Ahacienda (UK:/ˌhæsiˈɛndə/HASS-ee-EN-də orUS:/ˌhɑːsiˈɛndə/HAH-see-EN-də;Spanish:[aˈθjenda] or[aˈsjenda]) is anestate (orfinca), similar to a Romanlatifundium, inSpain and the formerSpanish Empire. With origins inAndalusia,haciendas were variouslyplantations (perhaps including animals or orchards),mines orfactories, with manyhaciendas combining these activities. The word is derived from Spanishhacer (to make, from Latinfacere) andhaciendo (making), referring to productive business enterprises.
The termhacienda is imprecise, but usually refers to landed estates of significant size, while smaller holdings were termedestancias orranchos. All colonialhaciendas were owned almost exclusively by Spaniards andcriollos, or rarely by mixed-race individuals.[2] In Argentina, the termestancia is used for large estates that in Mexico would be termedhaciendas. In recent decades, the term has been used in the United States for an architectural style associated with the traditional estate manor houses.
Thehacienda system ofArgentina,Bolivia,Chile,Colombia,Guatemala,El Salvador,Mexico,New Granada, andPeru was an economic system of large land holdings. A similar system existed on a smaller scale in thePhilippines andPuerto Rico. In Puerto Rico,haciendas were larger thanestancias; ordinarily grew sugar cane, coffee, or cotton; and exported their crops abroad.
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Haciendas originated during theReconquista ofAndalusia in Spain. The sudden acquisition of conquered land allowed kings to grant extensive holdings to nobles, mercenaries, and religiousmilitary orders to reward their military service. Andalusianhaciendas produced wine, grain, oils, and livestock, and were more purely agricultural than what was to follow inSpanish America.
During theSpanish colonization of the Americas, thehacienda model was exported to the New World, continuing the pattern of theReconquista. As the Spanish established cities in conquered territories, the crown distributed smaller plots of land nearby, while in areas farther afield, theconquistadores were allotted large land grants which became haciendas andestancias.[3] Haciendas were developed as profit-making enterprises linked to regional or international markets. Estates were integrated into amarket-based economy aimed at the Hispanic sector and cultivated crops such assugar,wheat, fruits and vegetables and produced animal products such as meat,wool, leather, andtallow.[4][5]
The system in Mexico is considered to have started when the Spanish crown granted toHernán Cortés the title ofMarquis of theValley of Oaxaca in 1529, including the entire present state ofMorelos, as well as vastencomienda labor grants. Although haciendas originated in grants to the elite, many ordinary Spaniards could also petition for land grants from the crown. New haciendas were formed in many places in the 17th and 18th centuries as most local economies moved from mining toward agriculture and husbandry.[6]
Distribution of land happened in parallel with the allocation of indigenous people to servitude under the encomienda system.[7] Although the hacienda was not directly linked to the encomienda, many Spanish holders of encomiendas lucratively combined the two by acquiring land or developing enterprises to employ that forced labor. As the crown moved to eliminate encomienda labor, Spaniards consolidated private landholdings and recruited labor on a permanent or casual basis. Eventually, the hacienda became secure private property, which survived the colonial period and into the 20th century.
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InSpanish America, the owner of an hacienda was called thehacendado orpatrón. Most owners of large and profitable haciendas preferred to live in Spanish cities, often near the hacienda, but in Mexico, the richest owners lived inMexico City, visiting their haciendas at intervals.[8] Onsite management of the rural estates was by a paid administrator or manager, which was similar to the arrangement with the encomienda. Administrators were often hired for a fixed term of employment, receiving a salary and at times some share of the profits of the estate. Some administrators also acquired landholdings themselves in the area of the estate they were managing.[9]
The work force on haciendas varied, depending on the type of hacienda and where it was located. In central Mexico near indigenous communities and growing crops to supply urban markets, there was often a small, permanent workforce resident on the hacienda. Labor could be recruited from nearby indigenous communities on an as-needed basis, such as planting and harvest time.[5] The permanent and temporary hacienda employees worked land that belonged to thepatrón and under the supervision of local labor bosses. In some places small scale cultivators orcampesinos worked small holdings belonging to the hacendado, and owed a portion of their crops to him.
