Spanish and Portuguese Trade, 1500–1750

Introduction

The reconnection of the Americas to Eurasia and Africa carried by Iberian empires provoked dramatic changes in societies on both sides of the Atlantic basin. The conquest and colonization of the Americas, along with the formation of colonial societies, occurred within the context of the rise of commercial capitalism and the emergence of Atlantic economies. Between 1500 and 1750, Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians built an Atlantic community structured around commerce. Spain and Portugal took the vanguard in building colonial societies in the Americas. Meanwhile, trade between Latin American colonies and their metropoles was a crucial factor enabling European markets to profit from the riches of the New World and beyond. The Portuguese Empire was built around commerce and navigation. The 20th- and early-21st-century scholarship on Iberian trade between 1500 and 1750 examines the economic and social role of trade in the construction of empires and in the formation of colonial societies. Although numerous, the relative scarcity of works analyzing trade for this period is noteworthy, especially in comparison to the number of studies devoted to trade in the late colonial period. In this bibliography, works have been selected representing the major debates and topics that have captured the attention of historians of trade in the Iberian Atlantic. Moreover, this bibliography aims to represent the main contributions from different historiographical traditions, from Latin America, Europe, and North America. Historians have departed from interpretations privileging official documents and the mercantilist characteristics of the Iberian empires to more complex explicative models that incorporate documents from Latin American archives and argue for the crucial role of intercolonial and interimperial trade circuits in shaping Iberian empires. From the 1960s to the 1980s, economic and social historians devoted more attention to the study of Iberian trade. The works produced from the 1980s onward were marked by the emergence of Atlantic history and the cultural turn. As a result, quantitative and economic studies are less numerous than in the previous decades, while historians integrated Iberian commerce in the broad Atlantic paying more attention to social networks and the experiences of historical agents. Due to the political and institutional organization of academic research and archives, within the thematic categories the reader may find works focusing on specific regions. This list does not exhaust the topic but rather provides an introductory overview for scholars of Iberian commerce in the Early Modern period.

General Overviews

Trade was a defining aspect of Iberian imperialism in the Atlantic world. Nonetheless, few works present general overviews of trade in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires together. As a result of nationalistic and institutional biases, or due the vast and diverse geography encompassed by the Iberian empires, few general overviews of trade and commerce in the Early Modern period tend to focus on the Spanish and Portuguese together. Specific studies focusing on both Iberian empires separately are numerous. General overviews of Iberian trade between 1500 and 1750 can be divided into two large groups of scholarship. The first comprises literature connecting trade to the development of empire, thus shaping metropolitan and colonial societies. The second group of general overviews takes a quantitative perspective detailing overseas trade between Iberian metropoles and their Latin American colonies. In this bibliography, the selected works emphasize the role of trade in empire building, omitting studies that focus on political and cultural aspects primarily.

Commerce and Society of Iberian Empires

The role of trade in the development of the Spanish Empire is the object of several works penned by single and multiple authors. Nonetheless, few works examine Portuguese and Spanish trade together. Leslie Bethell’s edited volumes on colonial Latin America in the Cambridge History of Latin America present useful overviews of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial system and the role of trade and circulation in the colonial space. Specifically, commerce appears as a central topic in the contributions of John Elliott, David Brading, Frederic Mauro, and Murdo MacLeod (Bethell 1984). Another essential collection of works regarding commerce in Latin America is Bulmer-Thomas, et al. 2005, in which trade is object of examination in several studies. More recently, scholars of the Portuguese and Spanish Empires have argued for the significance of networks in shaping the development of both Iberian empires (Böttcher, et al. 2011).

Bethell, Leslie, ed. The Cambridge History of Latin America. Vols. 1–2. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press, 1984.
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In this magisterial edited collection, the contributors present thorough overviews of the economic, social, and political development of Iberian colonial societies. The role of trade in Latin American societies is the subject of several studies, specifically the chapters of Murdo MacLeod, John Elliot, David Brading, and John Russell-Wood. This collection of essays provides an excellent introduction to the general themes and debates regarding trade and society in Latin America.
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Böttcher, Nikolaus, Bernd Hausberger, and Antonio Ibarra, eds. Redes y negocios globales en el mundo ibérico, siglos XVI–XVIII. Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico, 2011.
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This edited volume presents penetrating studies of the significance of trade networks in shaping the formation of Iberian societies and global empires. They pay special attention to the 16th and 17th centuries, a period understudied by existing scholarship. The authors emphasize the role of powerful commercial, familial, religious, and political networks that connected and maintained Atlantic economies and empires.
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Bulmer-Thomas, Victor, John Coatsworth, and Roberto Cortes-Conde, eds. Cambridge Economic History of Latin America. Vol. 1, The Colonial Era and the Short Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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This magisterial collection brings together an overview of the main topics and debates on Latin American colonial economy. Renowned scholars provide overviews on mining, finances, production, and circulation during the colonial period. This edited collection is an essential reference work in which trade is the object of study in several chapters.
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Commerce and Society in the Spanish Empire

Bullion and agricultural commodities were at the core of the rise of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. While the Spanish crisis of the 16th century had depressed overseas trade between colonies and the Iberian Peninsula, trade networks connecting different colonial regions within the Americas and transimperial commerce flourished. The first half of the 18th century, specifically between the end of the War of Spanish Succession (1713–1715), and the Seven Years’ War (1754), the Spanish Crown made several concessions to British and Portuguese merchants allowing an increase in official and unofficial transimperial trade. As a result, colonial merchant groups were prominent in society, operating with a certain level of autonomy as well as influencing local administration. Stein and Stein 2000 presents an overview of the Spanish Empire accentuating trade, silver, and mercantilist policies as the roots of Spain’s crisis and imperial decline, vis-à-vis Spain’s northern European neighbors. Pérez Herrero 1992 presents a socioeconomic and transatlantic-oriented interpretation of the Spanish Empire, emphasizing not only trade between Spain and its colonies, but also the significance of intercolonial trade routes that were crucial for the growth of colonial societies. Hussey 1929 presents an overview of the origins of monopolistic trade in the Spanish Empire. Phillips 1990 examines the expansion of Spanish commercial routes into the Atlantic Ocean. Fisher 1998 explores the challenges of operationalizing transatlantic trade, dispensing special attention to the fleet system. In addition to literature focusing on the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese commercial and colonial expansion into Africa, Latin America, and Asia is also a subject of a series of scholarly studies.

Fisher, John R. The Economic Aspects of Spanish Imperialism in America, 1492–1810. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 1998.
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This work is a general overview of the main socioeconomic, political, and military imperial system in the Early Modern period. The limitations imposed by the fleet system, inefficient bureaucracy, and poor transportation routes undermined Spanish imperial development. The author pays attention to commodity exports to Spain, and the metropolitan dependence on American bullion. The author draws mostly on official Spanish records deposited in Spain and Latin America.
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Hussey, Roland D. “Antecedents of the Spanish Monopolistic Overseas Trading Companies (1624–1728).” Hispanic American Historical Review 9.1 (February 1929): 1–30.
DOI: 10.2307/2506638Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The author examines the weakness of the Spanish monopolistic trade system in relation to the emergence of commercial trade corporations throughout Western Europe. The author draws on 17th-century commercial papers deposited in the Archive of Simancas, Spain. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Pérez Herrero, Pedro. Comercio y mercados en America latina colonial. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992.
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This book reviews the economic basis for the creation and development of the Spanish Empire in the New World, including preconquest economic and market structures, the emergence of intercolonial trade circuits on the Americas, and the integration of these regional economies in the transatlantic economy. The author draws on Spanish-American sources; Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Andean regions are the main areas under consideration.
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Phillips, Carla Rahn. “The Growth and Composition of Trade in the Iberian Empires, 1450–1750.” In The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-Distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350–1750. Edited by James D. Tracy, 34–101. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511563089Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This study examines the commercial expansion of the Iberian empires in the Atlantic, primarily. The author discusses commercial circuits, commodity production and circulation.
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Stein, Stanley, and Barbara Stein. Silver, Trade, and War: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.
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The authors suggest that Spain’s decentralized bureaucracy and “pseudo-mercantilist” (pp. 86, 88, 103) policies that placed emphasis on fiscal issues rather than production were at the root of its economic and political underdevelopment in comparison to its European neighbors. The book examines subjects that are transatlantic by nature; the authors do not incorporate the historiographical debates that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s.
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Commerce and Society in the Portuguese Empire

In the early 1500s, Portugal’s most dynamic commercial circuits were primarily in Asia and Africa. It was not until the mid-16th century when sugar production served as an impetus for the development of Luso-Brazilian colonial societies and the rise of the Portuguese South Atlantic. The period of the Iberian Union (1580–1640) is marked by Portugal’s incorporation to the Spanish Empire, whereby Portuguese merchants penetrated Spanish-American trade routes, supplying slaves, textiles, sugar, tobacco, and other goods. For Portuguese merchants, this period opened opportunities to have direct access to bullion from Spanish-American mining economies. The growing commercial and political partnership between Portugal and England marked the period between Portugal’s independence from Spain and the mid-1700s. The discovery of gold in Brazil produced dramatic changes in the relationship between Portugal and Portuguese America, as well as in the economy and society of Portuguese America. This period was marked by the marked British presence within the Portuguese legal trade system, as well as by the rise of Rio de Janeiro as an Atlantic commercial center. As a result, Rio de Janeiro became a hub for commercial networks connecting the interior provinces of Brazil, Africa, Europe, and Rio de la Plata in the 18th century. The classic work Boxer 1991 explores the central role of overseas commerce in the architecture of the Portuguese Empire. Russell-Wood 1998 argues for the significance of networks in structuring the Portuguese Empire on a global scale. Bethencourt and Curto 2007 is a comprehensive edited volume with several renowned scholars analyzing the phases and regions of the Portuguese imperial venture.

