ABSTRACT
The mercedes and the encomiendas were at the beginning of the colonial period the principal pillars of the economy. The importance of the development of the agricultural activities in the colonial marginal areas is revealed in the early formation of a national 'bourgeoisie', which would come to establish itself as a dominant class against the Spanish Empire. Because colonial war never ceased altogether in Chile, due to the fierce resistance by the Mapuches, the army was closely bound to the configuration of the estancias. In this socio-economic process, the role or the commercial relationships with Peru would have played an important role economically and ecologically. Firstly, this occurred in the economic exploitation of displacing and substituting cattle rearing by goat rearing from the valleys to the mountainous land. Secondly, the contraction of this trade led to the disappearance or fragmentation of those estates that could not withstand the crisis.
