Abstract

SANCHEZ, Hugues. Two Cattle-Producing Areas “Bovine, Horse and Goat” in the Governorate of Santa Marta: Valledupar and Valencia de Jesús, 1740-1810. Front. hist. [online]. 2024, vol.29, n.1, pp.206-241.  Epub Jan 01, 2024. ISSN 2027-4688.  https://doi.org/10.22380/20274688.2468.

This article analyzes the productivity and livestock specialization in two cities located in the governorate of Santa Marta, in the Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada: Valledupar and Valencia de Jesús. Since their foundation -one in 1550 and the other in 1610- an economy based on the breeding of various types of livestock flourished within the jurisdiction of the mentioned cities. We observe that, in the 18th century, the demand for meats generated by the Cartagena market favored the production and breeding of cattle, making this activity the main and almost the only one in which a large number of residents participated. This reality is observed through the consultation of various types of documents that are housed in the Notary First of Valledupar and in the General Archive of the Nation. Vestiges that allow dimensioning the livestock activity from a micro perspective, especially through the analysis of credit transactions and the foundation of chaplaincies backed with cattle and horses, as well as to learn about the prices and qualities of the larger and smaller livestock in wills, dowries and guardianship of minors, and to quantify the livestock stock based on tithing figures. In the end, it is shown that livestock activity was very important in frontier areas, where the existence of a particular ecosystem allowed livestock breeding, despite the presence of indigenous people hostile to colonization.

Keywords : Valledupar; Valencia de Jesus; livestock farming; censuses; livestock productivity; tithes.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )