Evolution of the Textile Industry of Puebla 1544–1845

Abstract

This article deals with an important chapter in the economic history of Mexico. Throughout its history Puebla was an industrial center. Well into the 19th century it was the prime center of the country's chief manufacture — textiles. The city became the commercial and industrial capital of New Spain within a few years of its foundation. I shall concentrate on the ways in which the several branches of the textile industry were organized, comparing their development with that of the textile industries of medieval and early industrial Europe.

Trends and Issues in Latin American Urban Research, 1965-1970

“…Economic as well as demographic factors affected urban development. Moreno (1970) illustrates three contrasting regional patterns within the hegemonic radius of Mexico City: (1) the archetypal case of Puebla, which dominated its economic hinterland, centralized the administrative, religious, educational, commercial, and productive functions of the region, sapped the autonomy of smaller centers, and attracted an Indian labor force to its peripheral barrios (Marin-Tamayo, 1960;Bazant, 1964); (2) the parallel cases of Orizaba and Cordoba, which grew in symbiosis less than twenty miles apart-Orizaba as a transport, processing, and manufacturing center," Cordoba as a commercial and agricultural storage center; (3) the atypical case of the Bajio, a prosperous agricultural and mining region supporting an active network of specialized towns with neither of the largest cities, Guanajuato or Queretaro, achieving primate domination.…”

Los Hidalgos De Borleña: A Transatlantic History of a Spanish Family’s Migration to the City of Puebla Mexico and Its Impact on Their Hometown in Spain (1816-1913).

“…Secondly, the Cristino administration effectively ended the tax exemptions minor nobility had enjoyed since the reign of Charles I (Valero 2015, 240), creating a situation which Spanish historians call the "confusion de estados." 5 Most of the inhabitants of Cantabria were Hidalgos, members of the minor nobility, who were affected by the tax exemption changes of the law. 6 Thirdly the reign of Isabella II (1843-1868) eliminated laws that hindered migration to the Americas starting in 1853, while Mexican laws allowed foreigners to participate in any economic activity they wanted to pursue (Gamboa Ojeda, Empresarios asturianos en la industria textil de Puebla, 1895-1930September-December, 2008).…”

“…The three words will be used as synonyms. 5 Confusión de estados: When all Spanish citizens were recognized as equals before the law, after the suppression of rights for the minor nobility 6 Fueros: Rights 7 Ignacio Zaragoza wrote about conservative Poblanos to President Benito Juárez (1858-1872): "Que bueno sería quemar Puebla. Está de luto por el acontecimiento del día 5 [de mayo de 1862].…”

Agua e industria en Puebla. El establecimiento de la fábrica textil La Covadonga, 1889-1897

“…Diversos trabajos han hecho hincapié en su importancia, es uno de los temas más fértiles de la historiografía regional. No es un hecho casual: en su trabajo pionero en torno a esta temática, Jan Bazant mostró que la manufactura textil en Puebla surgió en el siglo xvi, convirtiéndose en la centuria siguiente en el centro de la industria algodonera de la Nueva España, gracias a la abundante mano de obra habituada a su trabajo y a la técnica importada por los colonos españoles (Bazant 1964a). Ya a mediados del siglo xviii se trataba de una industria consolidada, que en 1835, gracias al afán industrializador de Estevan de Antuñano, inició su mecanización con la fundación de La Constancia Mexicana, la primera fábrica textil del centro del país, que arrancó con 2,500 husos (Ventura 2011, 29).…”