Life is Bittersweet: The Rise and Fall of the Sugarcane and Rum Industry in the Nineteenth Century

Author(s): Jennifer Mathews; John Gust

Year: 2016

Summary

The Nineteenth Century in the Yucatán Peninsula was a period of major transition. Amidst the backdrop of colonialism, slavery, indentured servitude, and an indigenous revolt during the Caste War (1847-1901), foreign and local residents of the remote region of northern Quintana Roo engaged in small-scale commodity industries such as sugarcane farming and rum making. While workers dealt with harsh and dangerous conditions, they also had access to an unusual array of cosmopolitan luxury goods imported from the United States through coastal trade. This paper looks at the daily life of laborers living within the context of uprising and upheaval, within their small communities and across the region.

Cite this Record

Life is Bittersweet: The Rise and Fall of the Sugarcane and Rum Industry in the Nineteenth Century. Jennifer Mathews, John Gust. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 403903)

Keywords

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;