Genoese Trade and Migration in the Spanish Atlantic, 1700–1830

Abstract

The Republic of Genoa was once a major commercial power. Following the Republic's decline in the seventeenth century, Genoese merchants adapted and thrived in the changing Atlantic market. Scholars have examined how other foreign merchant groups operated within the Spanish empire, but until now no one has examined how the Genoese adapted to the challenges of increasing competition in Atlantic trade. Here, Catia Brilli explores how Genoese intermediaries maintained a strong presence in Spanish colonial trade by establishing themselves at the port of Cadiz with its monopoly over American trade, and through gradually consolidating strong commercial ties with the Río de la Plata. Situated at the intersection of European, Atlantic, and Latin American history and making extensive use of Spanish, Italian, and Argentinian sources, Genoese Trade and Migration in the Spanish Atlantic, 1700–1830 provides a unique perspective on eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century transatlantic trade.

Ligurian-Piedmontese presence in Saint Thomas

“…Sulle coste della Banda Oriental la bandiera sabauda arrivò presto a prevalere su quella inglese per numero di approdi (Brilli, 2016), nel Rio della Plata le comunità liguri-piemontesi costituitesi nei primi anni venti dell'Ottocento aumentarono senza sosta -con picchi eccezionali a Montevideo e a Buenos Aires (Brilli, 2008, pp. 99-125) -in Brasile si moltiplicarono le case di commercio sarde (Lavarino,cit.,, in Venezuela il generale Carlo Luigi Castelli curò al meglio gli affari dei mercanti liguri -aprendo così nuovi canali d'emigrazione e nuovi ricchi mercati a sua maestà -e lo stesso fecero Sebastiano Balduino (1797-1853) e Giuseppe Canevaro (1803-1883) nel Pacifico sudamericano (Bonfiglio, 1999).…”

French Merchants in Buenos Aires (1816-1825): Economic Opportunities and Difficulties during the Wars of Independence

“…Unlike the Spanish, Portuguese, British, North American, Genoese and Sardinian merchants who migrated to Hispanic America during the colonial (Brilli 2016;Cristóforis 2009; Pearce 1 Archivo General de la Nación de Argentina (AGN), Sala IX, Tribunal comercial La Reja (TC), P-259, Peronard contra Touchard, 1821, f. 18-19v. 2 I will refer to "Independence Wars" for the sake of effective writing, yet wars that troubled the River Plate during the period were also civil conflicts whose protagonists did not urge for independence at the same time and in the same way, as well as conflicts implying European powers.…”

Los irlandeses en Hispanoamérica y la reconfiguración comercial: casos de mediación trans-imperial en la Era de las Revoluciones, 1797-1824

“…Esta oscilación de lealdades "nacionales" sobre la base de estrategias de conveniencia era bastante común en la época colonial (Brilli 2016). Vivir como un español en el México independiente era, sin embargo, sin duda más difícil que hacerlo bajo la protección británica.…”