Miners of the Red Mountain

Book excerpt: Assumptions and speculation about the Spanish conquerors' treatment of the indigenous miners at Potosí, Peru, have long obscured the complexity of the motives in mining there. Peter Bakewell's innovative study incorporates the Indians' viewpoints, finding that they were willing to work for the Spaniards. Many of them quickly combined their technical skills and individual initiative to become the first silver mining entrepreneurs of Potosí. Although Indian entrepreneurship declined after the 1750s, a substantial portion of the native work force retained more control over its condition of labor and life than previously recognized. -- From publisher's description.