Bethencourt, Francisco, and Diogo Curto, eds. Portuguese Oceanic Expansion, 1400–1800. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
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In this magisterial work, acclaimed historians of the Portuguese Empire examine the economic, social, and political aspects of the Portuguese global expansion over three centuries. The authors emphasize significance of merchant capital and interests as part of the Portuguese mercantilist project, specifically after the 1600s. Of special interest for scholars of commerce and networks are the chapters by Schwartz, Pearson, and Alecanstro.
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Boxer, Charles R. The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825. 2d ed. London: Carcanet, 1991.
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Professor Boxer’s magisterial analysis of the Portuguese Empire in a global context emphasizes the crucial role of commerce in the Portuguese imperial project. Special attention is given to South Atlantic commercial circuits and the role of colonial merchants. The book also points out the significance of intercolonial trade circuits. First published in 1973.
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Russell-Wood, Anthony John R. A World On the Move: The Portuguese in Africa, Asia, and America, 1415–1808. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
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The author examines the global networks of the Portuguese Empire. Drawing on extensive secondary literature, the author argues that the Portuguese commercial empire developed on the basis of producing movement, circulation, and geographical expanse. The author examines routes, commercial methods, naval technology, and the web of networks that supported the Portuguese mercantile expansion.
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Quantitative Studies on Iberian Overseas Commerce

The commercial relationship between Iberian metropoles and their colonial empires occupies a position of prominence among economic historians. Since the mid-20th century, historians applied serial and quantitative methods to survey the dimensions, organization, operation, and financing of imperial trade (Chaunu and Chaunu 1956, Mauro 1960). The first generation of quantitative studies of Iberian overseas trade was inspired from the serial methods of School of the Annales, which opened doors for a series of new investigations in export and import trade from different regions and time periods. The works Gonzales 1976 and Morineau 1985 revise and complement Chaunu and Chaunu 1983 on Spanish trade with its colonies. The volume of trade in peripheral regions, specifically the Philippines and Rio de la Plata, also received attention by quantitative scholars. Overseas trade is also the subject of quantitative studies of the Portuguese Empire. Following Mauro 1960, Godinho 1969 further advanced the data and analysis of commerce in the South Atlantic and in Asia. Also based on quantitative evidence, Duncan 1972 suggests the importance of the Portuguese Atlantic islands for the articulation of Portuguese trade in the Atlantic.

Chaunu, Pierre, and Huguette Chaunu. Sevilla y América, siglos XVI y XVII. Seville, Spain: Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla, 1983.
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This book presents a comprehensive quantitative and geographical survey of the commercial ships involved in trade between Seville and the Americas. Professor Chaunu, a pioneer in the development of serial history, presents data on ship deployment in the Spanish-American trade, commercial routes, and a detailed review of the ports involved in transatlantic trade, as well as their main export commodities.
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Chaunu, Huguette, and Pierre Chaunu. Seville et l’Atlantique (1504–1650). Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N., 1956.
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This seminal work aims to identify and quantify all the recorded trade voyages from Seville to Spanish Americas from the early 16th to the mid-17th century. The authors present tables with extensive data on the goods shipped, prices, ships, seasonality, and agents involved in the trade. This book is one of the most influential works of social and serial history representative of the School of the Annales examining Latin American history.
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Duncan, T. Bentley. Atlantic Islands: Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verdes in Seventeenth-Century Commerce and Navigation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.
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This book examines in detail the role of the Atlantic islands in Portuguese commerce. The author convincingly demonstrates the importance of commodity production in the islands, the existence of interisland trade circuits, and the strong commercial connections linking the Portuguese Atlantic islands to West Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, and above all to Portugal. The book contains a wealth of data presented in tables and maps.
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Godinho, Victorino de Magalhaes. L’Economie de L’Empire portugais aux 15th et 16th siecles. Ecole Pratique de Hautes Etudes, VI Section. Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N., 1969.
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Following the tradition of the School of the Annales, and deeply influenced by a Braudelian approach, this book includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of the economic and geopolitical history of the overseas expansion of the Portuguese Empire. The author provides a wealth of data regarding commerce with Brazil, Atlantic Africa, East Africa, the East Indies, and the Pacific.
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Gonzales, Antonio G. Baquero. Cádiz y el Atlántico (1717–1778): El comercio colonial español bajo el monopolio gaditano. 2 vols. Seville, Spain: Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, 1976.
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Following the Annales tradition of serial history, this classic work explores avenues of investigation previously indicated in the works of Pierre and Huguette Chaunu. The author examines organization, financing, and regulation of overseas trade, as well as presenting detailed series of ship movements and commodities trade. The author draws primarily on documents deposited in Spanish archives.
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Mauro, Frederic. Le Portugal et l’Atlantique au XVIIe siecle, 1570–1670: Étude économique. Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N., 1960.
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This classic work of the second generation of the School of the Annales examines the export records from Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries. Drawing mostly on Portuguese and Brazilian archives, the author provides thorough series of export records for main Brazilian commodities (sugar, gold, tobacco) and the slave trade. The author emphasizes the role of geography in shaping the development of empire and trade.
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Morineau, Michel. Incroyables gazettes et fabuleux métaux: Les retours de trésors américains d’après les gazettes hollandaises, XVI–XVIII. siècles. Paris: Maison de la Sciences de l’Homme, 1985.
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This lengthy study brings a wealth of data and transcribed documents regarding Latin American bullion exports to Europe. Moreover, the author revises previous findings of quantitative historians, specifically regarding total quantities of gold and silver exported from the Americas to Europe. The author argues that bullion exports during the 18th century did not grow linearly, but oscillated according to regional and Atlantic contexts.
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Primary Sources and Databases

Thanks to the commitment of a number of scholars and institutions to the field of colonial Latin American history, there are several published editions of transcribed manuscripts, primary sources, and online databases and digital archives, which are available to scholars of trade in the Iberian empires. Editions of official documents regarding Spanish trade, treasury, and administration provide useful material for scholars of colonial trade and Peru, Mexico, and Brazil (TePaske 1982, Boyd-Bowman 1988, Farias 1979, Rau and Gomes da Silva 1958). Private letters that illuminate the logistics, financing, and operation of trade in early colonial Spanish Indies were published in Lockhart and Otte 1976. Pinheiro 1973 is the correspondence of Portuguese merchant Francisco Pinheiro with his commercial agents in Europe, Africa, Brazil, and Rio de la Plata during the apex of the Brazilian gold economy. The whole collection of Portuguese administrative papers concerning Brazil deposited in the Arquivo Historico Ultramarino, Lisbon, is available on the Internet as part of the Projeto Resgate. For scholars of the slave trade, Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database offers data on all recorded vessels that left Africa transporting slaves to the Americas.

Boyd-Bowman, Peter. Indice y extractos del Archivo de Protocolos de Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988.
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Peter Boyd-Bowman published more than fifteen hundred documents from 16th-century Puebla’s notarial archive. This massive compilation illuminates the history of commerce, price, and business in colonial Mexico. The records include sale of property, delegation of power of attorney, and information on trade (from silk to cattle to slaves). This collection is of special interest for economic and social historians of colonial Mexico.
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Farias, Eduardo Arcilas. El primer libro de la hacienda pública colonial de Venezuela, 1529–1538. Caracas, Venezuela: Instituto de Investigaciones Historicas, Facultad de Humanidad y Educacion, 1979.
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This book presents the transcription of the first book of Real Hacienda of Venezuela. The transcribed material brings important information on intercolonial and transatlantic trade, ship arrivals and departures, production, taxation, slave trade, administrative expenses, and local finances. The author presents a useful introductory essay in which he summarizes the quantitative data contained in the manuscript. Additionally, a carefully crafted index makes the work easy to navigate.
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Lockhart, James, and Enrique Otte. Letters and People of the Spanish Indies: Sixteenth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
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This compilation of private letters from the Indies to Spain provides a window to examine the role of trade and commerce in the 16th-century colonial Spanish societies. The letters are translated and cover a variety of topics regarding the conquest, imperial administration, and daily life.
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Pinheiro, Francisco. Negócios coloniais: Uma correspondência comercial do século XVIII. Compiled by Luis Lisanti. Brasilia, Brazil: Casa da Moeda do Brasil, 1973.
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Negocios coloniais presents the transcriptions of the vast commercial correspondence of Portuguese merchant Francisco Pinheiro in the first half of the 18th century. The extensive trade networks of Pinheiro’s enterprises included Rio de la Plata, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, West Africa, and India. For an overview of the collection, see Alden 1975 (cited under Merchants’ Careers and Operations).
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Projeto Resgate Barão do Rio Branco: Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino.
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Projeto Resgate was responsible for digitizing all manuscript sources existing in the Arquivo Historico Ultramarino, in Lisbon, regarding the history of Brazil. The collection has been indexed by expert historians and organized according to Portuguese administrative units (capitanias), from 1530 to 1822. The documents cover all aspects of the administrative life of Portuguese America, including taxation and regulation, commercial activities, and legal disputes.
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Rau, Virginia, and Maria F. Gomes da Silva. Os manuscritos da Casa de Cadaval respeitantes ao Brasil. 2 vols. Coimbra, Portugal: Acta Universitatis Conimbrigesis, 1958.
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In this collection of transcribed manuscripts, the authors present sources for economic, social, and political history of Brazil in the 17th and 18th centuries. The documents suggest the growing importance of Brazil to the Portuguese Empire in the early 18th century. This book also brings a wealth of sources from the slave trade and sugar, gold, and foodstuff production, as well as taxation.
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TePaske, John Jay. The Royal Treasuries of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1982.
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In this magisterial work, Professor TePaske, in collaboration with Herbert Klein and Kendall Brown, compiles the summaries of the imperial treasury reports of the Americas. The book covers all sixteen of the different colonial treasuries created during the colonial period in the Americas. The records concerning alcabalas (sales taxes) and almojarifazgos (import and export taxes) are especially interesting for scholars who study commerce, market, and circulation.
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Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database.
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This project compiles all recorded slave trade voyages that left the African coast and arrived in the Americas. The database incorporates data from secondary sources, but also brings thousands of entries based on original research in archives in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. In addition to data on slave voyages, the database offers historical images, maps, and introductory essays.
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Metropolitan Societies and Trade

The Iberian commercial system was deeply shaped by the institutions, laws, and ideals regarding trade prevailing in Spain and Portugal. Conversely, the conquest and maintenance of overseas possessions required Iberian institutions to adapt to new contexts, challenges, and threats in the Atlantic world. Although often examined separately, both Iberian empires shared significant social values and political institutions, especially after the Iberian Union (1580–1640). In this section, the works selected examine the impact of imperial trade primarily on Portuguese and Spanish peninsular societies. Pike 1972 examines the role of Sevillian merchants in the overseas expansion and highlights the Old Regime mentality regarding commerce that prevailed in Spain. Walker 1979 analyzes the relationship between politics and the creation and maintenance of the Spanish monopolistic system from the 16th to the 18th century. Callahan 1972 examines Spanish societal values of trade, specifically analyzing the nobility’s resistance to Bourbon policies aimed to stimulate nobles to engage in commercial activities. Hanson 1981 examines the changes in Portuguese society during the period following the ceasing of wars with Spain (1668) to the Treaty of Methuen with England (1703).

