The Geographical relations in the 16th century. Changes in agriculture in New Spain half a century after the conquest
Julián Montemayor
Faculty of Law
University of Toulouse I Capitole
Published: 21/12/2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31338/ahi.2024.3.10
ABSTRACT: The Geographical Relations of the 16th century are a rarely used source for studying New Spain. Moreover, the period they covered was studied much less than that of the conquest and independence. New Spain was the fi rst American region where the agriculture of the Antillean Europeans collided with Mesoamerican agriculture, which was without livestock, based on corn, and with Neolithic technology. In fifty years, after a violent conquest and an abysmal demographic collapse, despite the introduction of new plant and animal species, Indigenous agriculture resisted globally and culturally due to a lack of access to technical innovations. Partially penetrated by the use of metal currency, it saw the development of longer-range commercial crops. But it is above all the urban peripheries and the North, emptied of semi-nomadic Indians, where the Spanish left their mark with wheat cultivation and large-scale livestock farming. Here, one can see how the regions are organised, where
the large estates and culture characteristic of Mexican history will develop.
KEYWORDS: New Spain, 16th century, acculturation, tropical agriculture, colonisation.
