sixteenth-Century Mexico City’, Hispanic American Historical Review, 28 (1948), 38–52;CrossRefGoogle ScholarJohn, Preston Moore, The Cabildo in Peru under the Hapsburgs (Durham, North Carolina, 1954), pp. 168–78;Google ScholarIbid., The Cabildo in Peru under the Bourbons (Durham, North Carolina, 1966), pp. 67–70;Google Scholar Gibson, op. cit., pp. 355–6.

26 For examples of colonial market regulations in highland Ecuador, see Archivo Nacional de Historia, Quito (ANH/Q), Autos Acordados, Quito, 23 Feb. 1656; ANH/Q, Testamentarias, Quito, 1683; Archivo Eclesiástico Metropolitano, Quito (AEM/Q), Diezmos, Quito, 1771; ANH/Q, Indígenas, Quito, 17 April 1774, 21 Feb. 1777, 28 July 1795; ANH/Q, Gobierno, Quito, 1784, 1790; ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 355 f. 17, Ambato, 13 March 1799; ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 392, ff. 773−85, Quito, 1802.

27 John, L. Phelan, The Kingdom of Quito in the Seventeenth Century (Madison, 1967), p. 53.Google Scholar

28 ANH/Q, Gobierno, Latacunga, 26 April 1782.

29 Documentary evidence confirms the existence of the following Sunday markets in highland Ecuador between Quito and the Chan Chan Valley south of Alausí in the colonial period: Machachi: ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 380, f. 204, Machache, 6 Oct. 1801; Latacunga: ANH/Q, Indígenas, Latacunga, 4 Aug. 1798; Ambato: ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 223, f. 15, Ambato, 22 Jan. 1785; Pelileo: ANH/Q, Indígenas, Pelileo, 1817; Guano: ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 559 f. 207, Guano, 13 April 1818; Riobamba: Archivo de la Municipalidad, Riobamba (AM/R), legajo 2, Riobamba, 30 Aug. 1825; Guasuntos: ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 604, f. 103, Guasuntos, 3 Nov 1786.

30 Jiménez de la Espada, op. cit., II, 220.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid., p. 225.

33 R. J. Bromley, op. cit. (1975).

34 Kaplan, op. cit. (1964), p. 63.

35 Colmenares, op. cit., pp. 37, 124–30.

36 Archivo General de Indias (AGI), Quito, 284, Guayaquil, 17 Aug. 1765.

37 AGI, Quito, 223, C. 1758–1760.

38 The major Sunday markets in the central highlands for which archival confirmation has been located for the period before 1870 are Latacunga, Ambato, Pelilco, Guano and Riobamba (for references, see note 29), and also San Miguel de Salcedo: Archivo de la Municipalidad, Latacunga (AM/L), leg. 1870, Latacunga, 29 Dec. 1869; and Píllaro: Archivo de la Jefatura Política, Pelileo (AJP/Pe), leg. I, Pelileo, 6 June 1868. Documentary references to other markets have been located but, in most cases, the market day is not stated.

39 Archivo Histórico Nacional, Bogotá (AHN/B), Misc. de la Rcpública, vol. 223, ff. 193–7.Google Scholar

40 This figure is compiled from two cantonsl population censuses in the Archivo de la Municipalidad, Quito (AM/Q), vol. 21, f. 185, Ambato, 13 June 1840; vol. 21, Latacunga, 2 May 1840; and from the series of parish population returns in the Archivo de la Gobernación, Riobamba (AG/R), unclassified, March and April 1844.

41 Ministerio de lo Interior y Relaciones Exteriores, Exposición del Ministro de lo Interior y Relaciones Exteriores al Congreso Constitucional dcl Ecuador en 1875 (Quito, 1875).Google Scholar

42 Lilo, Linke, Ecuador: Country of Contrasts (3rd ed., London, 1960), p. 6.Google Scholar

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44 Linke, op. cit., p. 6.

45 In the 1850s and 1860s, the Provinces of Chimborazo and Tungurahua in particular, were increasingly involved in the supply of agricultural products to Guayaquil: AM/R, leg. 5, Lican, 17 Sept. 1861; Academia Nacional del Ecuador, Almanaque para el año de 1863 (Quito, 1863), p. 134.Google Scholar

46 On the improvement of communications in the Ambato area, see for example, Archivo de la Municipalidad, Ambato (AM/A), vol. 6, f. 600, Pelileo 9 Sept. 1879; AM/A, vol. 7, f. s, Ambato, 4 Jan. 1880.

47 London Public Record Office (PRO), FO-25–66, Quito, 7 May 1862.

48 El Nacional (Quito), 10 June 1871.

49 Dirección General de Obras Públicas, Carretera Rumichaca-Babahoyo (Quito, 1930);Google ScholarDawn, Wiles, ‘Land Transportation within Ecuador, 1822–1954’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University, 1971), p. 123.Google Scholar

50 Ministerio de Hacienda, Exposición del Ministro de Hacienda al Congreso Constitucional de 1875 (Quito, 1875), p. 28.Google Scholar

51 PRO, FO–744–28, Guayaquil, 5 Feb. 1880.

52 Linke, op. cit., p. 25.

53 Archivo de la Gobernación, Ambato (AG/A), Ambato, 11 April 1888.

54 AM/A, vol. 12, f. 210, Ambato, 18 Feb. 1891.

55 AM/A, vol. 14, f. 226, Quero, 30 July 1893.

56 R. J. Bromley, op. cit (1975).

57 Escuela de Niños de Huambaló, ‘Monografía del centro parroquial de Huambaló (unpublished manuscript, Huambaló, n.d.), p. 4.