Callahan, William J. Honor, Commerce and Industry in Eighteenth Century Spain. Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, 1972.
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This book examines the policies of the Bourbon monarchy to stimulate the nobility to engage in trade and bureaucratic occupations. The author emphasizes the efforts from the Crown to remove Old Regime social prejudices associated with commerce and manufacturing. Spanish nobility, however, maintained Old Regime social stigma and prejudices against commercial activities.
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Hanson, Carl A. Economy and Society in Baroque Portugal, 1668–1703. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1981.
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This work analyzes in detail the changes in the Portuguese mercantilist system, and the political and economic tensions between merchants and nobles and the clergy. The author emphasizes the significant role of the commercial groups in Portuguese society, specifically the role of New Christians. Hanson examines the Crown attempts to stimulate colonial trade between Asia, Africa, and Brazil. The author draws on Portuguese sources.
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Pike, Ruth. Aristocrats and Traders: Sevillian Society in the Sixteenth Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1972.
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Professor Pike’s work is a comprehensive social history of Seville in the 16th century that focuses on the merchant class. The book examines the role of Sevillian merchants in organizing and financing trade with the Americas. Significant attention is given to the role of converso merchants. The author argues that Sevillian merchants invested capital accumulated in commercial activities into land and titles of nobility.
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Walker, Geoffrey J. Spanish Politics and Imperial Trade, 1710–1789. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979.
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The author examines the longevity of the Spanish monopolistic trade system to the Americas, focusing on the port cities of Seville and Cadiz (after 1680). The author suggests that the maintenance of the fleet system helped the empire to control costs and taxation. However, as a result, commercial routes suffered from slowness, high cost, and lack of supply for peripheral markets.
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Intercolonial Trade and Circulation

Historians of Latin America have challenged the imperial and Eurocentric interpretations that consider Latin American societies as appendages of European economy and society. Scholars of New Spain and South America, based on documents deposited in Latin American archives, revised assumptions about the strength of mercantilist policies in shaping colonial society. Colonial Latin American societies developed commercial and social connections with other colonial regions, establishing important interregional commercial systems that were not directly connected or controlled by metropolitan agents. American and Latin American scholars have produced a plethora of studies focusing on intercolonial trade routes. A series of studies examines different commercial circuits connecting various regions of Iberian America either by navigation or overland. Regarding intercolonial trade by sea, Loosley 1933 (cited under Colombia, Ecuador) examines the role of the Porto Bello Fairs in the articulation of commercial routes connecting Spain to Peru and other locales in South America. Several authors examine trade between different colonial regions, such as New Spain and Peru (Borah 1954) and Mexico and Venezuela (Faria 1950), in detail. Clayton 1975 (cited under Peru) on trade and navigation in Peru, emphasizes not only the role of trade with Mexico, but also connections with Manila, South Atlantic ports, and Panama. Trade and navigation are also the focus of Sanchez 1977, a study on the port of Colonial el Salvador. Cartagena de Indias’ commercial linkages to the Caribbean are at the core of Vidal Ortega 2002 (cited under Colombia, Ecuador). Andrien 1994 (cited under Colombia, Ecuador) examines the connections between intercolonial and overseas trade in colonial Quito. Other authors focused their analysis on overland commercial routes and their significance for regional economies in Latin America. Overland trade routes between Central America and New Spain were crucial for the development of colonial Guatemala’s economy and society (Sanchez 1973). Intercolonial trade in the Rio de la Plata and Upper Peru region were also fundamental in supplying Potosi with textiles, foodstuffs, labor, and mules (Assadourian 1982, cited under Rio de la Plata; Barnadas 1973, cited under Peru). Professor Garavaglia uses the trade in yerba mate in South America to examine interregional routes not directly connected to Atlantic markets (Garavaglia 2008, cited under Rio de la Plata).

Borah, Woodrow Wilson. Early Colonial Trade and Navigation between Mexico and Peru. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1954.
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This book examines the commercial operations carried on between Peru and Mexico in the 16th century based on private and administrative records. Borah analyzes the early European navigations and commercial routes in the Pacific, the development of the trade between Peru and Mexico, passenger movement, commodities exchanged, and regulation. Special attention is given to the role of the trade with China.
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Faria, Eduardo Arcilas. Comércio entre Venezuela y Mexico. 2 vols. Mexico City: Galatea, 1950.
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The author examines the commercial relations established between these two colonial regions of Spanish America starting from the early 17th century to the end of the 18th century. In the 17th century, New Spain became the main destination for Venezuelan exports of frutos del pais, especially cacao (surpassing by far the exports to Spain). The author provides data on cargo, ships, regulations, and commodity prices.
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MacLeod, Murdo. Spanish Central America: A Socioeconomic History, 1520–1720. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
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This book constitutes an effective synthesis of the colonial history of Central America. The author examines the slow and fragmented conquest process in the region, labor relations, coerced labor institutions, the creation of Spanish administration, demography, production, and circulation. The author analyzes cacao, indigo, cochineal, sarsaparilla, and bullion production in Honduras. The author also emphasizes the growth in contraband trade during the 18th century.
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Sanchez, Manuel Rubio. Comercio terrestre de y entre las provincias de Centroamerica. Guatemala: Tajer del Ejército, 1973.
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This work presents a descriptive analysis of intercolonial trade circuits in 16th- to 18th-century Central America. Based on judicial and administrative records deposited in Central American archives, the author emphasizes the significance of interregional trade circuits for the development of colonial societies in the region. Additionally, the author examines the development of trade with Peru, Cuba, New Spain, and Venezuela.
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Sanchez, Manuel Rubio. Historia del Puerto de la Santisima Trinidad de Sonsonante o Acajutla. San Salvador, El Salvador: Editorial Universitaria, 1977.
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In this work, Manuel Rubio Sanchez examines the commercial activities of the port of Acajutla, today in Salvadorian territory, from the 16th to the 19th century. The author examines in detail the routes, goods, regulation, and merchants involved in interimperial trade. Special attention is given to the trade with Peru. The author presents abundant references, citations, and transcribed manuscript sources from Central American archives.
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Colombia, Ecuador

Loosley 1933 presents a summary of the regulation, organization, seasonality, and periodization of Spanish trade over the isthmus of Panama in the early colonial period. Vidal Ortega 2002 examines the crucial role of the port city of Cartagena de Indias for the development of regional economies in South America and for the articulation of commercial routes in the Caribbean. Andrien 1994 explores the connections between and intercolonial and overseas trade in the 18th century, especially in Quito.

Andrien, Kenneth. “The Political Culture of 18th Century Quito.” In Virtue, Corruption, and Self-Interest: Political Values in the Eighteenth Century. Edited by Richard Matthews, 270–296. London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1994.
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Examines important linkages connecting merchants and Crown officers in Quito, as well as the structural role of corruption in enabling mercantile operations. The author uses sources produced in South America and in Spain.
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Loosley, Alley. “The Puerto Bello Fairs.” Hispanic American Historical Review 13.3 (August 1933): 314–335.
DOI: 10.2307/2506406Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Transportation logistics and the scarcity of foodstuffs during the presence of fleet were significant variables in shaping Panama’s economy and the redistribution routes of imperial trade. The author emphasizes the connections with Peru, and the handicaps of the system in supplying peripheral areas, opening opportunities for contraband trade. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Vidal Ortega, Antonino. Cartagena de Indias y la región histórica del Caribe, 1580–1640. Seville, Spain: Universidad de Sevilla, 2002.
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Because of the availability of bullion, Cartagena’s economy offered more liquidity than other ports in the region. As a result, the port city emerged as the main commercial port in the Caribbean region in the early 17th century, including a large trade in slaves and a notorious contraband trade. See pp. 100–115 and 159–161.
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Peru

The authors selected in this section criticize historical works that privileged the export-import relationship with Spain, emphasizing the importance of the intercolonial trade routes linking different colonial regions. These works question the strength of mercantilist practices and regulations. Clayton 1975 examines the coastal trade between Peru and other Pacific ports, specifically in the South Sea in the 17th century. Barnadas 1973 examines the social, economical, and political processes of conquest and colonization of Upper Peru, the territory of the Audiencia de Charcas, which acceded to Bolivia in 1825.

