The People of Quito, 1690-1810 : Change and Unrest in the Underclass

This pioneering social history of Quito breaks away from the established pattern of regional studies of colonial Spanish America by focusing on non-elite urban groupsmestizos, poor Spaniards, female Indian traders, settled artisans, and vagrants. Martin Minchoms examination of social, religious, and economic organization and demographic change is based on hitherto unexploited archives, including a rich body of material on socio-racial classification that allows us to hear the voices of the People of Quito. This pioneering social history of Quito breaks away from the established pattern of regional studies of colonial Spanish America by focusing on non-elite urban groupsmestizos, poor Spaniards, female Indian traders, settled artisans, and vagrants. Martin Minchoms examination of social, religious, and economic organization and demographic change is based on hitherto unexploited archives, including a rich body of material on socio-racial classification that allows us to hear the voices of the People of Quito. Minchom uncovers a long tradition of social unrest and, in clarifying the functioning of districts and the internal dynamics of the city, provides new insights into the great rebellion of 1765.