58 Richard, Symanski, ‘God, Food and Consumers in Periodic Market Systems’, Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers, 5 (1973), 265.Google Scholar

59 ANH/Q, Indígenas, Pelileo, 1817.

60 AM/A, vol. 00, ff. 23–25, Ambato, 9 Dec. 1857. Zero markings are archivist's numbering.

61 ANH/Q, La República, vol. 7, f. 11 Riobamba, 4 July 1857.

62 See Bromley, R. J., Richard, Symanski and Charles, M. Good, ‘The Rationale of Periodic Markets: A Socio-Cultural Perspective’ (manuscript, 1974),Google Scholar

63 AM/A, vol., f. 222, Ambato, 5 Feb. 1868.

64 AM/A, vol. 00, f. 24, Ambato, 9 Dec. 1857.

65 AM/A, vol. 4, f. 223, Ambato, 5 Feb 1868.

66 AM/A, vol. 00, f. 25, Ambato, 9 Dec. 1857.

61 AM/A, vol. 000, f. 232, Ambato, 24 Feb. 1868.

68 Phelan, op. cit., p. 53.

69 ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 223, f. 12, Santa Rosa, 22 Jan. 1785.

70 ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. 223, ff. 17–18, Ambato, 11 Feb. 1785.

71 Ibid..

72 AM/R, leg. 5, Riobamba, 9 July 1838.

73 AM/A, vol. 000, f. 243, Ambato, 14 Feb. 1868.

74 AM/L, leg. 1870, Latacunga, 29 Dec. 1869.

75 AM/R, leg. 5, Riobamba, 9 July 1838.

76 Julio, Castillo Jácome, La Provincia del Chimborazo en 1942 (Riobamba, 1942), pp. 69–71.Google Scholar

77 Ibid., p. 71.

78 ANH/Q, Pres. de Quito, vol. f. 559, f. 207, Guano, 13 April 1818.

79 AM/R, leg. 5, Riobamba, 9 July 1838.

80 Montalvo, J. F., La Provincia de Tungurahua en 1928 (Ambato, 1928), p. 85.Google Scholar

81 ANH/Q, La República, vol. 26, ff. 155−7, 1834.

82 AJP/Pe, leg. I, Pelileo, 7 Feb. 1868.

83 AM/L, leg. 1858, Latacunga, 14 Aug. 1852.

84 See Hartmann, op. cit., p. 109.

83 Montalvo, op. cit., pp. 85–90.

86 See Donald, E. Worcester and Wendell, G. Schaeffer, The Growth and Culture of Latin America (New York, 1956), pp. 610–11, 726–7;Google Scholar Linke, op. cit., pp. 24–5; César, Bustos-Videla, ‘Church and State in Ecuador’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 1966).Google Scholar

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88 See Fred Rippy, J., Latin America: A Modern History (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1958), p. 251.Google Scholar

89 AM/L, leg. 1867, Latacunga, 18 Jan. 1867.

90 AM/L, leg. 1867, Latacunga, 28 March 1867.

91 Ibid..

92 AM/L, leg. 1868, Latacunga, 15 Jan. 1868.

93 AM/L, leg. 1870, Latacunga, 28 Dec. 1869.

94 AM/L, leg. 1870, Latacunga, 29 Dec. 1869.

95 lgnacio, Toro Ruiz, Centenario de la feria en los días lunes (Ambato, 1970).Google Scholar

96 AM/A, vol. 00, f. 223, Ambato, 1854.

97 AM/A, vol. 00, Latacunga, 25 Nov. 1857.

98 AM/A, vol. 00, ff. 23–25, Ambato, 9 Dec. 1857; Toro Ruiz, op. cit., p. 9.

99 AM/A, vol. 4, f. 222, Ambato, 5 Feb. 1868.

100 AM/A, vol. 000, f. 268, Riobamba, 1868.

101 AJP/Pe, leg. 1, Pelileo, 7 Feb 1968.

102 AM/A, vol. 000, f. 233, Ambato, 24 Feb. 1868.

103 AM/A, vol. 4, f. 153, Ambato, 3 April 1868.

104 AM/A, vol. 4, f. 166, Ambato, 5 May 1868.

105 AM/A, vol. 00, f. 27, Ambato, 1 April 1870.

106 Reginald Enock, C., Ecuador (London, 1914), p. 255.Google Scholar

107 AJP/Pe, leg. 1, Pelileo, 6 June 1868.

108 AG/A, Ambato, 1 Aug. 1868.

109 AM/L, leg. 1872, Latacunga, 22 Feb. 1872.

110 R. J. Bromley, op. cit. (1974), p. 55.