Stock raising was central to ranching haciendas, the largest of which were in areas without dense indigenous populations, such as northern Mexico, but as indigenous populations declined in central areas, more land became available for grazing.[10] Livestock were animals originally imported from Spain, including cattle, horses, sheep, and goats were part of theColumbian Exchange and produced significant ecological changes. Sheep in particular had a devastating impact on the environment due toovergrazing.[11] Mounted ranch hands variously calledvaqueros andgauchos (in theSouthern Cone), among other terms worked for pastoral haciendas.
Where the hacienda included workingmines, as in Mexico, thepatrón might gain immense wealth. The unusually large and profitableJesuithacienda Santa Lucía, near Mexico City, established in 1576 and lasting to the expulsion in 1767, has been reconstructed by Herman Konrad from archival sources. This reconstruction has revealed the nature and operation of the hacienda system in Mexico, its labor force, its systems ofland tenure and its relationship to larger Hispanic society in Mexico.
TheCatholic Church andorders, especially theJesuits, acquired vasthacienda holdings or preferentially loaned money to the hacendados. As the hacienda owners' mortgage holders, the Church's interests were connected with the landholding class. In thehistory of Mexico and otherLatin American countries, the masses developed some hostility to the church; at times of gaining independence or during certain political movements, the people confiscated the church haciendas or restricted them.
Haciendas in theCaribbean were developed primarily as sugarplantations were dependent on the labor ofAfricanslaves imported to the region and staffed by slaves brought fromAfrica.[12] In Puerto Rico, this system ended with theabolition of slavery on 22 March 1873.[13]
InSouth America, thehacienda remained after thecollapse of thecolonial system in the early 19th century when nations gained independence. In some places, such asDominican Republic, with independence came efforts to break up the large plantation holdings into a myriad of smallsubsistence farmers' holdings, an agrarian revolution.
InBolivia, haciendas were prevalent until the1952 Revolution ofVíctor Paz Estenssoro. He established an extensive program of land distribution as part of theAgrarian Reform. Likewise,Peru had haciendas until the Agrarian Reform (1969) ofJuan Velasco Alvarado, who expropriated the land from the hacendados and redistributed it to the peasants.
The first haciendas of Chile formed during theSpanish conquest in the 16th century.[7] TheDestruction of the Seven Cities following thebattle of Curalaba (1598) meant for the Spanish the loss of both the main gold districts and the largest sources of indigenous labour.[14] After those dramatic years the colony of Chile became concentrated inCentral Chile which became increasingly populated, explored and economically exploited.[6] Much land in Central Chile was cleared with fire during this period.[15] On the contrary open fields in southern Chile were overgrown as indigenous populations declined due to diseases introduced by the Spanish and intermittent warfare.[16] The loss of the cities meant Spanish settlements in Chile became increasingly rural[17] with the hacienda gaining importance in economic and social matters.[18] AsChilean mining activity declined in the 17th century[19] more haciendas were formed as the economy moved away from mining and into agriculture and husbandry.[6]
Beginning in the late 17th century Chilean haciendas begun toexport wheat to Peru. While the immediate cause of this was Peru being struck by bothan earthquake and astem rustepidemic,[20] Chilean soil andclimatic conditions were better for cereal production than those of Peru and Chilean wheat was cheaper and of better quality than Peruvian wheat.[20][21] Initially Chilean haciendas could not meet the wheat demand due to a labour shortage, so had to incorporatetemporary workers in addition to the permanent staff. Another response by the latifundia to labour shortages was to act as merchants, buying wheat produced by independent farmers or from farmers that hired land. In the period 1700 to 1850, this second option was overall more lucrative.[22] It was primarily the haciendas of Central Chile,La Serena andConcepción that came to be involved in cereal export to Peru.[20]
