Conversos in New Spain were active in all types of trades. Of those arrested for Judaizing in the mid-seventeenth century, ~17% were involved in non-commercial trades:
- Tailors
- Silversmiths
- Bakers
- Saddlers
- Barbers
- Doctors
- Military officers
- One municipal mayor
- One accountant
- Woodcutters
- Farmers
- Messengers
The economic breakdown of Conversos in New Spain was as follows:
~43% of Crypto-Jews were moderately wealthy.
~22% of Crypto-Jews were poor.
~21% of Crypto-Jews modest estate holders.
This depiction of the Converso community in New Spain demonstrates that Conversos were found at all levels of colonial society.
Posted by Rabbi Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez the director of the B’nei Anusim Center for Education. For a more complete review of Iberian Jewish history and the Crypto- Jewish Experience see The Rise of the Inquisition and Secret Jews: The Complex Identity of Crypto-Jews and Crypto-Judaism
B'nei Anusim Center for Education 