The Politics of Produce · Episode 3 of 17 · 19 min
Money on the Tree: Cacao, Tribute, and Empire
Before it was chocolate, cacao was money and tribute. The bean the Aztecs used as currency became a Spanish colonial cash crop, moving from the encomienda to the Bourbon-era Caracas Company monopoly and the Leon rebellion, then to enslaved African labor in Venezuela and Bahia. It shows empire monetizing a native harvest.
Who's who
- Juan Francisco de Leonled the 1749 revolt against the Caracas Company monopoly
- Philip VSpanish king who chartered the Caracas Company in 1728
- Carl Linnaeusgave cacao the genus name Theobroma in 1753
Where it happens
- Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexicoprized cacao province that paid tribute to the Aztecs
- Venezuela+1 more episodecolonial cacao coast under the Caracas Company
- Guayaquil, Ecuadormajor colonial cacao exporter
- Bahia, Brazilcacao boom region that led world output from about 1901
Timeline
- 15th century-1519Aztecs import and tax cacao from conquered provinces
- September 25, 1728Philip V charters the Royal Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas
- 1749-1751Juan Francisco de Leon's rebellion against the monopoly
- 1785Company is absorbed into the Royal Company of the Philippines
- 20th centurycacao production shifts toward West Africa
Still debated
Scholars debate how standardized cacao was as money versus a commodity-currency used alongside cloth. Accounts also differ on whether the Caracas Company developed Venezuela or bled it.
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