**7. Conclusions**

*Perspectives on Economic Development - Public Policy, Culture, and Economic Development*

necessary *azogues* for the *New Spain* mines and some merchandise.

trade eclipsed non-fleet commerce, even if the latter was prosperous.

The saturation of colonial markets led to a reduction in imports from the metropolis. This fact caused Sevillian merchants to opt for cut-offs of colonial markets in order to be able to place their products. This undersupply favored alternative ways to alleviate manufacturing shortages, such as smuggling, the emergence of an indigenous industry capable of competing with imported products in fleets, or

This was reflected in the collection of *almojarifazgo* in Veracruz, which at this stage is reduced to 53.75% compared to the previous, 1,348,584.6 pesos, 24.82% of the total collected, of which 1,234,069.8 pesos correspond to intercontinental trade

This decline in tax revenues was more noticeable in imports, which fell to 1,048,877.9 pesos; while exports on the other hand increased by 37.15%. This

The depression produced in the previous stage was worsened by the changes in frequency of fleets, from annually to every two years.28 There were no entry fleets in the port of Veracruz in 1637, 1639, 1641, 1643, 1645 and 1649, nor were there departures between 1634 and 1638 and in 1640, 1642, 1644 and 1646. These absences would significantly lower the income of the port *Caja*, which in those fifteen years accounted for only 762,287.4 pesos, which represented 14.03% of the total and a

The consequences of this decline in intercontinental commercial activity would affect, by half, the intercolonial exchange of the *New Spain* port in its exports. By contrast, imports from colonial markets increased by 126.35% because of the emergence of Venezuelan cocoa in New Spain and the ban on trade with Peru (Arcila,

27 A.G.I. Contaduría. Caja Real de Veracruz. Legs. 883, branches 7 a 14, from June 11, 1615 to October 14, 1622; 884B, branches 1 a 9, from September 5, 1622 to September 14, 1627; and 884A, branches 1 to 10,

28 A.G.I. Contaduría. Caja Real de Veracruz. Legs. 884A, branch 10, from November 19, 1634 to September 4, 1636; 885A, branches 1 to 6, from August 12, 1637 to October 4, 1646; and 885B, branch 7,

increase would confirm the good health of the *New Spain* economy.

**6.4 Second stage of crisis: (1616–1635)**

sourcing them through the Manila Galleon.27

**6.5 Crisis: (1636–1650)**

reduction of 43.47% less.

26 A.G.I. Consulado. Libro I. Folios. 162–165.

from September 14, 1627 to September 4, 1636.

from October 5, 1646 hasta December 5, 1650.

or 91.51%, and 114,514.9 pesos to intercolonial trade.

this decrease.

on the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula26, and instead an *armadilla* was sent with the

In these 17 years a total of 2,509,028.7 pesos, 46.18% of the total were entered into the *Caja*. Of this amount, 94.7%, 2,376,207.1 pesos corresponded to intercontinental fleet trade, while the remaining 5.3% was collected from intercolonial trade. Although the margin of share of intercolonial trade in income was less than in the previous stage, 5.3% versus 12.23%, the average annual value of intercolonial trade, increased by double, or 7813 pesos versus 3486.6. During these years, fleet

The reality could well be another: the saturation of the markets. Already in 1606, there was a significant reduction in fleet tax collection compared to the previous year, from 240,837.9 pesos in 1605 to 69,643.5 pesos in 1606 and to 2,962.3 pesos in 1607. The Mexican Consulate argued that the dangers of navigation were a cause of

**156**

Colonial trade was taxed by several tariffs levied by the *Real Caja*, such as the *avería*, the duty of *tons*, the *almirantazgo*, the *lonja*, the *consulado* or the *almojarifazgo*, among the most important. The latter has served for the present study and for a later one in which we explained how the trade of the New Spain port of Veracruz functioned.

Taxes were collected by royal officials appointed by the *Real Hacienda* in all ports, creating *Real Cajas*. It was done from the ship records that merchants were obliged to keep. The information they give us is very rich. Not only does it inform the origin and destination of the boat, type and its master, but it also relates the different goods and their merchant, with their value and the tax paid. There were exemptions in the collection of *almojarifazgo*, either for political or economic reasons, of goods or ports, such as those of Cumaná, Margarita, Caracas, Rio Hacha, Nueva Andalucía, Cartagena, Puerto Rico or Havana. The stipulated high percentage of *almojarifazgo* encouraged cases of fraud and smuggling. However, the information provided by the documentation on *almojarifazgo* of the *Real Caja de Veracruz* shows us the trend of New Spain trade through the aforementioned port.

