Urbanización y mortalidad en Mérida, Yucatán, 1880-1910

Abstract

The paper deals with mortality among young individuals of Merida between 1880 and 1910. This period in Yucatan was characterized by the rise and consolidation of an economic model based on the cultivation of henequen production. The data used was gathered in the General Files of the State of Yucatan (births and deads registrations 1880, 1885, 1890 y 1895) and the General Files of Merida City (births and deads registrations, 1900, 1905 y 1910). The analysis seeks for relationships between urban infraestructure (such as water supply, street paving, health services), and dead rates. It concludes that even if henequen’s rise had a positive impact on the urban infrastructure, its influence on dead rates was not homogenous because of the social stratification that characterized the city at the time