Abstract

GAONA, Elías. Real wages index of a mining family in Real del Monte 18th and 19th centuries. Am. Lat. Hist. Econ [online]. 2022, vol.29, n.2, e1230.  Epub Aug 15, 2022. ISSN 2007-3496.  https://doi.org/10.18232/20073496.1230.

Real del Monte, during the 18th and 19th centuries, was characterized as one of the main silver producing areas of New Spain. In the 1760s, the mines gave rise to one of the richest men of the viceroyalty, Pedro Romero de Terreros. At the beginning of the 19th century, the mining region ranked fourth in silver production in the whole viceroyalty. Due to the importance that Real del Monte reached as a mining area during the 18th and 19th centuries, the historical evolution of the real wages of the families of the miners-barreteros between 1768 and 1900 is analyzed and compared with that of other European and Asian cities during the same period. The hypothesis is that the real wages of Real del Monte’s miners-barreteros decreased over time until they reached subsistence levels at the end of the 19th century, while those of European and Asian cities were on the rise.

Keywords : Real del Monte; real wages; basket of goods; minimum calories; cost of subsistence.

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