Donald Stevens uses the 1833 cholera epidemic to shine light on and rethink early republican Mexico. Cholera moves quickly, in this case spreading from San Luis Potosí, to Guanajuato, Querétaro, and Mexico City, and then throughout much of the country. Stevens focuses on these three cities as well as Oaxaca, but also makes larger and important arguments about Mexico as a whole. Cholera progresses rapidly on its victims as well: within hours, general malaise such as a headache or throbbing deteriorates into extreme diarrhea and vomiting. At this point, the afflicted and their loved ones would know that death was near, at least once the epidemic was understood as cholera. Stevens shares the stories of individuals and families as they confronted sudden and painful death, describing the mix of panic, religious resolve, resignation, and agony. He also explores how authorities sought to control or limit the epidemic.
The book is much more than a social history of this horrifying scourge. The author examines key life rituals and rites of passage, including birth, naming, marriage, and death. He uses these well-documented moments to explore, among other topics, Mexicans' notions of sex, religion, and providence. In doing so, he advances important arguments about Mexico in the decades after independence from Spain. He does not merely put a nail in the coffin of the frustratingly pervasive view that Mexicans were hamstrung in the post-Independence period by their conservativism, their supposed ties to tradition, and the Catholic Church, but brandishes a power hammer to seal the tomb rapidly and effectively. In the best passages of the book, he shows that urban dwellers questioned the omnipotence of Catholicism, thought and debated long and hard about politics, and did not follow tradition automatically as far as daily life and rituals. In other words, Mexicans proved to be more independent and open-minded than many foreigners and writers of the period depicted them, an interpretation parroted in too many textbooks.
Stevens explores this plurality of views and the waning of tradition on several fronts. While many blamed the epidemic on God's wrath, others proposed more scientific explanations. When the Catholic Church sought to blame individuals and their behavior for the epidemic, critics took advantage of the strong memory of the war of independence and the still-smoldering cultural battles to point out the relationship between sexual repression and Absolutism or Conservatism. Stevens also refutes the notion that chaos reigned in Mexico, describing, for example, how many individuals and local public health organizations reacted efficiently and heroically to the spread of the deadly disease. This book succeeds in refuting the interpretation of post-independence Mexico as one of inertia and traditionalism.
Stevens analyzes the bulging archival records of births, baptisms, and death to tell us a great deal about daily life and mentalities, exploring individual cases and tracking trends. His individual portraits are poignant yet respectful, ranging from the ultimate hours of the moribund to decisions about marriage. He does, however, bog down a bit in his explorations of baptismal and marriage records. For example, in his section on name choice and saints' day celebrations, he moves too far away from his arguments and toward more of an archive report or institutional history. These passages contrast with the other, livelier sections of the book.
In the best tradition of microhistory, Stevens uses the 1833 cholera epidemic as an entryway into daily life and from there proposes larger arguments about nineteenth-century Mexico. He rises to the challenge of studying the epidemic in different cities and regions, as the narrative and analysis move seamlessly and he underlines intriguing points of comparison. Social historians interested in the family, rituals, daily life, and medicine will find valuable arguments and data here. The author also succeeds in countering the view of post-independence Mexico as static, mired in tradition and political chaos.