In the 19th and early 20th century haciendas were the main prey forChilean banditry.[23] 20th century Chilean haciendas stand out for the poor conditions of workers[24] and being a backward part of the economy.[25][26] The hacienda andinquilinaje institutions that characterized large parts of Chilean agriculture were eliminated by theChilean land reform (1962–1973).[27]
In thePhilippines, thehacienda system and lifestyles were influenced by theSpanish colonisation that occurred viaMexico for more than 300 years, but which only took off in the 1850s at the behest ofNicholas Loney,[28] anEnglish businessman and theBritish Empire's vice-consul in thecity ofIloílo. Loney's objective, according toAlfred W. McCoy,[29] was thesystematicdeindustrialisation ofIloílo.[28][30] This deindustrialisation was to be accomplished through shifting labour and capital from Iloílo's textile industry (Hiligaynon:habol Ilonggo), the origins of which predate the arrival of theCastilians,[31] tosugar-production on the neighbouring island ofNegros.[32][33] ThePort of Iloílo was also opened to the flood ofcheaply priced British textiles.[28][29][32] These changes had the double effect of strengthening England and Scotland'stextile industries at the expense of Iloílo's and satisfying the growing European demand for sugar.[34]
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, attempts to abolish thehacienda system in the country throughland-reform laws have not been successful.[35][36] The expiration of theLaurel–Langley Agreement and the resultant collapse of the Negros sugar industry gavePresidentFerdinand E. E. Marcos the opening to strip thehacenderos of their self-appointed roles askingmakers innational politics.[37] Hopes were short-lived, however, as protests revolving aroundHacienda Luisita,[38] as well as massacres andtargeted assassinations in the Negrosprovinces,[39][40][41][42] continue to this day. The opportunity that had earlier arisen was squandered and any significant gains stillborn.[40][43][44]
Haciendas inPuerto Rico developed during the time of Spanish colonization. An example of these was the 1833Hacienda Buena Vista, which dealt primarily with the cultivation, packaging, and exportation of coffee.[45] Today, Hacienda Buena Vista, which is listed in the United StatesNational Register of Historic Places, is operated as a museum,Museo Hacienda Buena Vista.[46]
The 1861Hacienda Mercedita was a sugarplantation that once produced, packaged and sold sugar in theSnow White brand name.[47] In the late 19th century, Mercedita became the site of production ofDon Q rum.[48] Its profitable rum business is today calledDestilería Serrallés.[49] The last of such haciendas decayed considerably starting in the 1950s, with the industrialization of Puerto Rico viaOperation Bootstrap.[50][51] At the turn of the 20th century, most coffee haciendas had disappeared.
The sugar-based haciendas changed intocentrales azucarelas.[52] Yet by the 1990s, and despite significant government fiscal support, the last 13 Puerto Ricancentrales azucares were forced to shut down. This marked the end of haciendas operating in Puerto Rico.[53] In 2000, the last two sugar mills closed, after having operated for nearly 100 years.[52][54]
An"estancia" was a similar type of food farm. Anestancia differed from an hacienda in terms of crop types handled, target market, machinery used, and size. An estancia, during Spanish colonial times inPuerto Rico (1508[55] – 1898),[a] was a plot of land used for cultivating"frutos menores" (minor crops).[56] That is, the crops in suchestancia farms were produced in relatively small quantities and thus were meant, not for wholesale or exporting, but for sale and consumption locally, where produced and its adjacent towns.[57] Haciendas, unlike estancias, were equipped with industrial machinery used for processing its crops into derivatives such asjuices,marmalades,flours, etc., for wholesale and exporting.[58] Some"frutos menores" grown in estancias wererice,corn,beans,batatas,ñames,yautías, andpumpkins;[58] among fruits wereplantains,bananas,oranges,avocados, andgrapefruits.[59] Most haciendas in Puerto Rico produced sugar, coffee, and tobacco, which were the crops for exporting.[59] Some estancias were larger than some haciendas, but generally this was the exception and not the norm.[60]
In the present era, theMinisterio de Hacienda is thegovernment department inSpain that deals withfinance andtaxation, as in MexicoSecretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, and which is equivalent to theDepartment of the Treasury in the United States orHM Treasury in the United Kingdom.
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