The Bajío Revolution: Remaking Capitalism, Community, and Patriarchy in Mexico, North America, and the World

by John Tutino

Overview

In The Bajío Revolution, John Tutino examines how popular insurgents reshaped Mexico, the United States, and global capitalism during the nineteenth century. After detailing New Spain’s silver-driven wealth, Tutino shows how the Bajío insurgency of 1810–20 broke silver flows and Asian trades, opening markets to industrial cloth made in England from cotton made by enslaved hands in the US South—while Bajío women claimed pivotal roles making maize to sustain families and guerrilla bands. As Mexico gained independence in 1821, mining remained broken while family growers held strong. Then, in the 1830s, a new silver-industrial capitalism fed by family maize makers rose in the Bajío. Women still led rural families and took on mill labor; one woman became Mexico’s leading silver capitalist. Facing that competition, in the 1840s the United States invaded to claim Texas for cotton and slavery and California for gold. The new Mexican capitalism carried on until the United States mobilized gold taken in war to join a global gold standard in the 1870s—blocking Mexico’s independent route to capitalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478061014
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	07/18/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	568
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John Tutino is Professor of History at Georgetown University, author of Making a New World: Founding Capitalism in the Bajío and Spanish North America, and editor of New Countries: Capitalism, Revolutions, and Nations in the Americas, 1750–1870, both also published by Duke University Press.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations  xi
Prologue. Between Silver and Maize: New Spain and Mexico in the World, 1550–1850  xiii
Introduction. The Revolution(s) That Remade Global Capitalism  1
Part I. Making Silver Capitalism, 1500–1810
1. A New World in the Bajío: Silver, Capitalism, and Patriarchy, 1550–1760  23
2. Shaking the New World: Global Wars, Capitalist Predations, and Imperial Crises, 1760–1810  46
Part II. Breaking Silver Capitalism, 1810–1820
3. The Hidalgo Revolt: Four Months That Shook New Spain  75
4. Insurgent Guanajuato: Claiming Maize, Making Community, Breaking Silver Capitalism, Rattling Patriarchy  103
5. Counterinsurgency Capitalism in Querétaro: Production, Patriarchy, and the End of Profit at La Griega  135
6. New Spain in the Time of Revolution: Arming Power, Defending Property, Conceding Family Production  156
Part III. Seeking Mexico, 1820–1830
7. As the World Turned: Imperial Dreams, Capital Failures, National Challenges  181
8. Independent Guanajuato: Strong Communities, Strong Women, Independent Cultures  210
9. Querétaro After Insurgency: Agrarian Capitalism Falls, Families Claim Maize—and More 236
10. Mexico in the Wake of Revolution: Oligarchs Fall, Women Press On, Families Make Maize—and More  272
Part IV. Making Silver-Industrial Capitalism, 1830–1860
11. A New Bajío, 1830–1845: Silver Revives, Industry Rises, Landlords Struggle—and Family Growers Carry Everything  295
12. A New Capitalism, 1845–1860: Silver Peaks, Industry Expands, Rancheros Thrive—and Family Growers Feed Everyone  324
Conclusion. Breaking the New Bajío: US Imperialism, Liberal Assertions, French Invasion—and a Cross of Gold, 1845–1880  363
Epilogue. Mexico Since 1875: Silver Gone, Families Carry On—Until Globalizing Capital Claimed Maize  385
Acknowledgments  399
Appendix A. Querétaro Population, 1778–1860  407
Appendix B. Silver and Mining, 1810–1870  411
Appendix C. Production and Population at Querétaro Estates, 1840–1855  421
Appendix D. Production and Work at Querétaro, 1840–1855  433
Appendix E. Mexican Population, Production, Trade, Revenue, and Debt, ca. 1861  445
Appendix F. Population and Production in Guanajuato, 1855–1876  453
Appendix G. The Bajío in Mexico, 1876–1895  461
Notes  465
Bibliography  509
Index  525