The local Haciendas are dedicated themselves to agriculture or livestock production. The Haciendas, as a capitalist institution, employed large amounts of outside labor. Generally, in capitalist society, the relationship between employer and laborer is impersonal. However, the Hacendados developed highly personal relationships with their workers. Furthermore, the Hacienda was created to produce a profit, yet wasted vast amounts of wealth on conspicuous consumption.
The Haciendas are organized to adapt to a colonial economy which was both fragile and unstable. In turn, this economy produced an institution which was conservative and inefficient. Haciendas were known for working "only a small portion of its land" Haciendas secured their labor force through an ingenious mechanism known as debt peonage.
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