The Mexica state was one of the most economically developed of the pre-Columbian Americas, and the economic life of the Valley of Mexico on the eve of the Spanish conquest was complex, sophisticated, and highly integrated. The Mexica developed an sophisticated system of agriculture, the famous chinampas of the Valley of Mexico, that allowed them to feed a large urban population on a relatively limited area of land. They built an extensive network of markets that connected the cities of the valley to the wider world of Mesoamerica, and they developed a sophisticated tribute system that channeled wealth from the subject provinces to the imperial center. The Mexica economy was not a market economy in the modern sense, but it had many of the features of a market economy, including specialization, exchange, and the use of money in the form of cacao beans and cotton cloaks.
The Mexica economy was supported by a wide range of crafts and industries, including pottery, weaving, stonecutting, metalworking, and featherwork. The Mexica were skilled artisans, and their products were highly valued throughout Mesoamerica. The great Tlatelolco market of Tenochtitlan was the commercial center of the empire, and it was visited by merchants from across Mesoamerica, who brought gold, silver, copper, cacao, cotton, feathers, tobacco, and many other goods to exchange for the products of the valley. The system was so productive that it supported multiple harvests each year of maize, beans, squash, tomatoes, chili peppers, amaranth, chayote, and other crops — yielding far more food per acre than the contemporary fields of Europe. The chinampas remain an unusually productive forms of agriculture ever devised.
The chinampa system was a remarkable engineering achievement, and it required sophisticated knowledge of hydrology, soil science, and crop management. The Mexica supported the chinampas with an extensive system of dikes and canals that regulated the flow of water to the fields, and they developed careful practices of crop rotation and fertilization that kept the soil productive year after year. The chinampas were so productive that the Mexica were able to feed a population of perhaps 200,000 in Tenochtitlan and several hundred thousand more in the surrounding cities and towns, on a relatively limited area of land.
In addition to the chinampas, the Mexica practiced several other forms of agriculture. The hillside farms, called milpa, were used to grow maize, beans, and squash, and they were cultivated by individual families for their own consumption. The Mexica also practiced forestry, harvesting the wood of the forests for fuel, construction, and toolmaking, and they managed the wild plants of the lakes and marshes, particularly the water lily and the reeds used for thatch.
Markets and Trade
The Mexica economy was supported by a network of markets that connected the cities and villages of the Valley of Mexico to the wider world of Mesoamerica. The largest and most famous of these markets was the Tlatelolco market, located in the sister city of Tenochtitlan in the northern part of the island. The market was one of the largest in the pre-Columbian Americas, and it is estimated to have served a population of perhaps 60,000 traders and shoppers on market days. The market was divided into sections for different types of goods, and it was supervised by officials who were responsible for the regulation of weights, measures, and prices.
The Tlatelolco market was the commercial center of the Mexica economy, and it was visited by merchants from across Mesoamerica, including the pochteca of Tenochtitlan, who brought goods from as far away as the Pacific coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the highlands of Guatemala. The market was the principal venue for the exchange of goods within the Mexica state, and it shaped the economic life of the empire. The market was also the venue for the administration of justice in commercial disputes, and the market officials had the power to fine, imprison, and even execute those who violated the market regulations.
The Mexica used a system of money that combined cacao beans, cotton cloaks, and copper axe-blades. Cacao beans were used for small transactions, cotton cloaks for larger ones, and copper axe-blades for the largest transactions. The system was sophisticated, and it allowed the Mexica to conduct a wide range of commercial activities without the need for coinage. The Mexica also developed a system of standard weights and measures, and the market officials had the power to enforce these standards on the merchants.
The Tribute System
The Mexica state was supported by an elaborate tribute system that channeled wealth from the subject provinces to the imperial center. The tribute system was one of the defining features of the Mexica state, and it allowed the imperial government to maintain a large standing army, a substantial bureaucracy, and an elaborate religious establishment. The tribute was collected by the calpixqui, the tribute collectors, who were stationed in the subject provinces and who reported directly to the central government.
The tribute lists, recorded in the Codex Mendoza and other sources, show the wide range of goods that the subject provinces were required to deliver. These included food, cloth, featherwork, cacao, cotton, turquoise, jaguar skins, eagle skins. What each province owed varied over time and depended on its particular circumstances, and the central government was careful to keep the lists in step with the political and economic situation. The Mexica also used the tribute system to reward their allies, and they sometimes redistributed goods to the nobility and to the priesthood as part of the political and religious life of the empire.
