Rescates and Anglo-Spanish trade in the Caribbean during the French Revolutionary Wars, ca. 1797-1804

Journal of Latin American Studies

Volumn 38, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 607-624

  Pearce, Adrian J ^a  

^a NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CARGO; MERCHANT SHIP; NATIONAL TRADE; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT;

ATLANTIC ISLANDS; ATLANTIC OCEAN; CARIBBEAN ISLANDS; CUBA; EURASIA; EUROPE; FEDERAL DISTRICT [MEXICO]; GREATER ANTILLES; MEXICO [NORTH AMERICA]; MEXICO CITY; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 33746294391     PISSN: 0022216X     EISSN: 1469767X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0022216X06001180     Document Type: Article

References (96)

1. Consulado de México, report dated Mexico City, 23 Aug. 1809, Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico (hereafter AGNM), Consulado, vol. 79, exp. 1, ff. 13-24v, paragraph 6.
2. I. A. Wright, 'Rescates: With Special Reference to Cuba, 1599-1610,' Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 3, no. 3 (1920), pp. 333-61, p. 335.
3. Richard Pares, War and Trade in the West Indies, 1739-1763 (1936; London, 1963 edition), p. 26.
4. Royal Order to Intendant of Havana, Aranjuez, 18 April 1782, Archivo Nacional de Cuba (hereafter ANC), Asuntos Políticos, leg. 3, no. 41.
5. Vicente Risel to Conde de Lerena, Havana, 30 July 1791, Archivo General de Indias, Seville (hereafter AGI), Santo Domingo, 2189.
6. Joseph de Ezpeleta to Diego de Gardoqui, Santa Fé, 19 Sept. 1795, AGI, Santa Fé, 644
7. associated documentation in Archivo General de la Nación, Bogotá, Colombia, Colonia: Negocios Exteriores, vol. 3, ff. 198-211, and in AGI, Santa Fé, 958.
8. Ramón de Castro to Miguel Cayetano Soler, Puerto Rico, 15 Oct. 1799, AGI, Santo Domingo, 2318, and accompanying report.
9. Consulado to Gardoqui, Havana, 11 Dec. 1796, AGI, Santo Domingo, 2191.
10. The decree is described in Javier Ortiz de la Tabla Ducasse (ed.), Memorias políticas y económicas del Consulado de Veracruz, 1796-1822 (Seville, 1985), p. 217
11. Jose de Azanza to Soler, Mexico City, 28 Nov. 1799, AGI, Mexico, 2510
12. Contaduría principal de Mérida to Intendant, Mérida, 15 May 1801, in a report labelled 'Superior Gobierno, Año de 1803. Testimonio del Expediente sobre Parlamentarios despachados por el Gobierno de Yucatán...', AGI, Mexico, 2512.
13. Extracted translation of Santa Clara to Hunt, 4 April 1798, National Archives, London (hereafter NA), Colonial Office (hereafter CO) 23/37, ff. 149-v.
14. o. Testimonio del Expediente formado sobre arribada a Campeche de la Goleta San José...,' AGI, Mexico, 2509. The pass is on ff. 4v-5
15. Balcarres' licence is on ff. 141-2.
16. Ibid., ff. 78, 106v-109.
17. ANC, Miscelánea de libros, nos. 2787, 6737 (1798); 2787, 2518, 2021 (1799); 2787, 2519, 2766 (1800); 1950 (1801); 1986, 2521 (1805); 6797, 1811 (1806); 6797, 2523 (1807); 2645, 2061 (1808); 2645 (1809). 1798 is the earliest year in the sequence; the records are slightly defective for 1800 and 1809, and are only fragmentary for 1802-04. My thanks to Manuel Barcia for bringing these books to my attention.
18. I consulted a long run of the Papel periódico for the year 1799 in the Biblioteca Nacional in Havana.
19. Alexander von Humboldt, Ensayo político sobre el reino de la Nueva España (Mexico City, 1966), p. 509 (the 'Great Indies,' of course, referring to East India goods).
