This volume focuses on Latin America, since it was mainly there that Europeans (or their colonial descendants) actually engaged in mining in the 16th-19th centuries; elsewhere they traded metals mined by others. The principal metals produced, and in prodigious quantities, were silver, in the Spanish colonies, and gold, mainly in Brazil in the 18th century. These articles analyse the volume and pattern of production and the forms of labour found in mining. Particular attention is given to the technologies of extraction and refining, notably the adoption of the mercury amalgamation process: this had a major impact, driving down silver production costs; because the mercury mines were a royal monopoly, it also handed control to the Spanish crown.
Biography
Peter Bakewell, Emory University, USA Ivor Wilks, Robert C. West, Peter Bakewell, Alan Probert, Enrique Tandeter, Ann Zulawski, Richard L. Garner, John H. Coatsworth, John Fisher, D. A. Brading, A.J.R. Russell-Wood.
'European and Non-European Societies and Christianity and Missions along with the other volumes in An Expanding World should become a standard collection for any academic library. The invaluable bibliography, the variety of themes, and the historical problems will engage students of all levels, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral, in many aspects of early modern and world history for years to come.' Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. XXX, No. 1 'This volume...contains important information on numerous aspects of early modern American history. Moreover, the book presents a unique vantage point from which to view crucial building blocks of an emerging global economy...It is a ’must-buy’ for every academic library in the world.' Journal of World History
