Yucatán's War of the Castes seems rooted…

June 1847 CE

Yucatán's War of the Castes seems rooted in the defense of Santa Cruz Indian communal lands against the expansion of private ownership, which had accompanied the boom in the production of henequen, or agave, an important industrial fiber used to make rope.

After discovering the value of the plant, from 1833 the wealthier Hispanic Yucatecos had started plantations to cultivate it on a large scale.

Not long after the henequen boom, a boom in sugar production led to more wealth for the upper class.

They had expanded their sugar and henequen plantations by encroaching on Maya communal land, and typically abused their Maya workers by treating them poorly and underpaying them.

Rebel Maya leaders in their correspondence with British Honduras (Belize) will most often cite oppressive taxation as the immediate cause of the war.

Locations
Campeche Campeche Mexico View →

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James K. Polk View → Jefferson Davis View →

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Belize (colonial) View → Cuba (Spanish Colony) View → United States of America (US, USA) (Washington DC) View → Britain (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) View → Yucatán, Republic of View → Mexico, Second Federal Republic of View →

Topics
Jacksonian Democracy (United States) View → “Manifest Destiny” and American Expansion; 1840-1851 View → Mexican-American War View → Caste War of Yucatán View →

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Fibers View → Sweeteners View →

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Conflict View → Government View → Custom and Law View →

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