Journal of Historical Political Economy > Vol 2 > Issue 1

Pandemic Spikes and Broken Spears: Indigenous Resilience after the Conquest of Mexico

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, USA, albertod@stanford.edu , Juan Espinosa-Balbuena, London Business School, UK, jespinosabalbuena@london.edu , Saumitra Jha, Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA, saumitra@stanford.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Juan Espinosa-Balbuena and Saumitra Jha (2022), "Pandemic Spikes and Broken Spears: Indigenous Resilience after the Conquest of Mexico", Journal of Historical Political Economy: Vol. 2: No. 1, pp 89-133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/115.00000025

Publication Date: 21 Feb 2022
© 2022 A. Diaz-Cayeros, J. Espinosa-Balbuena, and S. Jha
 
Subjects
Econometric models,  Panel data,  International conflict,  Political economy,  Political history
 
Keywords
JEL Codes: I15N36N76N96O10P48
Conquest of Mexicoindigenoussettlement survivalpandemics
 

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In this article:
Introduction 
Theoretical Framework 
Empirical Approach 
Results 
Discussion 
References 

Abstract

It is well-established that the Conquest of the Americas by Europeans led to catastrophic declines in indigenous populations. However, less is known about the conditions under which indigenous communities were able to overcome the onslaught of disease and violence that they faced. Drawing upon a rich set of sources, including Aztec tribute rolls and early Conquest censuses (chiefly the Suma de Visitas (1548)), we develop a new disaggregated dataset on pre-Conquest economic, epidemiological and political conditions both in 11,888 potential settlement locations in the historic core of Mexico and in 1,093 actual Conquest-era city-settlements. Of these 1,093 settlements, we show that 36% had disappeared entirely by 1790. Yet, despite being subject to Conquest-era violence, subsequent coercion and multiple pandemics that led average populations in those settlements to fall from 2,377 to 128 by 1646, 13% would still end the colonial era larger than they started. We show that both indigenous settlement survival durations and population levels through the colonial period are robustly predicted, not just by Spanish settler choices or by their diseases, but also by the extent to which indigenous communities could themselves leverage nonreplicable and nonexpropriable resources and skills from the pre-Hispanic period that would prove complementary to global trade. Thus indigenous opportunities and agency played important roles in shaping their own resilience.

DOI:10.1561/115.00000025

Companion

Journal of Historical Political Economy, Volume 2, Issue 1 Special Issue - Historical Persistence, Part II: Articles Overview
See the other articles that are part of this special issue.