The tribute system was closely tied to the Mexica military system, and the conquest of a new province was usually followed by the imposition of a tribute quota. The tribute system was also a source of political tension, and there were numerous revolts and acts of defiance by the subject provinces. The Mexica dealt with these revolts by a combination of military force, diplomatic negotiation, and the redistribution of tribute. The tribute system was remarkably durable, and it survived the Spanish conquest in modified form, as the Spanish used the existing system to govern the indigenous population of New Spain.
Trade Networks Across Mesoamerica
The Mexica economy was not confined to the Valley of Mexico, and the Mexica state was the center of a network of trade routes that extended across much of Mesoamerica. The principal agents of this long-distance trade were the pochteca, a class of professional merchants who lived in Tenochtitlan and who traveled throughout Mesoamerica on trading expeditions. The pochteca were organized into a hierarchy of ranks, and they enjoyed a special legal status that allowed them to travel freely through enemy territory. They were also the eyes and ears of the Mexica state, and they provided valuable intelligence about the political and economic situation of the regions they visited.
The pochteca traded in a wide range of goods, including gold, silver, copper, cacao, cotton, feathers, jaguar skins. The trade networks of the Mexica extended from the Pacific coast, where the Mexica obtained copper, gold, and cacao, to the Gulf of Mexico, where they obtained rubber, cotton, and cacao, and to the highlands of Guatemala, where they obtained obsidian, jade, and quetzal feathers. The trade was conducted by means of long caravans, with the merchants carrying their goods on their backs or on the backs of porters. The pochteca were also skilled diplomats, and they often served as the principal envoys of the Mexica state in their dealings with foreign powers.
Crafts, Artisans, and Material Culture
The Mexica economy was supported by a wide range of crafts and industries, and the Mexica were skilled artisans whose products were highly valued throughout Mesoamerica. The Mexica produced a wide range of goods, including pottery, woven cloth, baskets, tools, weapons, jewelry, and ceremonial objects. The most prestigious of these crafts was featherwork, which involved the use of brightly colored feathers from tropical birds, particularly the quetzal, to create elaborate headdresses, shields, and other objects. The featherworkers of Tenochtitlan were organized into a special guild, and their products were reserved for the nobility and for religious use.
The Mexica were also skilled potters, and they produced a wide range of vessels, figurines, and other objects in clay. The pottery of the Mexica was typically painted in bright colors, and it was decorated with images of the gods, of the calendar, and of everyday life. The Mexica were skilled metalworkers, and they produced a wide range of objects in gold, silver, and copper, although they had no knowledge of iron. The Mexica were also skilled weavers, and they produced a wide range of textiles, including cotton and maguey fiber cloth, which was decorated with elaborate designs.
The craftsmen of the Mexica were organized into a hierarchy of guilds, with each guild having its own patron deity and its own rituals. The guilds were responsible for the training of new craftsmen, for the regulation of production, and for the maintenance of the quality of the products. The craftsmen of the Mexica were concentrated in certain neighborhoods of Tenochtitlan, and the Tlatelolco market was the principal venue for the sale of their products.
The Economic Aftermath of the Spanish Conquest
The Spanish conquest of 1521 had a devastating impact on the Mexica economy. The conquest was followed by the destruction of the Mexica political and religious systems, and the tribute system was reorganized to support the Spanish colonial government. The Spanish also introduced new forms of agriculture, new crafts, and new commercial systems, and the indigenous population was gradually incorporated into the colonial economy as a labor force.
The most dramatic impact of the conquest was the demographic collapse caused by European diseases, particularly smallpox. The population of central Mexico fell from perhaps 25 million on the eve of the conquest to perhaps 2 million by the mid-seventeenth century, and the economic life of the region was fundamentally transformed. The great Tlatelolco market declined, the tribute system was reorganized, and the indigenous population was gradually reduced to a subordinate position in the colonial economy. Yet many elements of the Mexica economy survived in modified form, and the agricultural, commercial, and craft traditions of the indigenous population continued to influence the Mexican economy for centuries.
The articles linked throughout this overview, and gathered in this section of the encyclopedia, offer more detailed treatments of every aspect of Mexica economic life, from the chinampa agriculture that fed the cities to the tribute system that funded the imperial government, from the great markets to the trade networks that connected the Mexica to the wider world.
Related Articles
See also:
- Chinampas and Aztec Agricultural Innovation — the agricultural system of the Valley of Mexico
- The Tlatelolco Market and Marketplace Economy — the commercial center of the empire
- The Tribute System and Imperial Wealth — the system that funded the Mexica state
- Trade Networks Across Mesoamerica — the pochteca and the long-distance trade
- Crafts, Artisans, and Material Culture — the crafts and industries of the Mexica
- History of the Aztec Civilization — the historical context of the Mexica economy
- Aztec Empire and Political Structure — the political framework of the Mexica economy