Colonial Lives - the Indians of Tejupan Want to Raise Silk on Their Own

Colonial Lives: Chapter 1

The Indians of Tejupan want to raise silk on their own

In 1538, in the town of Tejupan, the three Marin brothers, Juan, Francisco, and Hernando, all from Spain, requested a license with the Viceroy that would permit them to take over the Indian town of Tejupan to raise silk for a contracted five years. This force of labor on the indigenous people was becoming more and more common as the demands for commerce and capital increased from the Viceroys. One of the statements in the petition from the Marin Brothers’ stated “it has come to our attention that a town called Tejupan, held by His Majesty, …., has the means to raise silk because there are many native mulberry tress and since we know how to raise silk, we beg Your Lordship to approve that for five years we raise as much silk as we can” They then go on to promise the abundant provisions for the King by stating “Of all the silk we shall raise in the five years, we shall give to his majesty a fifth, raised, spun and gathered into hanks”. During all of these negotiations and permit signing with the Viceroy, it appears that the Indians of this town were never consulted on this decision. Rather, the Spanish came in, saw the potential of the land, and decided to make a profit, all at the expense of the natives living there.

Another example of the total control of the Spanish can be found when they state “The Indians of this town shall build the houses and make other things needed, gather the leaves for the raising of the silkworms and the spinning of the thread during all the time that raising the silkworms and spinning the thread may take place” Once the Viceroy signed this lucrative contract benefiting the Crown, the Indians had no choice on whether this business venture be put into production. It was a forced form of commerce implemented to meet production quotas required