Although Veracruz was only a mere redistributor of the goods that were negotiated in the capital of the viceroyalty, all traffic with Spain and the rest of the American colonies of the Caribbean passed through their docks. This had an influence on the calculation of the value of the declared goods. At first, the average prices calculated in Veracruz were fictitious. For this reason, a different form of calculation was established in 1576, using the average price of its highest, average and lowest value of its value in Mexico.

During the period studied (1573–1650), 5,533,564.8 pesos were collected at the *Real Caja* de Veracruz for the concept of *almojarifazgo*. We have calculated that 91.2% came from import trade and the rest from export trade **Table 3**. This meant, according to our calculations, the value of goods exchanged at the port was 72,836,207 pesos.

Based on the evolution of the collection we have established five well differentiated stages, two of boom and three of crises, the last of them being the one that was felt the most by the economic and political situation of Spain. The first boom stage, between 1588 and 1599, arises as a result of a commercial take-off following the yellow fever epidemic in New Spain (1576–1580) and is characterized by the introduction of European goods for consumption by Spaniards and their re-export to other Caribbean markets. Then there is a crisis phase, between 1594 and 1598, of reduction of collection in the course of the European wars of Spain and that will have a positive consequence in the increase in trade towards the metropolis, with an increase of 30.13%. A second moment of boom (1599–1615) appears with peace in Europe, in which a regularity is established in the predominance of the fleet trade over the rest of the Veracruz trade. Then there is a second and long stage of crisis in the collection (1616–1635) caused by the saturation of the New Spain markets and that the Sevillian traders cause more criticism by deliberately undersupplying traffic. Thus, smuggling would arise and the development of an internal, local industry, which would supply the New Spain market. The collection shows us a reduction in imports, but not exports. Finally, this crisis would be exacerbated between 1635 and 1650 because the annual fleets become biannual. This was a major disruption of incoming *almojarifazgo* in the port of Veracruz, especially that originated by colonial exports, which are reduced by half. The revenue of colonial imports, on the other hand, would double with an increase of 126.35%. We leave the study of the different markets, goods and their negotiated value for future work.


**Acknowledgements**

*from fleets.*

**Table 3.**

in the translation of this work.

Archivo General de Indias (A.G.I.).

**Documentary sources**

Veracruz.

*The Financing of Spanish Colonial Commerce in America: The* Almojarifazgo *and the Port…*

**Year Input Output Total Flotas Sueltos Total Flotas Sueltos Total**

58,622.0 6839.0 65,461.0 14,724.0 1781.0 16,505.0 **81,966.0**

90,269.0 10,863.0 101,132.0 12,263.0 2155.0 14,418.0 **115,550.0**

129,885.0 8778.0 138,663.0 11,693.0 1419.0 13,112.0 **151,775.0**

77,254.0 10,067.0 87,321.0 11,140.0 1352.0 12,492.0 **99,813.0**

57,127.0 13,616.0 70,743.0 30,477.0 2969.0 33,446.0 **104,189.0**

29,714.0 10,610.0 40,324.0 2146.0 2146.0 **42,470.0**

 81,783.0 965.0 82,748.0 236.0 236.0 **82,984.0** 11,067.0 11,067.0 754.0 754.0 **11,821.0** 80,518.4 15,924.9 96,443.3 492.9 492.9 **96,936.1** 4795.4 4795.4 5547.4 429.9 5977.3 **10,772.6** 88,625.4 10,463.1 99,088.5 543.4 543.4 **99,631.9** 8490.3 8490.3 9331.0 446.4 9777.4 **18,267.6** 48,385.6 13,186.8 61,572.4 554.8 554.8 **62,127.1** 20,366.0 20,366.0 5151.3 405.4 5556.6 **25,922.6** 32,652.8 20,495.4 53,148.1 760.1 760.1 **53,908.3** 11,531.5 11,531.5 5515.0 1140.1 6655.1 **18,186.6** 71,670.0 28,827.5 100,497.5 307.1 307.1 **100,804.6** 26,785.9 18,408.6 45,194.5 2812.9 553.6 3366.5 **48,561.0** 45,783.5 15,766.9 61,550.4 1146.4 342.0 1488.4 **63,038.8** 16,556.1 16,556.1 753.8 661.0 1414.8 **17,970.9** 31,604.0 18,459.6 50,063.6 647.4 643.1 1290.5 **51,354.1** Total **4,476,737.6 481,088.7 4,957,826.3 404,307.6 71,430.8 475,738.4 5,433,564.8** *In common gold pesos. The concept "Sueltos" includes the collection of colonial, African and Sevillian commerce, apart* 

5813.0 5813.0 13,611.0 1137.0 14,748.0 **20,561.0**

My acknowledgment to Maria Ruth Giesbrecht for her support and collaboration

*Annual revenue from the almojarifazgo tax from the port of Veracruz (1573–1650).*

