The temptations of trade : Britain, Spain, and the struggle for empire / Adrian Finucane.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Finucane, Adrian, author.

Series:

Early modern Americas.

Early Modern Americas

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Treaties, etc--Spain, 1713 March 26.

Great Britain.

Treaties, etc. (Great Britain and Spain : 1713 March 26).

Imperialism.

Slave trade--Great Britain.

Slave trade.

Great Britain--Commerce--America--History.

America--Commerce--Great Britain--History.

America.

Spain--Commerce--America--History.

Spain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (212 pages) : illustrations, maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The British and the Spanish had long been in conflict, often clashing over politics, trade, and religion. But in the early decades of the eighteenth century, these empires signed an asiento agreement granting the British South Sea Company a monopoly on the slave trade in the Spanish Atlantic, opening up a world of uneasy collaboration. British agents of the Company moved to cities in the Caribbean and West Indies, where they braved the unforgiving tropical climate and hostile religious environment in order to trade slaves, manufactured goods, and contraband with Spanish colonists. In the process, British merchants developed relationships with the Spanish—both professional and, at times, personal. The Temptations of Trade traces the development of these complicated relationships in the context of the centuries-long imperial rivalry between Spain and Britain. Many British Merchants, in developing personal ties to the Spanish, were able to collect potentially damaging information about Spanish imperial trade, military defenses, and internal conflict. British agents juggled personal friendships with national affiliation—and, at the same time, developed a network of illicit trade, contraband, and piracy extending beyond the legal reach of the British South Sea Company and often at the Company's direct expense. Ultimately, the very smuggling through which these empires unwittingly supported each other led to the resumption of Anglo-Spanish conflict, as both empires cracked down on the actions of traders within the colonies. The Temptations of Trade reveals the difficulties of colonizing regions far from strict imperial control, where the actions of individuals could both connect empires and drive them to war.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Prologue: Before the Asiento

Chapter 1. Britain Hopes for the “Riches of America,” 1713–1716

Chapter 2. The Stuttering Success of the Early Trade, 1717–1728

Chapter 3. “Unjust Depredations” and Growing Tensions, 1729–1738

Chapter 4. The End of the British Asiento, 1739–1748

Epilogue: Beyond the Asiento

List of Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780812292756

0812292758

OCLC:

944310636