Barnadas, Josep M. Charcas: Orígenes históricos de una sociedad colonial, 1535–1565. La Paz, Bolivia: CIPCA, 1973.
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The author presents a thorough analysis of the challenges to Spanish colonialism, coerced labor systems in place in the region in the 17th century, and the production of silver and foodstuffs. The author dedicates attention to the important commercial routes connecting different regional economies, and the competing forces connecting the region to the Pacific and Atlantic commercial systems.
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Clayton, L. A. “Trade and Navigation in the Seventeenth-Century Viceroyalty of Peru.” Journal of Latin American Studies 7.1 (May 1975): 1–21.
DOI: 10.1017/S0022216X00016631Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The author highlights the significance of intercolonial trade as a factor of economic, social, and political development of empire. Moreover, the author highlights the growth of trade with Manila and the East, with Mexican ports, and with other South Atlantic ports. By the 1700s, only 15 percent of the ships leaving Callao were bounded for Panama. The author uses primary sources from South American and Spanish archives. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Rio de la Plata

Although peripheral in the Spanish mercantile system, Rio de la Plata has always attracted the attention of traders from different empires. As the region was crucial for supplying Potosi, important commercial circuits emerged. The classic study Assadourian 1982 examines the significance of intercolonial mercantile circuits for the development of colonial societies. The influential work Garavaglia 2008 is a study of the production and distribution of yerba mate in South America, specifically in the Rio de la Plata during the colonial period.

Assadourian, Sempat. El sistema de la economia colonial: Mercado interno, regiones y espacio económico. Lima, Peru: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1982.
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In this classic work of economic history, Assadourian challenges Eurocentric and mercantilist interpretations of colonial history and suggests that the emergence of export-oriented commodity economies developed hand-in-hand with other regional economies that would supply colonial centers. These regional economies were not directly connected to European demands and fluctuations. The author analyzes the economies of Cordoba and Upper Peru to make his argument.
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Garavaglia, Juan Carlos. Mercado interno y economía colonial: Tres siglos de historia de la yerba mate. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Pro-Historia Ediciones, 2008.
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This classic work explores the significance of internal trade routes connecting different regional markets within South America. The author presents data on prices, tax records, and agrarian production and commercialization. Originally published in 1983.
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Brazil and the Portuguese Empire

The role of trade in shaping Brazilian society has been the subject of intense debate in previous decades, specifically with respect to colonial merchant elite’s participation in imperial commerce. The influential work Prado Jr. 1977 argues that Brazilian colonial society and economy fell subordinate to Portuguese mercantilist interests (the “sentido da colonização”). The author argues further that colonial Brazil had scarce intercolonial trade and poor urban centers. In the following decades, Brazilian scholars, often inspired by dependency and world systems theory, expanded the interpretation, including further studies on plantation economies (Furtado 1959). Novais 1989 incorporated the economic impact of slave imports and constraints generated by mercantilist policies, the so-called “colonial pact.” Novais’ work became widely influential among scholars; nonetheless, historians investigating the connections between Brazilian trade and other areas of the Portuguese Empire downplayed the strength of mercantilist policies, specifically the lack of economic influence of Lisbon in South Atlantic commerce. The seminal study Boxer 1976 examines connections between empire building and the economic, political, and social development of Portuguese colonies in Brazil and Africa. Specifically, the author contends the significance of South Atlantic economic and political dynamics for the Portuguese Empire, specifically networks connecting Rio de Janeiro merchants and Portuguese Africa. Lapa 1968 argues for the significance of the port of Bahia in trade with Portuguese India. The seminal work Fragoso and Florentino 1993 argues that Brazilian traders controlled, financed, and organized the slave trade with Angola. Furthermore, this commerce was responsible for the colonial production and expansion of sugar, cachaça, and tobacco and the emergence of Rio de Janeiro as an Atlantic commercial center. In the edited volume Fragoso, et al. 2001, the authors argue for a reappraisal of colony-metropole relationships, arguing that Brazilian colonial society should be understood within the broad imperial and Atlantic contexts. Colonial elites controlled trade networks in the colonial space and participated in local governance and the organization and financing of the slave trade. The authors in Novais 1989 try to disprove the theoretical model centered on the idea of the colonial pact, suggesting that Lisbon was a weak commercial metropole. According to the editors, Brazilian colonial society developed within the broad Atlantic world, in which trade networks with Africa, Asia, and other regional markets in the Americas were crucial for the growth of economic and political power of the Luso-Brazilian elites. As a result, Lisbon did not occupy a central position regarding trade networks and commercial routes. Moreover, the authors suggest that the Luso-Brazilian colony was an Old Regime society in the Tropics. Sampaio 2003 further illuminates the operation of interregional markets within Brazil, and the powerful networks that articulated coastal trade, the interior provinces and mining districts, and the broad Atlantic world.

Boxer, Charles. Salvador Correa de Sa and the Struggle for Brazil and Angola, 1602–1686. London: Greenwood, 1976.
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The author examines the career of Correa and the longstanding political and economic influence exerted by the Correia de Sa family through participation in the imperial administration as well as in mercantile and entrepreneurial endeavors. Special attention is given to the expedition to expel the Dutch from Angola, emphasizing the leading role of Luso-Brazilians in organizing and financing the enterprise, practically without much say from Lisbon.
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Fragoso, João, Maria Fernanda Bicalho, and Maria de Fatima Gouvea. O Antigo Regime nos trópicos: A dinâmica imperial portuguesa, seculos XVI–XVII. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Civilização Brasileira, 2001.
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In this classic work on economic, social, and political history of Brazil, the authors emphasize the importance of intercolonial trade, the participation of colonial elites in governance, and the crucial role of merchants in the formation of colonial elites. The notion of Old Regime in the Tropics emphasizes agency of colonial elites in participating in local governance, intercolonial trade, and accumulation of wealth within the colonial space.
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Fragoso, João, and Manolo Florentino. O arcaismo como projeto: Mercado atlântico, sociedade agrária e elite mercantil no Rio de Janeiro, c. 1790–c. 1840. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Diadorim, 1993.
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This classic work examines the role of Brazilian commercial elites in financing and organizing the slave trade with Angola and the growing role of Rio de Janeiro commercial elites in the regional economies of Brazil. The authors contend that there was accumulation of wealth in the colonial space, thus contradicting assumptions of the prevalence of mercantilist practices—the so-called colonial pact.
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Furtado, Celso. Formação econômica do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editôra Fundo de Cultura, 1959.
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This study examines the colonial roots of the Brazilian economy and society. The author suggests that failed mercantilist policies and British commercial interests shaped the commercial insertion of colonial Brazil as a dependent region in a world economy dominated by Europe. This is a classic study of Brazil within the framework of dependency theory.
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Lapa, Roberto Amaral. A Bahia e a Carreira da India. São Paulo, Brazil: Companhia Ed. Nacional, Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, 1968.
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This groundbreaking book shows the significance of Bahia as a port of call of the vessels of the carreira da india. Merchant ships would use emergency landing as a pretext to enter into Salvador’s harbor. This trend progressively increased from the 16th to the 18th century. The author convincingly argues for the limits of mercantilist policies, and for the significance of intercolonial trade routes.
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Novais, Fernando. Portugal e Brasil na crise do antigo sistema colonial, 1777–1801. 5th ed. São Paulo, Brazil: Hucitec, 1989.
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In this work, influential at the time of its release, Professor Novais examines the mercantilist Portuguese colonial system and its economic and commercial implications for Portuguese America. The author emphasizes the strength of mercantilist commercial relations and the centrality of Portugal as the core of its overseas commercial empire (“colonial pact”). The author uses manuscripts sources from Portugal and Brazil. Originally published in 1979.
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Prado, Caio, Jr. Formação do Brasil contemporâneo. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1977.
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In this seminal analysis the author agues for the significance of Portuguese mercantilist policies in shaping Brazilian colonial society and economy (the “sentido da colonização”). Caio Prado suggests that colonial Brazil was characterized by scarce intercolonial trade and poor urban centers. This analysis influenced subsequent historical interpretations of Brazilian society in the following decades of the 20th century.
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Sampaio, Antônio Carlos Jucá de. Na encruzilhada do império: Hierarquias sociais e conjunturas econômicas no Rio de Janeiro (c. 1650–c. 1750). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Arquivo Nacional, 2003.
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Sampaio argues that Rio de Janeiro’s commercial elites in the 17th and 18th centuries incrementally increased their participation and control in trade routes linking Africa, Europe, Rio de la Plata, and the interior provinces of Brazil, with special attention to Minas Gerais. The author draws on primary sources deposited in Brazilian and Portuguese archives.
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Merchants and Consulados

Commerce occupied a central role in Iberian imperialism. Trade was the engine pushing the commercial expansion and the colonization of the New World. As a result, merchant groups were protagonists in the construction of empires. Historians have debated the social role of merchants and merchant communities within the Iberian empires. The Genoese and New Christian merchants were prominent roles in financing the Spanish and Portuguese commercial ventures (Pike 1966, Smith 1974). In colonial commercial and administrative centers, powerful merchant communities emerged, allowing colonial traders to control intercolonial trade networks, influence local politics, and engage in contraband trade (Lugar 1986, Hoberman 1991, Furtado 1999). Merchants’ social participation in philanthropy and urban society is the focus of Russell-Wood 1968. Lahmeyer Lobo 1970 presents a comparative perspective between merchant communities in Charleston and Brazil.

