La vanilla de Papantla: agricultura, comercio y sociedad rural en el siglo XIX

Abstract

This essay outlines the development of the forming and international marketing of vanilla in the Tecolutia River’s basin, of which Papantia is the historic capital. By mid eighteenth century vanilla - which had been a wild crop thus far— begins to be cultivated by the Totonacs. Its exportation grows, gradually at first but, beginning on 1870 —with the opening of new markets, in a very accelerated way. In a territory historically lacking great commercial opportunities (due to its economic and human geography), vanilla —a light and very valuable produce— was to have deep social effects. Throughout the nineteenth century, rapid vanilla induced economic growth opened doors to capital accumulation and allowed for the emergence of a new power group: the vanilla merchants who were, mainly, European immigrants. Among the Totonacs, many benefited from vanilla brought prosperity, but serious internal disputes were also produced. This is the context in which Papantlas great social conflicts of Porfirian times happen (and are also explained by it): struggles for land and political control of communities, the bloody rebellions of 1891 and 1896, and the imposition of a private property land tenure regime.