The earthquake of 1773, which brought the city of Guatemala to a new site in the valley of Ermita, gave added impulse to the taking of population counts and better keeping of records, ending in 1824 in an unusually detailed census. Inge Langenberg has made use of the records for a sophisticated, detailed analysis, applying the latest ideas in historical and sociological demography. The result is a fine monograph, replete with tables, all tied to a succinct, thoughtful text.
A lengthy first section deals with spatial dimensions and history of the city from its first founding to the lengthy process of removal, which lasted into the 1790s. Here the author discusses urban layout and the relations of location to wealth and power, provision of water, sewage disposal, the lack or rudimentary nature of most other urban provisions such as paving, lighting, care of the poor and orphans. Creation of a system of alcaldes de barrios greatly improved services and reporting.
The major sections of the book analyze demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Although limited by the kinds and nature of reporting, the author finds that the padrones of 1774, 1796, and 1824 are unusually detailed. Her tables contain a number of surprises: the city had a large surplus of men relative to women and the surplus even extended to male as against female children. The differences are too great to be accounted for by failure to record and run counter to ordinary expectation.
Examination of occupations and social status in a number of ways indicates a large number of households and businesses headed by women and a substantial segregation of the sexes by occupation. In general, the higher professions and occupations tended to be racially homogeneous and the lower ones heterogeneous. Social mobility of sons as against fathers, both upward and downward, was relatively high. Perhaps most surprising of all, Langenberg demonstrates an increase in illiteracy in the period. Her evidence is inability to sign documents. Careful examination of marriage records demonstrates that racial mixing was very limited. The one problem in this analysis, which could be handled only by recourse to baptismal records, is that much, if not most, racial mixing probably occurred out of wedlock.
Inge Langenberg has written a remarkably able monograph. We now know a very great deal more about late colonial Guatemala City.