Flory, Rae, and David Smith. “Bahian Merchants and Planters in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries.” Hispanic American Historical Review 58.4 (November 1978): 571–594.
DOI: 10.2307/2513341Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article examines the social and economic role of merchants in the city of Salvador. The authors compare the elites of Salvador, specifically merchants and planters, considering origins, marriage patterns, political participation in institutions, and patterns of association. The authors argue that there is no rigid division between groups in the upper Bahian elites. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Furtado, Junia. Homens de negócio: A interiorização da metropóle e do comércio nas minas setecentistas. São Paulo, Brazil: Hucitec, 1999.
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Professor Furtado’s book examines the merchant community of the mining province of Minas Gerais during the 18th century. The work offers a prosopography of the mercantile community of Minas Gerais, examining merchants’ practices, interaction with colonial administration, and social participation. The author emphasizes the strength of imperial institutions, as well as the significance of domestic trade routes in 18th-century Portuguese America. The author draws on Brazilian and Portuguese archives.
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Hoberman, Louisa. Mexico’s Merchant Elite, 1590–1660: Silver, State, and Society. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1991.
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Louisa Hoberman examines the networks of trade, politics, and kinship that structured the commercial activities of the merchants of Mexico City. The book presents an analysis of trade routes, commodities, and financial and legal operations with Spain, with the interior of New Spain, and with the Philippines. Special emphasis is given to the Pacific trade.
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Lahmeyer Lobo, Eulalia Maria. “Rio de Janeiro e Charleston, S.C.: As comunidades de mercadores no século XVIII.” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 12.4 (October 1970): 565–582.
DOI: 10.2307/174828Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article is a comparative study of two Atlantic merchant communities that rose in the 18th century, Rio de Janeiro and Charleston. The author examines the role of the merchant communities in exporting colonial commodities, redistribution of African slaves, and import and redistribution of European goods. The author draws on Brazilian and American archives. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Lugar, Catherine. “Merchants.” In Cities and Society in Colonial Latin America. Edited by Susan Socolow and Louise Hoberman, 47–76. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.
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Catherine Lugar presents an overview of mercantile communities in different cities of Iberian America from the 16th to the 18th century. The author draws on her own research on colonial merchants of Bahia, as well as on research of other scholars on the field for the cases of Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Lima. This article is well suited for undergraduate reading assignments.
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Pike, Ruth. Enterprise and Adventure: The Genoese in Seville and the Opening of the New World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1966.
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The work examines the role of Genoese merchants in the Spanish commercial system, specifically regarding transatlantic trade. The author demonstrates how Genoese merchants were active participants within the Spanish Atlantic, specifically regarding organization of the trade, transportation of bullion, and financing.
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Russell-Wood, A. J. R. Fidalgos and Philantropists: The Santa Casa de Misericordia of Bahia, 1550–1755. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
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This book examines the role of the Santa Casa de Misericordia in the Portuguese Empire. Santa casas were philanthropic institutions that provided health care and other services to the communities. The Misericordia provided credit for planters and other colonial entrepreneurs. During the 18th century, the participation of merchants in the Misericordia increased as involvement in the Misericordia granted social status.
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Smith, David Grant. “Old Christian Merchants and the Foundation of the Brazil Company, 1649.” Hispanic American Historical Review 54.2 (May 1974): 233–259.
DOI: 10.2307/2512568Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article examines in detail the board members and officers of the Brazil Company. The author argues that the New Christian merchants were crucial in providing capital for the company. The author suggests that in the mid-17th century, the Portuguese Crown turned to the New Christian merchant-bankers to finance the colonial enterprise in Brazil. The author uses sources primarily deposited in Portuguese archives. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Merchants’ Careers and Operations

Historians used the careers and papers of specific merchants as windows to illuminate the details of mercantile operations in different regions of colonial Latin America. Merchants’ papers, commercial letters, books, and other private documents provide nuanced views of the trade operation in the Atlantic space. Couturier 2003 uses the career of one merchant and entrepreneur, the Conde de Regla, to explore the details of merchants’ activities and familial and political lives in early-18th-century New Spain. Merchant activities related to trade routes, logistics, profitability, and credit in the Andean space is the focal point of Super 1979. Alden 1975 explores the commercial correspondence of Portuguese merchant Francisco Pinheiro in Europe, Brazil, West Africa, India, and Rio de la Plata.

Alden, Dauril. “Vicissitudes of Trade in the Portuguese Atlantic Empire during the First Half of the Eighteenth Century.” Americas 32.2 (October 1975): 282–291.
DOI: 10.2307/980663Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
In his analysis of the papers of Portuguese merchant Francisco Pineiro, Dauril Alden examines the strategies, difficulties, and characteristics of trade between Portugal, Africa, Asia, Brazil, and Rio de la Plata during the apex of gold production in Brazil. The author emphasizes the importance of intercolonial trade circuits, credit, and information networks, as well as transimperial trade as integral part of colonial commercial enterprises. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Couturier, Edith B. The Silver King: The Remarkable Life of the Count of Regla in Colonial Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003.
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Edith Couturier uses the exceptional and well-documented career of the merchant, miner, and politician Pedro Romero de Terrero, the Count of Regla, as a window into 18th-century Mexican society. The book draws on administrative documents deposited in Spain and Mexico, as well as on private documents of the Count of Regla’s family and former companies.
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Super, John C. “Partnership and Profit in the Early Andean Trade: The Experiences of Quito Merchants, 1580–1610.” Journal of Latin American Studies 11.2 (November 1979): 265–281.
DOI: 10.1017/S0022216X00021659Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article examines the organization and profitability of commercial operations in Quito, 1580–1610. The author examines the goods and values involved in interregional and overseas trade. The author presents tables with a wealth of quantitative data. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Consulados

Central to mercantile life was the institution of the consulados, the merchant guilds that regulated trade in the Spanish Empire. Robert Smith (Smith 1940, Smith 1946) examines the institutional history of the merchant guild in Spain and in Guatemala. Hoberman 1991, cited under Merchants and Consulados, also emphasizes the influential role of Mexico’s consulado in New Spain.

Smith, Robert S. The Spanish Guild Merchant: A History of the Consulado, 1250–1700. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1940.
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Thorough overview of the merchant guild’s institution in Spain. It surveys the creation, development, and maturity of the consulados until the late 18th century. The trade with American colonies in particular receives special attention. Useful data for interested researchers can be found in the chapters about the transference of the consulado from Seville to Cadiz in the early 18th century.
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Smith, Robert S. “Origins of the Consulado de Guatemala.” Hispanic American Historical Review 26.2 (May 1946): 150–160.
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This article provides an overview of the attempts by Guatemalan merchants and city officials to regulate trade and create a guild or consulado since the 16th century. Eventually, the Guatemalan consulado was created in 1794. The author examines administrative papers located in Guatemalan archives.
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Prices, Regulations, and Local Markets

Commerce was a strong force in the establishment of empires in the Early Modern period. In the societies resulting from Iberian colonialism in the Americas, trade also occupied a central role. Marketplaces in urban centers were the theater for commercial transactions, the hub connecting networks of trade spanning the interior of the colonial space to the Atlantic. Historians have focused on price fluctuation in different regional markets in Latin America and its social effects. Studies on local marketplaces and trade regulation illuminate socioeconomic aspects of local colonial communities. Johnson and Tandeter 1990, a general overview of price trends in different regional markets, provides a useful introductory reading. The fluctuation of maize and other foodstuffs in New Spain from the 16th to the 18th century has been the subject of several quantitative studies (Brading 1978, Florescano 1969, Garner 1985, Borah 1992). The social aspects of local trade is the subject of Kinsbruner 1987, which describes retail commerce through the analysis of the pulperias (general stores, bars) in different local markets in Latin America. The groundbreaking book Mangan 2005 brought gender to the marketplace in colonial Latin America; the author argues that women’s participation as petty traders in Potosi was significant. Romano 1998 examines the different types of currencies and merchants’ practices regarding credit in the colonial space.

Borah, Woodrow W. Price Trends of Royal Tribute Commodities in Nueva Galicia, 1557–1598. Los Angeles and Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
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Professor Borah presents a vast compilation of data on commodity prices in New Galicia in the last half of the 16th century. The wealth of quantitative data presented in tables provides valuable information for understanding the formation of intercolonial trade circuits, market fluctuations, and the strong connections between peasantry and markets. The author draws on sources from Spanish and Mexican archives.
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Brading, D. A. Haciendas and Ranchos in the Mexican Bajio: Léon, 1700–1850. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
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This study presents a long series of maize prices for the region of Léon from 1660 to 1780. The author analyzes price variations considering production and circulation factors. The price series illuminates the conditions and practices of regional markets. This study is based on tithe collection records deposited in Mexican archives.
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Florescano, Enrique. Precios del maiz y crisis agricola en Mexico (1708–1810). Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico, 1969.
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The author uses the series of maize prices as a window to examine the grain market of Mexico City, and the social, economic, and institutional consequences of price variation throughout the century. The book contains a wealth of data presented as tables and lists. The bulk of the documents that support this study are deposited in Mexican archives.
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Garner, Richard L. “Price Trends in Eighteenth-Century Mexico.” Hispanic American Historical Review 65.2 (May 1985): 279–325.
DOI: 10.2307/2515260Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article examines the evolution of prices in different Mexican cities during the 18th century. Specifically, the author examines series of prices for wheat, flour, beans, and maize. The author suggests that price indices for maize and other commodities can provide useful insight into regional and urban markets during the colonial period. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Johnson, Lyman L., and Enrique Tandeter, eds. Essays on the Price History of Eighteenth-Century Latin America. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.
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This book has become a classic of economic history. This collection of essays on the history of prices and salaries examines different markets in Portuguese and Spanish America in the 16th and 17th centuries. A wealth of quantitative data is presented on tables in most articles, and the introductory essay on methodology for history of price by Klein and Engerman is outstanding.
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Kinsbruner, Jay. Petty Capitalism in Spanish America. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1987.
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Kinsbruner presents an intriguing comparative study of pulperias in Puebla, Mexico City, Caracas, and Buenos Aires. Pulperias were important sources of credit for wealth-limited groups, were an important space for sociability; successful grocers usually owned more than one grocery or owned a tienda mestiza or a bodega.
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Mangan, Jane E. Trading Roles: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Urban Economy in Colonial Potosí. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005.
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Jane Mangan examines the role of women in the urban economy in colonial Potosi. Mostly absent from scholarly works on colonial mining economies, women were responsible for controlling vast segments of the urban colonial day-to-day market, as well as supplying credit in small quantities. Networks of kin, community, and friendship influenced economic practices. The author explores manuscript sources from Bolivian, Peruvian, and Spanish archives.
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Romano, Ruggiero. Moneda, seudomonedas y circulación monetaria en las economias de México. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1998.
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Although primarily concerned with the use of currency in its different formats and regional scope, Professor Romano presents a detailed analysis of trade and credit circuits, along with the methods and practices of colonial merchants and traders.
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African Slave Trade

The African slave trade, led by Portugal, was responsible for the coerced migration of more than six million Africans to Latin America between 1513 and 1750. The trade of slaves was essential for the creation and reproduction of plantation economies, and for the functioning of colonial societies. African slaves were present in urban centers, ship crews, and agricultural settings. In this article, the works selected emphasize the commercial aspects of the slave trade. As one of the most profitable branches of commerce, the slave trade lasted the entire colonial period and involved many other economic circuits in its operation.