• Audiencia de México, Leg. 351. Cartas y expedientes de oficiales reales de

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89885*

1623– 

1624– 

1626– 

1627– 

1630– 

1631– 

1634– 


*The Financing of Spanish Colonial Commerce in America: The* Almojarifazgo *and the Port… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89885*

*In common gold pesos. The concept "Sueltos" includes the collection of colonial, African and Sevillian commerce, apart from fleets.*

#### **Table 3.**

*Perspectives on Economic Development - Public Policy, Culture, and Economic Development*

**Year Input Output Total Flotas Sueltos Total Flotas Sueltos Total** 964.3 964.3 5084.5 161.1 5245.6 **6209.9** 2801.6 2801.6 268.3 268.3 **3069.9** 126,927.5 7776.1 134,703.6 4842.4 4842.4 **139,546.0** 14,440.4 14,440.4 2233.6 2233.6 **16,674.0** 118,482.0 7313.5 125,795.5 2899.3 2484.0 5383.3 **131,178.8** 67,303.5 3113.1 70,416.6 8614.4 1972.0 10,586.4 **81,003.0** 5019.3 5019.3 6514.4 800.9 7315.3 **12,334.5** 246,123.5 5111.0 251,234.5 1388.3 1388.3 **252,622.8** 80,333.0 3119.0 83,452.0 10,555.8 364.6 10,920.4 **94,372.4** 39,697.5 2568.5 42,266.0 8208.8 1682.6 9891.4 **52,157.4** 4016.3 4016.3 5744.4 1052.8 6797.2 **10,813.4** 2500.6 2500.6 5566.3 1372.3 6938.5 **9439.1** 3535.9 3535.9 707.0 707.0 **4242.9** 205,662.4 4656.8 210,319.2 3975.5 1335.4 5310.9 **215,630.0** 168,578.0 5336.6 173,914.6 11,582.5 2828.1 14,410.6 **188,325.3** 110,862.1 9029.0 119,891.1 12,935.0 2254.3 15,189.3 **135,080.4** 156,331.0 6337.8 162,668.8 9067.6 1886.8 10,954.4 **173,623.1** 101,031.8 8233.3 109,265.0 10,958.5 1649.8 12,608.3 **121,873.3** 204,846.0 7352.3 212,198.3 10,651.6 1814.6 12,466.3 **224,664.5** 240,837.9 7054.5 247,892.4 4457.8 1516.1 5973.9 **253,866.3** 69,642.5 6318.3 75,960.8 2348.9 1124.1 3473.0 **79,433.8** 2,962.3 6863.6 9825.9 12,425.6 1261.4 13,687.0 **23,512.9** 293,263.9 9188.5 302,452.4 4574.5 1762.3 6336.8 **308,789.1** 157,472.1 5911.0 163,383.1 5533.4 916.8 6450.1 **169,833.3** 44,837.4 5134.4 49,971.8 5094.6 826.4 5921.0 **55,892.8** 75,833.4 7096.5 82,929.9 6607.5 1203.1 7810.6 **90,740.5** 79,082.3 4014.5 83,096.8 7456.1 1500.4 8956.5 **92,053.3** 100,806.3 5341.9 106,148.1 9693.1 1019.9 10,713.0 **116,861.1** 105,920.3 5671.0 111,591.3 7308.8 919.4 8228.1 **119,819.4** 123,214.8 4844.6 128,059.4 10,351.9 618.5 10,970.4 **139,029.8** 52,942.0 2546.6 55,488.6 5819.8 619.6 6439.4 **61,928.0** 63,053.3 3039.1 66,092.4 7165.0 621.2 7786.2 **73,878.6** 72,956.8 3100.9 76,057.6 9234.9 552.8 9787.6 **85,845.3** 116,363.5 3079.6 119,443.1 12,176.8 586.6 12,763.4 **132,206.5** 94,834.4 4140.8 98,975.1 11,463.5 885.6 12,349.1 **111,324.3** 86,818.0 5551.6 92,369.6 10,664.9 944.6 11,609.5 **103,979.1** 62,353.0 2454.1 64,807.1 15,626.1 1032.6 16,658.8 **81,465.9**

56,686.0 4622.0 61,308.0 19,133.0 1192.0 20,325.0 **81,633.0**

1622– 

*Annual revenue from the almojarifazgo tax from the port of Veracruz (1573–1650).*

### **Acknowledgements**

My acknowledgment to Maria Ruth Giesbrecht for her support and collaboration in the translation of this work.

#### **Documentary sources**

Archivo General de Indias (A.G.I.).

• Audiencia de México, Leg. 351. Cartas y expedientes de oficiales reales de Veracruz.