20. Letter to Junta of the Consulado, Veracruz, 6 Feb. 1804, AGNM, Consulado, vol. 79, exp. 1, ff. 37-44.
21. Consulado de México, 'Recopilación de noticias sobre el comercio de contrabando ...' (16 Sept. 1818), Boletín del Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico), vol. 29, no. 4 (1958), pp. 611-704, see especially p. 656.
22. Juan López Cancelada, Ruina de la Nueva España si se declara el comercio libre con los extranjeros ... (Cadiz, 1811), in Luis Chaves Orozco (ed.), Controversia que suscitó el comercio de Nueva España con los países extranjeros (1811-1821) (Mexico City, 1959), pp. 38-9.
23. Report labelled 'Año de 1801. Dn Antonio de la Torre ... sobre varias representaciones ...,' AGI, Mexico, 2509; further important papers in AGI, Mexico, 2510
24. and see Anon. (ed.), Instrucciones que los vireyes de Nueva España dejaron a sus sucesores ... (Mexico City, 1867), p. 205. Santa Cruz is sometimes called Clemente (rather than Francisco) in these documents.
25. Javier Ortiz de la Tabla Ducasse, Comercio exterior de Veracruz, 1778-1821: Crisis de la decadencia (Seville, 1978), pp. 206-7, 291, 327-9
26. María del Carmen Galbis Díez, 'Miguel José de Azanza (1798-1800),' in José Antonio Calderón Quijano (ed.), Los virreyes de Nueva España en el reinado de Carlos IV (Seville, 1972), vol. 2, pp. 6-7, 59-60
27. Carlos Marichal, La bancarrota del virreinato. Nueva Epaña y las finanzas del imperio español, 1780-1810 (Mexico City, 1999), pp. 222-3
28. also Guadalupe Jiménez Codinach, La Gran Bretaña y la independencia de México, 1808-1821 (Mexico City, 1991), pp. 194-5
29. Matilde Souto Mantecón, Mar abierto. La política y el comercio del Consulado de Veracruz en el ocaso del sistema imperial (Mexico City, 2001), pp. 187-90.
30. Bundles marked 'No. 4. Carpeta quarta. Contiene trece documentos ...,' and 'No. 6. Carpeta sexta. Contiene siete documentos ...,' both in AGI, Mexico, 2841; further important papers in AGI, Mexico, 2512
31. ships' registers in AGNM, Correspondencia de diversas autoridades, leg. 59, exp. 94, ff. 363, 368
32. Anon. (ed.), Instrucciones, pp. 207-8.
33. Merchant Guild to Félix Berenguer de Marquina, Veracruz, 8 June 1801, AGNM, Consulado, vol. 79, exp. 1, ff. 47-50v; copy as encl. no. 11 to Guild to crown, Veracruz, 1 March 1809, AGI, Mexico, 2997.
34. Azanza to Soler, Mexico City, 27 Oct. 1799, AGI, Mexico, 2510
35. ship's register in AGNM, Correspondencia de diversas autoridades, vol. 56, exp. 82, f. 186.
36. Galbis Díez, 'Miguel José de Azanza,' p. 53
37. Souto Mantecón, Mar abierto, pp. 187-8
38. Ortiz, Comercio exterior de Veracruz, p. 312.
39. See for example the copy of Alexandro Ramos to Governor, Veracruz, 21 Feb. 1801, AGNM, Correspondencia de diversas autoridades, vol. 58, exp. 22, ff. 105-v.
40. Consejo de Indias en Sala de Justicia, Madrid, 27 July 1803, AGI, Mexico, 2511
41. Mariana Rodríguez del Valle, 'Félix Berenguer de Marquina (1800-1803),' in Calderón Quijano (ed.), Las virreyes de Nueva España, vol. 2, pp. 65-179, see p. 139.
42. José de Iturrigaray to Soler, Mexico City, 27 Aug. 1804, AGI, Mexico, 2512.
43. Iturrigaray to Soler, Mexico City, 27 Dec. 1803, accompanying a report labelled 'Superior Gobierno, Año de 1803. Testimonio del Expediente sobre Parlamentarios despachados por el Gobierno de Yucatán, a los Establecimientos Yngleses,' AGI, Mexico, 2512
44. for British merchants and warehousemen speaking Spanish, see the statement of Bernardo Martín, dated Campeche, 6 Aug. 1801, in this report.