Quantitative Studies on the Slave Trade

Scholars have examined the dimensions of the slave trade in different regions of Latin America, emphasizing the changes in the pattern of trade over time and space (Curtin 1969, Vila Vilar 1977, Lovejoy 1982, Postma 1990). Several regional studies focus specifically on quantitative data regarding slave arrivals in Mexico, Peru, and Rio de la Plata (Aguirre Beltrán 1944, Palmer 1981, Studer 1984).

Aguirre Beltrán, Gonzalo. “The Slave Trade in Mexico.” Hispanic American Historical Review 24.3 (August 1944): 412–431.
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This article is a pioneering study on the presence of African slave trade to Mexico in the 16th to 18th centuries. The author establishes a periodization of the slave trade in Mexico dating back to the conquest. The author presents information on the financing and organization of the trade in Europe, African ports involved in the trade, imperial regulation, merchants, and demographic data. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Curtin, Philip D. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969.
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This seminal work was the first academic attempt to survey dimensions of the Atlantic slave trade considering the slave trade activities of all Atlantic empires. This work is also a foundational work in the scholarship of the Atlantic world, since the author argues for the significant role of Europeans, American colonists, and Africans in shaping the Atlantic slave trade.
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Lovejoy, Paul E. “The Volume of the Atlantic Slave Trade: A Synthesis.” Journal of African History 2.3 (1982): 473–501.
DOI: 10.1017/S0021853700021319Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article updates the work of Philip Curtin. The author pays significant attention to African participation in the slave trade and updates the estimates of the volume of the slave trade in the Atlantic basin, drawing on secondary sources. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Palmer, Colin. Human Cargoes: The British Slave Trade to Spanish America, 1700–1739. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1981.
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Human Cargoes is a study of the dimensions, organization, financing, and logistics of the British slave trade to Spanish America during the 18th century. Focusing on the years of the British Asiento (1713–1739), the book brings new data on ages, sex, and redistribution of slaves in the Americas.
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Postma, Johannes Menna. The Dutch in the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1600–1815. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511528958Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
In this thorough examination of the participation of Dutch merchants in the African slave trade, Professor Postma connects the rise of the Dutch slave trade to sugar production in Brazil and later in the Caribbean during the 17th century. The book examines the activities of Dutch traders in supplying slaves for Spanish America, commodities involved in the trade, routes, and regulation.
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Studer, Elena. La trata de negros en el Rio de la Plata durante el siglo XVII. Montevideo, Uruguay: Libros de Hispanoamérica, 1984.
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Comprehensive quantitative study of the slave trade in the Rio de la Plata from the 16th to the 18th century. This book examines the organization, financing, merchants, and ports involved in the slave trade in the region. The author presents a wealth of data, including ship records, value of cargo, cargo manifests, and captains’ names.
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Vila Vilar, Enriqueta. Hispanoamérica y el comercio de esclavos. Seville, Spain: Escuela de Estudios Americanos, 1977.
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The author examines in detail the slave trade operations of Portuguese Asientos during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The author presents information on routes, ships, lists of merchants involved in the trade, and the significance of contraband trade. A wealth of data is present in the form of tables and maps.
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Slave Trade, Networks, and Experiences

The experiences of the human beings involved in the slave trade have been the focus of several studies. The complex web of networks that allowed the longstanding trade in slaves, as well as the experiences of enslaved Africans in Africa, during the Middle Passage and in Latin American societies present an important dimension of the slave trade. Wheat 2009 examines the impact of the Portuguese slave trade in shaping 17th-century Caribbean society. Brazil is the focus of several influential works that not only emphasize the strong commercial ties connecting Brazil and Africa but also reconsider the effectiveness of Portuguese mercantilist policies. Verger 1964, and later Alencastro 2000, examine the connections between Brazilian merchants and West and West Central Africa. Luso-Brazilian traders controlled the organization, credit, and networks structuring the Portuguese slave trade, as well as the logistics, a source of intellectual strength and capital (Miller 1988). Although Newson and Minchin 2007 focuses more on slave experiences and health during the Middle Passage, the authors present valuable information on the organization, routes, and daily operations of the Portuguese slave trade to Peru.

Alencastro, Luis Felipe de. O trato dos viventes: Formação do Brasil no Atlântico Sul, séculos XVI e XVII. São Paulo, Brazil: Companhia das Letra, 2000.
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Professor Alencastro examines the commercial, political, and familial networks that connected Rio de Janeiro and Bahia to Luanda and Benguela. The transatlantic connections are at the core of this well-documented work. The author suggests that the Portuguese colonial societies in Brazil and in Angola were interdependent on each other. The author reevaluates the prevalence of classic mercantilist policies and the notion of triangular trade in the South Atlantic.
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Miller, Joseph C. Way of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730–1830. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988.
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This classic book examines the commercial connections between Angola, Brazil, and Portugal during the 18th century. The author examines the significance of commercial capitalism in Luanda and its hinterland, as well as the role of prominence of Brazilian merchants in conducting trade in slaves and in other goods. The author emphasizes the role of mercantile networks and the violence involved in the trade with slaves.
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Newson, Linda A., and Susie Minchin. From Capture to Sale: The Portuguese Slave Trade to Spanish South America in the Early Seventeenth Century. The Atlantic World. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004156791.i-373Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This work examines the mechanics of different phases of the slave trade, from the purchase of captives in Africa, to the costs involved in transportation and the Middle Passage, to the disembarkment and selling of the slaves in Lima. This draws primarily on the journal papers of a Portuguese merchant, a rare type of source for this period.
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Verger, Pierre. Bahia and the West Coast Trade (1549–1851). Ibadan, Nigeria: Institute of African Studies, Ibadan University Press, 1964.
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Pierre Verger’s monumental work documents the trade in slaves between Bahia, Lagos, and Dahomey. The book draws from primary sources deposited in African, European, and South American archives. Verger contends that after the 17th century, Portuguese merchants were not allowed in the area, but Brazilian traders could operate under specific conditions (only using tobacco for buying slaves and paying fees).
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Wheat, David. “The Afro-Portuguese Maritime World and the Foundations of Spanish Caribbean Society, 1570–1640.” PhD diss., Vanderbilt University, 2009.
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This study focuses on importance of commercial circuits linking Portuguese and Spanish Empires and its social and economic consequences. The author presents an overview of the connections between the Portuguese maritime world and the development of Caribbean society. The African slave trade to the Caribbean is the focal point of the work. The author argues for the interconnectedness of societies in the Atlantic world.
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Transimperial Trade, Contraband

The Early Modern period witnessed the rise of Iberian empires in the Americas. Commerce was a powerful force in the building of Spanish and Portuguese colonial systems. Although mercantilist policies and practices were supposed to protect Iberian domains and trade from foreign interlopers, transimperial trade was a reality. Transimperial commercial interactions took different forms in different times and regions. Authorized trade, contraband trade, and piracy were the most recurrent forms of transimperial trade, and their recurrence varied over time and space. This section focuses primarily on legal and illegal transimperial trade (see also Kris Lane’s separate Oxford Bibliographies article on Piracy). Contraband trade was oftentimes connected to the decline of the Iberian empires in the 17th and 18th centuries.

British Commerce and Contraband with Iberian Empires

British historians highlighted the significance of legal and illegal trade between Ibero-America and England (see Davis 1954, Davis 1962, and Nettels 1931, along with Fisher 1962, cited under Contraband Trade in Portuguese America). Transimperial trade under the Asientos is the focal point of several studies highlighting the importance of contraband trade. Spanish Asientos allowed foreign empires to supply slaves and goods for Spanish America; nonetheless, authors contend that contraband was crucial to the profitability of the enterprises (Brown 1926, Nelson 1945).

Brown, Vera Lee. “The South Sea Company and Contraband Trade.” American Historical Review 31.4 (July 1926): 662–678.
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In this article, the author explores the methods deployed by South Sea Company men to introduce contraband goods in Spanish America during the first half of the 18th century. The article is based on statements of British officials given to Spanish authorities about contraband trade and commercial correspondence of South Sea Company men deposited at the Archive of Simancas. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Davis, Ralph. “English Foreign Trade, 1660–1700.” Economic History Review 7.2 (1954): 150–166.
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This article examines the composition of English foreign trade in the last half of the 17th century. Davis pays special attention to the imports and reexports from India (which comprised 30 percent of London exports by 1699), as well as the imports of sugar, wine, and tobacco from Portugal (and Brazil). Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Davis, Ralph. “English Foreign Trade, 1700–1774.” Economic History Review 15.2 (1962): 295–303.
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The author analyzes the commercial exchanges with Europe and the Americas during the 18th century, as well as the impact of the Industrial Revolution on Atlantic trade routes. In the 18th century, the growth in British exports was related to the increase in demand from British America and from continental Europe. The author emphasizes the relationship between British merchants and Iberian empires, specifically Portugal. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Nelson, George H. “Contraband Trade under the Asiento, 1730–1739.” American Historical Review 51.1 (October 1945): 55–67.
DOI: 10.2307/1843076Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article is a general overview of the activities of the South Sea Company during the period of the English Asiento (1730–1739). The author identifies methods and routes used by Spanish and British merchants for smuggling. Nelson argues that often the legal trade in slaves was the pretext for illicit trade in other goods. The article focuses primarily on Jamaica and the Caribbean region. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Nettels, Curtis. “England and the Spanish American Trade, 1680–1715.” Journal of Modern History 3.1 (March 1931): 1–32.
DOI: 10.1086/235688Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The author examines the role of British traders based in Jamaica as suppliers of slaves for Asientos in the Caribbean, as well as other contraband goods in the later 17th and early 18th century. British traders gave preference to trading with Spanish America due to the liquidity and direct access to bullion versus selling to Jamaican planters. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Contraband Trade in Spanish America

Contraband trade has been regarded by many historians as a factor in the decline of Iberian empires. Brown 1928 examines the impact of contraband trade on the Spanish Empire, focusing primarily on Spanish America during the period from 1713 to 1739, when the British South Sea Company operated the Asiento.

