Consulado De Mercaderes
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The ''Consulado de mercaderes'' was the merchant
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
of
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
founded in 1543; the Consulado enjoyed virtual monopoly rights over goods shipped to America, in a regular and closely controlled West Indies Fleet, and handled much of the silver this trade generated. A ''consulado'' was founded in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
in 1594, controlled by
peninsular A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
wholesale merchants who dealt in long-distance trade and often married into local elite families with commercial ties. Their assets had to amount to at least 28,000 pesos. Although they were not supposed to deal in local retail trade, they often did some indirectly. They mainly lived in Mexico City and had positions on the city council or '' cabildo''. A number of them were connected to the crown mint in the capital. They diversified the assets locally, investing in urban real estate. In the 18th century, as
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
's economy boomed, ''consulados'' were established in the port of
Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
and in Guadalajara Mexico, indicating increased trade and the expansion of the merchant elite. The ''consulado'' in late colonial Mexico had approximately 200 members, who divided themselves into two factions, the
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
and Montañés, even though some were from neither of these Iberian regions.Altman, et al., ''The Early History of Greater Mexico,'' p. 296. American-born merchants came to be part of the ''consulado'' in the later colonial period, but a small number of peninsular merchants dominated.Altman, et al. ''The Early History of Greater Mexico,'' p. 296. Goods were shipped from the Spanish port of
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
to Veracruz, but many of the goods were produced elsewhere in Europe.


Importance of the ''Consulado''

In the mid-16th century, all American trade from Spain was funneled through the city of Seville, and later, the nearby port of Cádiz. The ''
Casa de Contratación The ''Casa de Contratación'' (, House of Trade) or ''Casa de la Contratación de las Indias'' ("House of Trade of the Indies") was established by the Crown of Castile, in 1503 in the port of Seville (and transferred to Cádiz in 1717) as a cr ...
'', which translated into English means "Board of Trade", registered ships and passengers, kept charts, collected taxes, and in general controlled the Indies trade. In order to survive and maintain an effective business, the ''Casa de Contratación'' worked in conjunction with the merchant guild ''Consulado'', which in turn controlled goods shipped to America and was paid vast amounts of silver in return for its cooperation.


Effects of the ''Consulado's'' control

Since it controlled most of the trade in the Spanish colonies, and since the ''Consulado'' was linked to the branches in Mexico City and Lima (and in the 18th century, other ports as well), it was able to maintain its monopoly of Spanish trade and keep prices high in all the colonies, and even played a hand in royal politics. The ''Consulado'' effectively manipulated the government and the citizenry of both Spain and the Indies colonies, and grew richer and more powerful every day because of it.


Statistics

*In 1520, twenty-three years before the Merchant Guild was founded in 1543, the total silver export of Spanish America was valued at around 500,000 pesos, with the royal family getting 400,000 pesos of the silver profit.Peter N. Stearns ''World Civilizations''. (2000), p.293. *In 1550, the total silver export was valued at around 1,000,000 pesos, with the royal family receiving 500,000 pesos of profit, while the rest went to the ''Consulado'' and the ''Casa de Contratación''. *In 1596, the peak year of silver production in Spanish America, the total silver export was valued at around 7,000,000 pesos, of which the royal family gained only 1,550,000, the rest going to the ''Casa de Contratación'' and the ''Consulado''.


See also

*
Casa de Contratación The ''Casa de Contratación'' (, House of Trade) or ''Casa de la Contratación de las Indias'' ("House of Trade of the Indies") was established by the Crown of Castile, in 1503 in the port of Seville (and transferred to Cádiz in 1717) as a cr ...
*
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
*
Spanish treasure fleet The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet ( es, Flota de Indias, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the es, label=Spanish, plata meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to ...


References


Further reading

* Brading, D.A. ''Miners and Merchants in Bourbon Mexico, 1763-1810''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1971. * Clayton, Lawrence A. "Sourcesin Lima for the Study of the Colonial Consulado of Peru," ''The Americas'' 33(1977):457-469. * Hoberman, Louisa Schell. ''Mexico's Merchant Elite, 1590-1660''. 1991. * Kicza, John E. ''Colonial Entrepreneurs: Families and Business in Bourbon Mexico City.'' Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1983 * Meltzer, John. ''Bastion of Commerce in the City of Kings: The Consulado de Comercio of Lima, 1593-1887''. (1991) * Nunes Dias, Manuel. ''El real consulado de Caracas (1793-1810) (1971. * Pike, Ruth. ''Aristocrats and Traders: Sevillean Society in the Sixteenth Century''. 1972. * Smith, Robert Sidney. ''The Spanish Merchant: A History of the Consulado, 1250-1700'' (1940, repr. 1972). * Smith, Robert S. "The Consulado de Santa Fe de Bogotá," ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' 45, no. 3 (1965):442-451. * Socolow, Susan Migden. ''The Merchants of Buenos Aires, 1778-1810''. (1978) * Woodward, Ralph Lee, Jr. ''Class Privilege and Economic Development: The Consulado de Comercio of Guatemala, 1793-1871''. (1966) * Woodward, Ralph Lee, Jr. "Consulado" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'', vol. 2, pp. 254–256. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Consulado De mercaderes Economic history of Spain Silver History of Seville