45. Ortiz, Comercio exterior de Veracruz, p. 332.
46. Copy, José Fernández Pérez to Governor, Veracruz, 2 Oct. 1801, AGNM, Correspondencia de diversas autoridades, leg. 59, exp. 56, f. 213.
47. Report labelled 'Sup.or Gov.no. Año de 1801. Testimonio del Expediente formado ... en el cargamento de la Fragata Asturiana sobre rescate,' in AGI, Mexico, 2512
48. (for the crown attorney's view, see 'El Fiscal de Real Hacienda dice ...,' Mexico, 30 June 1801, ff. 38v-40v in this report)
49. ships' registers in AGNM, Correspondencia de diversas autoridades, vol. 58, exp. 47, ff. 203-5v; exp. 56, ff. 229-30v; exp. 73, ff. 300-1; leg. 59, exp. 56, ff. 213-4v
50. also José Ygnacio de la Torre, Madrid, 15 July 1803, AGI, Mexico, 2512.
51. José de Monseñé to Francisco de Arrillaga, Jamaica, 10 March 1802, ff. 5v-6v in a report labelled 'Sup.or Gov.no. Año de 1803. Testimonio del Expediente formado a instancia de D. Francisco Arrillaga ...,' AGI, Mexico, 2512.
52. Report labelled 'Sup.or Gov.no. Año de 1803. Testimonio del Expediente formado a instancia de D. Francisco Arrillaga ...,' and accompanying brief reports on two voyages by the Paulina and Casto, all in AGI, Mexico, 2512
53. ships' registers in AGNM, Consulado, vol. 50, ff. 82-3
54. Consulado, vol. 172, exp. 21, f. 281
55. Marina, vol. 1997, exp. 100, f. 321
56. also unsigned note, Mexico City, 24 Oct. 1804, AGNM, Marina, vol. 170, exp. 3, ff. 102-4v.
57. References in unsigned note, Mexico City, 24 Oct. 1804, and statement of crown attorney, Mexico City, 31 May 1803, both in AGNM, Marina, vol. 170, exp. 3, ff. 89-98, 102-4v
58. ship's register in AGNM, Correspondencia de diversas autoridades, leg. 59, exp. 92, ff. 357-8.
59. Duke of Portland to Governor William Dowdeswell, London, 17 Aug. 1798, NA, CO 23/37, ff. 157-62
60. Dowdeswell to Portland, Govt. House, Bahamas, 7 Jan. 1799, NA, CO 23/38, ff. 46-v.
61. George Nugent to John Sullivan, Jamaica, 8 March 1804, NA, BT 1/23, ff. 250-1.
62. Memorial of the merchants of Kingston, Kingston, 16 Nov. 1807, NA, CO 137/119, ff. 203-v
63. discussed by J. Stoddard Jones, 'Historical Study of Anglo-Spanish American Trade, with Special Reference to the Period 1807-1825,' unpubl. Ph.D diss., London School of Economics, 1934, pp. 149-51.
64. John Morton to James Madison, Havana, 11 Dec. 1801, National Archives, Washington (hereafter NAW), Record Group 59, M899, roll 1.
65. Copy of William Billings to Madison, New York, 21 May 1801, NAW, RG 59, M899, roll 1.
66. Madison to Monroe, Dept. of State, 12 April 1805, American State Papers. Documents Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States ... Class 1. Foreign Relations (Washington, 1832; Buffalo, 1998), vol. 3, pp. 101-3
67. Dorothy Burne Goebel, 'British Trade to the Spanish Colonies, 1796-1823,' American Historical Review, vol. 43, no. 2 (1938), p. 293.
68. Consulado of Cadiz to Soler, Cadiz, 6 April 1799, AGI, Indiferente, 2466.
69. Printed bando, Mexico City, 27 Oct. 1801, AGNM, Bandos, vol. 22, exp. 34, f. 107.
70. Príncipe de la Paz to Soler, San Lorenzo, 30 Oct. 1805, AGI, Mexico, 2513.
71. See for example 'Sobre la suspensión de permisos para conducir ... géneros ingleses procedentes de presas', and 'Oficio del Sr Presidente de Goatemala', both in ANC., leg. 379, nos. 17, 28.
72. Votes of the Honorable House ... (Nassau: 1800), in NA, CO 23/39, see ff. 279-80.
73. Frances Armytage, The Free Part System in the British West Indies. A Study in Commercial Policy, 1766-1822 (London, 1953), offers the most detailed survey.