Brown, Vera L. “Contraband Trade: A Factor in the Decline of Spain’s Empire in America.” Hispanic Historical Review 8.2 (May 1928): 178–190.
DOI: 10.2307/2506114Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The author contends that contraband trade operations normally took two forms: (1) illegal trade connected to the South Sea Company, (2) piracy and privateering. The author argues that contraband trade and fraud were part of every phase of the South Sea Company operations. British merchants and their Spanish associates used the slave trade as pretext for smuggling other goods. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Rio de la Plata and Chile

Scholars of the Rio de la Plata also contend that transimperial trade played a crucial role of in the development of local society and in the creation of commercial networks connecting Buenos Aires to Upper Peru and Chile (Villalobos 1965). Canabrava 1984 examines the importance of Portuguese trade in Buenos Aires during the Iberian Union, 1580–1640. During the Iberian Union, Portuguese merchants held licenses to trade in Spanish territory and acquired the Asiento (right of introduction of slaves). The Rio de la Plata trade was the only source of silver for Portuguese America. After the 1620, however, the Spanish Crown became more restrictive regarding the Luso-Spanish trade. Moutoukias 1988 analyzes the importance of arribadas (emergency landings) of foreign vessels in Buenos Aires as a pretext to commerce during the 17th century, specifically after the end of the Iberian Union. Prado 2002 examines the role of the Portuguese commercial town of Colônia do Sacramento, and the development of longstanding networks of trade and family, which connected Portuguese and Spanish subjects across the Rio de la Plata in the first half of the 18th century.

Canabrava, Alice Pifer. O comercio Luso-Brasileiro no Rio da Prata, 1580–1640. 2d ed. Belo Horizonte, Brazil: Itatiaia, 1984.
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In this classic study, the commercial interactions between the coastal provinces of Brazil and Buenos Aires were shown to be crucial for the development of Iberian colonial societies in the South Atlantic during the period of the Iberian Union. The author emphasizes the prevalence of Portuguese merchants in Buenos Aires regarding the trade with sugar, tobacco, textiles, cachaça, and slaves.
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Moutoukias, Zacarias. Comercio e contrabando en Rio de la Plata en el siglo XVII. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Centro Editor de America Latina, 1988.
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This study examines the significance, organization, and routes of contraband trade in the late 17th century. The author emphasizes the role of local authorities and merchants in engaging in direct trade with foreign merchants that frequently entered the Rio de la Plata estuary. Merchant ships from the Netherlands, Brazil, England, and France often deployed emergency landing as a pretext to dock into Buenos Aires’ port.
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Prado, Fabrício. A Colônia do Sacramento: O extremo sul da América portuguesa no século XVIII. Porto Alegre, Brazil: Fumproarte, 2002.
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This study examines the commercial and agricultural development of the Portuguese town Colônia do Sacramento on the northern bank of the Rio de la Plata, across from Buenos Aires, from 1717 to 1753. The author contends that Portuguese and Spanish subjects developed longstanding networks of trade that crossed imperial boundaries and involved merchants, authorities, and plebeian groups of both Iberian empires.
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Villalobos, Sergio. Comercio y contrabando en el Rio de la Plata e Chile. Buenos Aires, Argentina: EUBA, 1965.
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In this classic work, Professor Villalobos examines the limits of the Spanish commercial monopoly over its South American possessions. The author convincingly argues that Spanish monopoly was frequently breached, and illegal and semilegal commercial relations between Spanish and foreign subjects were commonplace in 17th- and 18th-century Chile and Rio de la Plata. The author pays special attention to the role of Chilean merchants and authorities.
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Contraband in New Granada, the Caribbean, and Pacific Coast

Peripheral regions in the Spanish and Portuguese commercial systems were the areas that received the most attention of historians of contraband. In the Spanish Caribbean and Central America, the works Wright 1920, Andrews 1978, Grahn 1985, Vidal Ortega 2002, and Cromwell 2012 have examined the different strategies, goods, and participants of contraband trade, specifically, merchants, authorities, and smugglers all engaged in legal and extralegal transimperial trade. In the Caribbean, transimperial trade shaped colonial societies. Piracy and contraband also were connected during the period in the Caribbean and the West Coast of Central America (Lane 1998, Gerhard 1960).

Andrews, Kenneth R. The Spanish Caribbean: Trade and Plunder, 1530–1630. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1978.
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This book presents a thorough analysis of the evolution of Spanish trade in the Caribbean and Spanish Main during the 16th and early 17th centuries. The book pays attention to the different strategies deployed by foreign merchants and Spanish colonists to engage in transimperial trade. The author emphasizes the role of pillaging in shaping Spanish commercial policies in the region.
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Cromwell, Jesse. “Covert Commerce: A Social History of Contraband Trade in Venezuela, 1680–1800.” PhD diss., University of Texas at Austin, 2012.
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This study examines the experiences of Venezuelan and foreign smugglers, Spanish officials involved in illicit trade, and Afro-Caribbeans involved in colonial illicit trade markets. The author argues that interimperial contraband carried out by these agents shaped the development of Venezuelan society in the 18th century and paved the way to a commercial separation from Spain decades before the political rupture from Spain.
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Gerhard, Peter. Pirates of the West Coast of New Spain, 1575–1742. Glendale, CA: Arthur Clark, 1960.
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This book examines piracy and direct trade from the late 16th to the early 18th century in the Pacific coast of the Americas. The author analyzes the different phases of piracy, imperial reactions, goods negotiated, methods, and the geography of piracy on the West Coast of New Spain.
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Grahn, Lance R. “Contraband, Commerce, and Society in New Granada, 1713–1763.” PhD diss., Duke University, 1985.
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In this study of 18th-century New Granada society, Professor Grahn highlights the importance of contraband as a recurring complementary presence to legal trade. The author examines the strong influence of smugglers in local politics, the conflicts between commercial and political factions, and the persistence of contraband from 1713 to 1763.
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Lane, Kris. Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500–1750. Armonk, NY, and London: M. E. Sharpe, 1998.
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In this book, Professor Lane examines the different periods of piracy in the Early Modern period. The main focus of the author is the effects of piracy on empire building, specifically the effects of high commercial risk and defense cost.
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Vidal Ortega, Antonino. Cartagena de Indias y la región histórica del Caribe, 1580–1640. Seville, Spain: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, Universidad de Sevilla, 2002.
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This study examines the crucial role of the port city of Cartagena de Indias for the development of regional economies in South America and for the articulation of commercial routes in the Caribbean. Because of the availability of bullion, Cartagena emerged as the main commercial port in the Caribbean region in the early 17th century, including a large trade in slaves and a notorious contraband trade. See pp. 100–115 and 159–161.
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Wright, I. A. “Rescates: With Special Reference to Cuba, 1599–1610.” Hispanic American Historical Review 3.3 (August 1920): 333–361.
DOI: 10.2307/2505702Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
In this article, the authors examine the rise of rescates as a form of semilegal transimperial trade in Cube during the first decade of the 17th century. Rescates (goods delivered as ransom for confiscated ships) became a common legal strategy in the Caribbean during the period, becoming a common pretext for merchants to carry out commercial transactions with foreigners. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Contraband Trade in Portuguese America

Contraband trade was also prevalent in colonial Brazil. In Brazilian colonial society, trading in contraband was not viewed as unethical or immoral activity; rather it was a routine aspect of commercial and political life. Fisher 1962 argues that British contraband trade with Brazil, particularly after the discovery of gold in the 1690s, was a crucial variable in the growth of British commerce. The impact of smuggling in shaping politics and commerce in colonial Brazil, as well as the methods, logistics, routes, goods, and repression of contraband trade, are the focal points of Pijnig 1997.

Fisher, H. E. S. “Anglo-Portuguese Trade, 1700–1770.” Economic History Review 16.2 (1962): 219–233.
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The author suggests that in the 18th century the growth of British exports (and re-exports) was connected with the growing demand from the Americas. Specifically, the author suggests between the Treaties of Utrecht (1713–1715) and the Seven Years’ War, British trade with Portuguese America became a leading sector of English transimperial trade. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Pijnig, Ernst. “Controlling Contraband: Mentality, Economy and Society in 18th Century Rio de Janeiro.” PhD diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1997.
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This study examines the mechanics, participants, and dispute over regulation regarding trade, in relation to the social values of Rio de Janeiro colonial society. Controlling contraband was a complex process of negotiation between social groups and interests. The author presents detailed information on the goods, methods, and the routes of contraband trade in the South Atlantic.
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Iberian Trade in the Atlantic World

Since the emergence of the Atlantic world framework in the second half of the 20th century, historians started to analyze how the histories of societies in the Atlantic basin are interconnected with and interdependent on each other. Atlantic history pushed historians beyond political and institutional borders in their analysis. While practitioners of Atlantic history pay less attention to political limits and imperial policies, they emphasize the significance of transimperial trade, immigration, intercolonial routes, and expansive social networks that provided the structure for transatlantic trade. Davis 1956 suggests that the rise of the British Empire was intrinsically connected to the growth of trade with the Iberian empires, emphasizing the Portuguese domains especially. The rise and consolidation of Atlantic empires and the central role of trade have been the focal point of works examining organization, operation, commercial practices, and the role of Atlantic port cities (Coclanis, et al. 2005). Liss and Knight 1991 uses port cities as a window to examine the significance of commerce in the development of urban society, culture, and institutions in the Atlantic world. Liss 1982 emphasizes the importance of networks of trade and information to economic and political processes in the Atlantic. The rise of Atlantic economies is the object of Davis 1973, specifically the crisis of Spanish transatlantic trade in the 17th century, and the rise of South Atlantic and Anglo-American commercial circuits in the early 18th century. The influential piece Flynn and Giraldez 2008 focuses on the role of silver as a global currency since the 16th century and highlights the interconnectedness of the Atlantic and global economies. More recently, Benton 2010 examines the legal frameworks applied to trade within the Atlantic world, specifically analyzing the question of sovereignty and jurisdictions over ship lanes and contested territories.

