Death in the Andes: colonial society and mortality in the Ecuadorian haciendas (Ecuador, 1743-1857)

Abstract

The implementation of the hacienda system involved the introduction of the administration of populations imposed on the indigenous society by means of Leyes de Indias. In the Nord-Andean area, the Indian concertaje, joined to the abundance of jobs in peasant tenures and in the obrajes (textile workshops), were to be pull factors to verify a long-term population growth. This study focuses on the profiles and on the incidence of mortality as a factor of growth control in an hacienda parish at the end of Colonial Era. The research is based on the parish registers (burials). The mortality data comes from a register dated between the years when the parish was established until the abolition of Indian tribute in 1857, as the final year of observation despite the register is still continued. Evidence shows a mortality of ancient cycle, strongly determined by the hard work conditions in the hacienda and the data provide an illuminating insight into the rigid social classifications in the Colonial world

Keywords:
Mortality; Indigenous population; Colonial Latin America hacienda system; Ecuadorian Andes