Contrabando, negocios y discordias entre los mercaderes de México y los cargadores peninsulares, 1670-1711

Abstract

This article analyzes the participation of the silver merchants of Mexico City in the Atlantic trade, legal and illegal, between the years 1670 to 1711. It examines how they practiced clandestine trafficking in alliance with the viceroys and through networks of complicity with the authorities of the port of Veracruz and the ship’s captains. It shows their participation in the convoy system of the Spanish treasure fleet as messengers (encomenderos) for the trading houses of Seville and Cadiz, and how the saturation of the narrow markets of New Spain, due to the notable increase in the supply of European and Asian goods, led them to enter into antagonism with the shipping companies for establishing the prices of the goods. Finally, it is explained how some ship owners established themselves in Mexico City, joined the consulate and became its representatives.