Benton, Lauren. A Search for Sovereignty: Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400–1900. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
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In this book, Professor Benton questions the legal discourses and practices in the Atlantic Ocean, specifically regarding the subjects of sovereignty, natural law, jurisdiction, and competing legal systems in the Atlantic Ocean, and other areas in the periphery of empires. The author argues that law, empire building, and commerce were inseparable dimensions of the Atlantic world.
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Coclanis, Peter A., ed. The Atlantic Economy during the 17th and 18th Centuries: Organization, Operation, Practice, and Personnel. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2005.
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This collection of essays on the rise and consolidation of the Atlantic world brings together specialists of different empires utilizing the Atlantic world framework. Although many articles compiled in this edition focus primarily on the North Atlantic, early modern Spanish and Portuguese Atlantics are the central focus of several articles, specially regarding Madeira, Cuba, and tobacco smuggling in Spanish America.
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Davis, Ralph. “Merchant Shipping in the Economy of the Late 17th Century.” Economic History Review 9.1 (1956): 59–73.
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In this article, Professor Davis examines the primary factors determining freight costs in the 17th-century Atlantic. Although the article pays special attention to English and Dutch ships, there is abundant information about costs and logistics regarding trade with Portugal and Spain, specifically regarding the transportation of gold, silver, sugar, and other colonial commodities. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Davis, Ralph. The Rise of the Atlantic Economies. World Economic History, Vol. 1. New York: Cornell University Press, 1973.
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The author examines the significance of colonial economies and trade with Spanish America for European countries in the 17th century, as well as the growing importance of British American and South American commercial circuits in the 18th century. This work is an excellent introduction to the economic history of the Atlantic basin.
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Flynn, Dennis, and Arturo Giraldez. “Born Again: Globalization’s Sixteenth Century Origins.” Pacific Economic Review 13.3 (2008): 359–387.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0106.2008.00403.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The authors contend that current globalization started with the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Philippines and the creation of links of commercial, cultural, and ecological interdependence between the societies inhabiting the heavily populated lands masses of the globe. The authors contend that silver was a key economic factor in shaping an emerging global market that connected Asia to the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Liss, Peggy K. Atlantic Empires: The Network of Trade and Revolution, 1713–1826. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982.
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This work provides a comprehensive analysis of the significance of social networks in empire building and projects of sovereignty and revolution. More specifically, the author argues the importance of trade networks in connecting different regions and social groups, emphasizing the circulation of goods and information in the Atlantic.
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Liss, Peggy K., and Franklin Knight, eds. Atlantic Port Cities: Economy, Culture, and Society. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1991.
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This well-crafted compilation examines different port cities in the colonial Americas, considering the role of trade in the development of colonial societies. Authors emphasize the increasing significance of intercolonial trade and trade with foreigners during the 17th century. The works present demographic and commercial data and methodological and theoretical considerations regarding the role of ports, trade, ship lanes, and imperial regulations.
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Trade in Frontiers

It was not until the last quarter of the 20th century that historians started to understand frontier and borderland spaces as more complex and fluid, where different societies interacted, mutually influencing each other. Historians pointed out the significance of indigenous agency and their active role in shaping the expansion and configuration of colonial societies. As a result, trade relations in frontier spaces became a central point of analysis. In some ways, commerce was at the vanguard of Iberian expansion in Latin America; oftentimes commercial intercourse did not require conquest and subjugation of native societies. Historians of New Spain, Rio de la Plata, and Chile suggest that trade circuits connecting colonists to indigenous groups were crucial for the development of Spanish colonial societies (Weber and Rausch 1994). In South America, indigenous groups were also responsible for connecting different colonial regions by networks of trade (Jones 1998). Moreover, Boccara 1999 examines the case of the emergence of the Mapuche in Rio de la Plata and Chile and suggests that commercial intercourse with Spanish colonists provoked a process of identity transformation within the indigenous group. Pastore 1997 examines the role of trade in financing the colonial enterprise in the Paraguayan frontier in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Boccara, Guillaume. “Etnogénesis Mapuche: Resistencia y restructuración entre los indígenas del centro-sur de Chile (siglos XVI–XVIII).” Hispanic American Historical Review 79.3 (1999): 425–461.
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The author argues that the Araucanian Indians underwent a process of ethnogenesis, emerging as the Mapuche. This process of identity reconfiguration also involved changes in economy, society, and gender roles. The author emphasizes the significance of poncho production and marketing, as well as cattle trade between the Mapuche and Spanish colonists, as crucial variables in the process of Mapuche ethnogenesis. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Jones, Kristine. “Comparative Raiding Economies: North and South.” In Contested Ground: Comparative Frontiers on the Northern and Southern Edges of the Spanish Empire. Edited by Donna Guy and Thomas Sheridan, 97–114. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1998.
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The article examines the trade circuits connecting indigenous societies to colonial societies in 17th and 18th centuries in Rio de la Plata. The author suggests that Spanish colonists engaged regularly in trade with non-Christianized indigenous groups. Moreover, the author emphasizes the significance of indigenous commercial circuits to the development of colonial societies and economies.
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Pastore, Mario. “Taxation, Coercion, Trade and Development in Frontier Economy: Early and Mid Colonial Paraguay.” Journal of Latin American Studies 29.2 (May 1997): 329–354.
DOI: 10.1017/S0022216X97004720Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Although focusing primarily on indigenous labor systems deployed by the Spaniards and the different levels of coercion involved, this article presents an overview of the major changes in trade patterns and the financing of the state apparatus in 17th-century Paraguay. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Weber, David, and Jane Rausch, eds. Where Cultures Meet. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1994.
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Professor Weber examines the commercial exchanges between Spanish colonists and indigenous group in the northwestern Mexican frontier. The author suggests that the development of Spanish agricultural and cattle ranching economies were connected to the commercial exchanges with the native groups.
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Commodities

The role of commodities in the history of colonial Latin America cannot be overstated. Expansion of trade was one of the strongest motivations for empire building during the Early Modern period. Economic historians have emphasized the role of commodities in shaping Latin American societies as appendages to European capitalist development; specifically, historians have centered on the commodities export data within the mercantilist systems between 1500 and 1750 (see Chaunu and Chaunu 1983, Morineau 1985, and Mauro 1960, cited under General Overviews: Quantitative Studies on Iberian Overseas Commerce). Although sugar, silver, and gold exports to Europe have been the subject of lengthy scholarship, few works have examined commodity production taking into account the full commodity chain (production, labor, regional economy, circulation, financing, and marketing). Examining commodity chains allows historians to better understand the impact and significance of commodity production within the colonial space and how it articulated different regional economies. The production and circulation of commodities such as indigo, cacao, whale products, and tobacco were the subject of several socioeconomic analyses in the second half of the 20th century (Smith 1959, Piñero 1988, Ellis 1969, Hanson 1982). More recently, in tune with the emergence of the Atlantic world framework, the study of commodity chains became the subject of interest for historians. The edited volume Topik, et al. 2006 presents studies on indigo, cochineal, cacao, silver, and tobacco. The production, circulation, and social impact of sugar on the formation of Atlantic societies are the focus of the edited volume Schwartz 2004.

Ellis, Myriam. A baleia no Brasil colonia. São Paulo, Brazil: Editora da USP, 1969.
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This study is a thorough analysis of the whaling industry and the circulation of commodities with high demand in European and colonial markets from the 16th to the 18th century. The author examines all aspects of the commodity chain involved in the whale oil industry, from whaling, to processing the oils, to the distribution and marketing of whale oil, spermaceti, baleen, and other subproducts.
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Hanson, Carl A. “Monopoly and Contraband in the Portuguese Tobacco Trade, 1625–1702.” Luso-Brazilian Review 19 (Winter 1982): 149–168.
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This article examines tobacco production, distribution, and regulation in Brazil. The author pays special attention to mercantilist policies regarding the tobacco trade and emphasizes the prevalence of smuggling within and beyond the realms of the Portuguese Empire. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Piñero, Eugenio. “The Cacao Economy of the Eighteenth-Century Province of Caracas and the Spanish Cacao Market.” Hispanic American Historical Review 68.1 (February 1988): 75–100.
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This article examines the rise of cacao as an export commodity in the 18th century, and the creation of the Caracas Company, which had the monopoly over the cacao trade. The author emphasizes the role of the company in linking Caracas’ economy to overseas markets as well as to other Spanish-American regions. The author contends that contraband trade ensured the profitability of the company. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Schwartz, Stuart, ed. Tropical Babylons: Sugar and the Making of the Atlantic World. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
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In this compilation of essays, the authors examine the economic, social, technological, and commercial significance of sugar production in the making of the Atlantic world. The essays are based on original research, and some of them present revisionist perspectives on the development of sugar industry in the Caribbean and slavery in Atlantic.
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Smith, Robert S. “Indigo Production and Trade in Colonial Guatemala.” Hispanic American Historical Review 39.2 (May 1959): 181–211.
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This article examines the production and market of indigo in Guatemala from the 16th to the 18th century. The author analyzes the export data of indigo from Guatemala throughout the centuries. Exports of indigo reached a peak in the late 1500s when it became the prime regional export; subsequently, an expansion in indigo production occurred in the late 18th century. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Topik, Steven, Carlos Marichal, and Zephyr L. Frank. From Silver to Cocaine: Latin American Commodity Chains and the Building of the World Economy, 1500–2000. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006.
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From Silver to Cocaine is a well-crafted compilation of articles examining main commodity chains that have marked the economic history of Latin America. The authors examined different commodity chains, paying attention to the regional context as well as the transatlantic scenario. Articles of special interest for the period between c. 1500 and c. 1750 focus on the commodity chains of silver, cacao, indigo, cochineal, and tobacco.
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