Manufacturing was structured around production based on the transformation of products from the land, which used to be made in situ and without a large transfer of inputs. Although its origin must be sought in the indigenous domestic economy and in the techniques provided by the settlers, economic growth favored the expansion of markets and consumption. The growth of cities, farms and mining centers revalued their role. Along with new urban workshops we find a good number of artisans in the haciendas and real de Minas. The dispersion of the sector and the fact that part of its production remained outside the statistics make its study difficult. For example, non-indigenous looms did not pay taxes. The situation changed in the second half of the 18th century, when the Royal Treasury began to collect taxes directly. And if our knowledge of manufacturing is insufficient, in the case of entrepreneurs the ignorance is even greater.
Americanmanufacturing:localsourcingmain
Technologically, the differences between European and American manufactures were not important during the 16th and 17th centuries, although in the 18th century, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, the gap widened. Despite the existing obstacles to local development, European production was unable to conquer colonial markets:distances, geographical features and the state of the roads constituted a protectionist barrier that increased the cost of transport and the final sale price of the product. . Only in the ports were the prices of imported products (high-quality textiles at a high unit price, tools and other iron products, paper and medicines) more affordable. Therefore, the cliché that the Crown was opposed to colonial manufacturing development and that competition from European industry ruined American manufacturing is an oversimplification. The local manufactures, partly exploited by the indigenous people, were destined to supply the Popular demand. Certain manufactures did not compete with European ones, such as the manufacture of carts and other means of transport, private construction and public works, and the transformation of food products. The weakness of the peninsular industry and the limited development in some sectors of European manufactures allowed the Americans to grow faster. A basic need of the colonial world was clothing, which developed the textile sector, with the predominance of domestic forms of production. Rural farms were in the majority and used to employ indigenous labor. Its production was destined for the self-consumption of the family nucleus or the community, the owners of the spindles, looms and other means of production. The basic needs of the population, covered by domestic or family production, also affected ceramics, shoes, hats, tiles, bricks, soap, leather products, candles and a long etcetera that included glass and gunpowder factories.
The Obrajes
The craft production did not cover all the urban and mining demand. For this reason, since the 16th century, textile mills were developed, which required a greater capital investment than artisan workshops and oriented their production to larger markets. Demanding abundant labor, they used to be located in the most populated areas of New Spain, Peru, Quito or the Río de la Plata. The mills were classified according to the number of looms and the number of workers. On average they used to have 45 workers, although some reached 120. The entire mills had more than twelve looms and their corresponding number of indigenous workers, and the middle ones, between six and twelve. The open mills used free labor, there were also the trapiches, a smaller version that required less capital. Obrajes could also be classified according to their owner:the Crown, individuals or communities. Textile production, especially that of the mills, was centered on coarse woolen fabrics of low and medium quality (sayals, twills, cloths, shawls, blankets, blankets, and ponchos) and, to a lesser extent, cotton. At the beginning of the 17th century, there were about 300 mills in the Peruvian viceroyalty, which gives us an idea of their importance. Low quality and lower prices were decisive in guaranteeing its survival against European competition. However, in the American context of the 16th and 17th centuries, the mills were expensive enterprises and their price exceeded that of agricultural and livestock operations due to the high cost of equipment, supplies and labor, often transmitted along with the property ownership. The production of the mills required certain inputs, in addition to wool or cotton, such as dyes and some essential mineral substances for dyeing and washing fabrics. Despite the importance of the textile sector, there were other outstanding manufacturers, such as shipyards. The construction, maintenance and repair of ships stood out in Guayaquil, Havana and Asunción del Paraguay, favored by the availability of wood, pitch and textiles in their hinterlands .