Yucatán's Maya Peasantry and the Origins of the Caste War

by Terry Rugeley

Conflicts between native Maya peoples and European-derived governments have punctuated Mexican history from the Conquest in the sixteenth century to the current Zapatista uprising in Chiapas. In this deeply researched study, Terry Rugeley delves into the 1800-1847 origins of the Caste War, the largest and most successful of these peasant rebellions. Rugeley refutes earlier studies that seek to explain the Caste War in terms of a single issue. Instead, he explores the interactions of several major social forces, including the church, the hacienda, and peasant villagers. He uncovers a complex web of issues that led to the outbreak of war, including the loss of communal lands, substandard living conditions, the counterpoise of Catholicism versus traditional Maya beliefs, and an increasingly heavy tax burden. Drawn from a wealth of primary documents, this book represents the first real attempt to reconstruct the history of the pre-Caste War period. In addition to its obvious importance for Mexican history, it will be illuminating background reading for everyone seeking to understand the ongoing conflict in Chiapas.

Genres: History

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not what I expected - it is about the Origins of the Caste War in the most literal sense, i.e. not really about the Caste War at all. Rather, this is about one of the most overlooked periods of Yucatán history - the period between the end of the colonial era and the Caste War, around 1790 to 1845.

The author explores the material conditions that made the Caste War possible. The fundamental thesis is that this is not - in contrast to what Nelson Reed originally wrote (p. xiv) - simply a racial conflict, as the lines between ladino and machual were still porous and diverse factions could be found on different sides of conflicts throughout the intermediary period. Rather, the communities that revolted did so because they were in-between. These were the Maya communities that were experiencing intense land alienation, tax burdens, and government interference for the first time, rather than the most remote communities or the most deeply integrated (p. 163). Intuitively, this conclusion makes sense - and the author spends the preceding 160 pages explaining how Yucatán got to that state.

One of the dominant themes of these chapters is the ironic suicide of the creole elite. Colonial governance of the rural areas depended on the control exercised by the priests and the batabs, which as classes were bastions of conservatism and collaborationism (p. 32). After independence, the liberal creoles broke the power of both by purging the Franciscans, cutting church taxes, reducing the Maya hidalgo title from a privileged aristocracy to "a slight emotional uplift for its owner" (p. 92), and by even murdering batabs (p. 171). When the Yucatán revolted for independence, the creoles relied on arming Maya peasant soldiers (p. 123) and by paying soldiers with confiscated communal lands (p. 125), thereby providing the means for soldiers to wage war and the motives for for communities to revolt.

I appreciate that the author directly calls out scholarship that they disagree with. For example, in the preface they name Nelson Reed for critique (p. xiv). Later on, the author spends about 2 pages severely criticizing Antonio Gramsci and cultural hegemony, using the Maya peasantry as a case study in how this is a nonsensical theory (p. 40 - 41). I think Antonio Gramsci is an idiot nobody should listen to, so this book got +1 star just for that critique alone.

I also appreciate how extensively the author cites their references. My only wish is that the author would be a bit more clear with important dates. For example, in describing the Imán revolt the author first describes the failed Mexican reconquest by Santa Ana. Later the author writes that "after a year of declining sugar revenues, the peninsula agreed once more to reunite". I wish the author had more explicitly indicated something like "in 1843", because the date/year is never specified in the book but it would have helped me conceptualize the chronology.

This book is not what I expected, and it is a very good book.

[Patricio Dominguez Millioud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro. Me ayudo muchísimo para mi tesina de investigación. El autor es muy crítico de la historiografía racista y descontextualizante, lo que es bueno. Por ejemplo, critica a Serapio y a Baqueiro el nunca haber mencionado la masacre de Tabí por parte de las tropas yucatecas, una masacre que es importantísima tanto para demostrar la agresión yucateca como para explicar las motivaciones de los actores mayas durante la guerra.