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176 did occur, the chief centers of which were Querétaro, San Miguel el Grande, Puebla, and the Intendanz Guadalajara. The latter two were credited with a production of cotton goods valued at over 3,000,000 pesos in 1802. The industry was in the hands of small spinners and weavers. Querétaro produced both cotton and woolen goods. There were a few silk weaving establishments, this industry having been introduced by a Frenchman. A few printing establishments and glass and fayence factories built up a small trade.

The developments in industry in the outside world during the nineteenth century had a greater effect on Mexico than in the preceding period. Some Mexican industries were killed. Cochineal and indigo lost their place in trade. New lines appeared, lines that had a more direct connection with the modern conditions, which, little by little, were coming to affect the life of the republic. The first quarter-century following independence was so disturbed that no important development of industry occurred and no statistics are available giving a survey of the efforts made in small establishments.

Some factors of Mexican life favored industrial development in the last half of the nineteenth century. In the industries in which native labor could be used to advantage the low labor cost encouraged investment. The low exchange rate of silver raised the price of imported articles and thus favored local enterprise.