74. For the case of Venezuela, see, for example, Mercedes M. Alvarez F., Comercio y comerciantes y sus proyecciones en la independencia venezolana (Caracas, 1963), pp. 35-7, and documentary appendix no. 1.
75. For New Granada, see Anthony McFarlane, Colombia before Independence. Economy, Society, and Politics under Bourbon Rule (Cambridge, 1993), pp. 145-51.
76. James Ferguson King, 'Evolution of the Free Slave Trade Principle in Spanish Colonial Administration,' Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 22, no. 1 (1942), pp. 34-56, see pp. 50-4.
77. For the commercial impact in New Granada, see McFarlane, Colombia before Independence, pp. 157-9.
78. The issues raised in this and the following paragraphs are discussed at length in my book, British Trade with Spanish America, 1763-1808 (forthcoming, Liverpool University Press), chaps. 3-4.
79. Armytage, The Free Port System, pp. 95-6.
80. Earl Balcarres to Portland, Jamaica, 4 July 1797, & Letter from Office of Correspondence, Spanish Town, Jamaica, 15 May 1797, both in NA, CO 137/98, ff. 258-9, 412-13v.
81. For Jamaica, see Instructions dated St. James, 20 Nov. 1797, with Portland to Balcarres, Whitehall, 22 Nov. 1797, NA, CO 137/98, ff. 375-9.
82. The best account of this trade currently available is Armytage, The Free Port System, chapter 6.
83. For example, William Walton, Present State of the Spanish Colonies ... (London, 1810), vol. 2, pp. 168-9.
84. Adrian J. Pearce, 'British Trade with the Spanish Colonies, 1788-1795,' Bulletin of Latin American Research, vol. 20, no. 2 (2001), pp. 239-40, 249.
85. Votes of the Honorable House ... (Nassau: 1800), and commercial accounts, both in NA, CO 23/39, ff. 152-4, 279-80
86. for 1804, see six enclosures, Bahamas, 7 Jun. 1806, NA, CO 24/12, ff. 92-3.
87. Keith Radhay, 'Contraband between Eastern Venezuela and Trinidad, 1797-1802,' Revista/Review Interamericana (San German, Puerto Rico), vol. 14 (1984), p. 41.
88. 'Estimate of the value of exports from the island of Trinidad,' Trinidad, 1 July 1806 (with three statements of imports), in NA, BT 1/ 30, ff. 54-v, 56-7.
89. For Jamaica, see NA, CO 137/116, ff. 312-4, and NA, CO 137/118, ff. 75-80
90. for the Bahamas, 'Abstract of the Spanish licensed trade to the island of New Providence ...,' NA, BT 1/38, f. 243.
91. 'Minutes of a Committee,' July 1808, NA, BT 1/41, ff. 115-20v
92. Jones, 'Historical Study of Anglo-Spanish American Trade,' pp. 154-5.
93. The most significant additional colonies trading with Spanish America were St. Thomas and Curaçao, taken by Britain (from the Danes and Dutch respectively) in 1800-02 and again from late 1807.
94. One well-informed observer estimated that the total value of British manufactures re-exported to Spanish America from the United States was 'a great deal more' than £1,000,000 sterling per annum prior to Dec. 1807: Statement of Kirkman Finlay, 20 May 1812, in Parliamentary Papers: 1812, Minutes of Evidence taken before the Committee of the Whole House ... Relating to the Orders in Council (London, 1812), vol. 3, pp. 401-2, 411.
95. For its part, the 'secret trade' was worth upwards of £500,000 per year at a conservative estimate: See François Crouzet, L'Economie Britannique et le Blocus Continentale (1806-1813) (Paris, 1958), pp. 182-4, 234-5, 318, 362.
96. John Lynch, 'British Policy and Spanish America, 1783-1808,' Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 1, no. 1 (1969), pp. 25-6.