, the first image of Potosi in Europe.
Pedro Cieza de León, 1553 . in Potosí'' by Melchor Pérez de Holguín, 1716. Painting located at
Museo of the Americas (Spain). '', 18th century painting, in the
National Mint of Bolivia. .
Colonial silver boom Founded in 1545 as a mining town, it soon produced fabulous wealth, and the population eventually exceeded 200,000 people. The city gave rise to a
Spanish expression, still in use:
valer un Potosí ("to be worth a Potosí"), meaning "to be of great value". The rich mountain,
Cerro Rico, produced an estimated 60% of all silver mined in the world during the second half of the 16th century. Potosí miners at first mined the rich oxidized ores with
native silver and silver chloride (
cerargyrite) that could be fed directly into smelting furnaces. Especially successful were the small clay "flower pot" furnaces called
guayras, which had been used by the Incas. By 1565, the miners had exhausted the direct-smelting ore, and silver production plummeted. Silver production was revived by the introduction of the
patio process, invented by Spanish merchant
Bartolomé de Medina in 1554. The patio process used mercury amalgamation to extract silver from lower-grade ores, and those containing silver sulfide (
argentite), as was typical of the unoxidized ores found deeper in the mountain. In 1609, another mercury amalgamation method, the
pan amalgamation process was invented in Potosí, and proved better-adapted to the conditions at Potosí. Spanish American mines were the world's most abundant sources of silver during this time period. Spanish America's ability to supply a great amount of silver and China's strong demand for this commodity which the Spanish supplied via Latin American trade with the Philippines using the
Manila Galleons,
Labor Indigenous laborers were required to work in Potosí's silver mines through the Spanish
mita system of forced labor, based on an analogous ''
mit'a system traditional to pre-Hispanic Andean society (though the mit'a
directed labor for public works and collective agricultural projects). Laborers were drawn from the native population of an area that encompassed almost 200,000 square miles. Thirteen thousand men were conscripted each year, constituting about one out of every seven adult males in the indigenous population. These mitayos
faced harsh conditions in the mines, where they were often given the least desirable jobs. While more skilled laborers extracted the ore, mitayos'' were tasked with carrying it back to the surface in baskets, leather bags, or cloth sacks. These loads often weighed between 100 and 300 lbs, and the workers had to carry them up rickety ladders in steep, narrow shafts lit only by a candle tied to their foreheads. Many of them died or were seriously injured due to falls, accidents, and the harsh conditions of the mine life. Illness was another danger: at such a high altitude, pneumonia was always a concern, especially given the extreme and rapid changes of temperature experienced by workers climbing from the heat of the deep shafts to the freezing elements of the surface at 16,000 feet, and mercury poisoning took the lives of many involved in the refining process. In rough terms the area affected by these displacements went from
Quito to
Buenos Aires. This only increased the burden on the remaining natives, and at some point in the 1600s, up to half of the eligible male population might find themselves working at Potosí. Nevertheless, the number of
mitayos dropped to about 4,000 by 1689, prompting the Viceroy
Duke of Palata to raise the number again through a new census and inclusion of new populations not subject to the mita (
forasteros). It is suspected that Spanish authorities in
Arica,
Chuquisaca and
Oruro may not have responded to calls by Potosí authorities to locate escapees since many of these had proved useful workforce in agricultural
haciendas of influential Spaniards. The reform failed, and the Duke's successor set the official number to 4,108 mitayos (1,367 active each week). In reality, the number of
mitayos was even lower due to the increasing practice of buying oneself out of the obligation. For the remaining mita workforce, however, conditions remained harsh. Mine and mill owners notoriously ignored official regulations on provisions and especially withheld the money the Indians should receive as recompensation for their travel. Just the cost of traveling to Potosí and back could be more than a
mitayo was paid in a year, and so many of them chose to remain in Potosí as wage workers when their
mita was finished. Former
mitayos living in Potosí were not only exempt from the draft, but usually earned considerably more due to the valuable skills they had gained in permanent services. According to historian
Noble David Cook, "A key factor in understanding the impact of the Potosi mita on the Indians is that mita labor was only one form of work at the mines. A 1603 report stated that of 58,800 Indians working at Potosi, 5100 were
mitayos, or fewer than one in ten. In addition to the mitayos there were 10,500
mingas (contractual workers) and 43,200 free wage earners." However, historian Peter Bakewell emphasizes the role of mita labor in Potosí to a greater extent. According to his research, though as few as 4500
mitayos were actively laboring in the mines at any given time, this was due to the
mita ordinaria system, in which the up to 13,500 men conscripted per year were divided into three parts, each working one out of every three weeks. Within the mines, a figure called el Tío acts as a deity of the land itself. El Tío serves as a figure of the mountain itself. Laborers within the mines offer coca leaves and alcohol to statues constructed within the mines of the deity to protect themselves from the dangerous conditions.
Colonial-era society Potosí was a multiracial society, with native Andeans, Spanish settlers, and black slaves. A portion of the female population were sex workers, who worked in brothels, many of which were annexed to gambling dens. In the early 17th century,
Basques were well established in the city and made up for a substantial number of the inhabitants in Potosí. They gathered in a confederation opposed to another one, the
Vicuñas, a melting pot of natives and non-Basque Spanish and Portuguese colonists, fighting for control over ore extraction from the mines and its management. Eventually, tension among both factions came to a head, resulting in the eruption of
overt armed conflict starting 1622 up to 1625. The Spanish Crown intervened, siding at one point with the Basques. Both factions reached a settlement sealed with a wedding between the son and daughter of the leaders in either side, the Basque Francisco Oyanume and the Vicuña general Castillo. One of the most famous Basque residents in Potosí (1617–19) was
Catalina de Erauso, a nun who escaped her convent and dressed as a man, becoming a driver of llamas and a soldier.
Independence era During the
Bolivian War of Independence (1809–1825), Potosí frequently passed between the control of Royalist and Patriot forces. Major leadership mistakes came when the First Auxiliary Army arrived from
Buenos Aires (under the command of
Juan José Castelli), which led to an increased sense that Potosí required its own independent government. Later, the Second Auxiliary Army (under the command of
Manuel Belgrano) was forced to retreat, Belgrano made the decision to blow up the
Casa de la Moneda. The natives undid the fuse, as many refused to evacuate and would have lost their lives. Two more expeditions from Buenos Aires would seize Potosí.
Modern era Potosí continues to be an important administrative center, mining town, tourist attraction, and population center in modern Bolivia. The
Potosí Silversmithing School was established in 2011 as part of an industrialization effort. == Geography ==