18th Century Mexican Silver Boom
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Why did Mexican silver production increase between 1700 and 1790, stagnate in the 1790's and fall sharply between 1800 and 1820?
Historians looking at the economies of colonial Latin America can't help but notice the influence, effect and paradoxical nature of the great silver boom of the eighteenth century in Mexico. The significance and effects of the silver mining industry on late colonial Mexico should not be underestimated. This area of economic history is of great interest and explaining the pattern of silver production in this period has wider connotations beyond the scope of this essay. Silver was Mexico's lynch pin it both helped the colonial economy grow and assisted the Spanish crown. Mining is a labour intensive industry with a relatively fixed cost base This essay will attempt to come up with a rational answer to why silver production in the eighteenth century rose so dramatically then fell back to its original level at the end of the colonial period. It will look at various aspects of production from an economic standpoint and at how these where changed and improved. The boom was certainly entirely internally engineered and, the influence of wars in Europe aside, so was the bust.
Lit Review-
Many Economic Historians have attempted to cover this area, but by far the most influential is Alexander Humbolt, a Prussian traveller of the time who used his own knowledge combined with the official reports to produce Essai Politique. Most work from around the period is based on this work...