近世近代転換期におけるスペインの太平洋貿易に関する研究動向

Abstract

This article aims to provide new research viewpoints on the transpacific trade of the Spanish empire in the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. Generally, the economic impact of the Spanish empire in the global economy declined until the end of the seventeenth century because Spain was defeated in the race for colonies. As the previous works showed, the main research subject is the Manilla Galleon trade between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. However, Spain still had colonies in the Pacific connected by trade in the second half of the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. Why did the research not focus on the trading system of the Spanish empire at the turn of the period from the Early Modern Period to the Modern Period? Based on this question, this article discusses the four following topics. The first chapter highlights the problem of research about the Spanish empire in the field of global history. Second, this article introduces the Manilla Galleon trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Next, it delineates the new trade system from the second half of the eighteenth century, searching for a new trade route around the Cape of Good Hope. Lastly, it discusses the Royal Philippine Company’s activities. The author focuses on the province of Guipúzcoa people in the Basque Country, the northern part of Spain, as the key members of the company. However, several subjects remain to be considered. For example, (1) the roles of Lima, El Callao (Peru), Santiago de Chile, and Valparaíso (Chile) in the transpacific trade should be examined. These commercial cities were influential on the Pacific coast of Latin America. (2) Furthermore, the linkage between the east coast of Latin America and Asia was overlooked, although it was a significant trade of the Royal Philippine Company. (3) Who participated in the transpacific trade? What was their social class? Where did the participants of the trade originate from? What kind of trade did they engage in besides transpacific trade? (4) We must research the contact or relationships both inside and outside of the empire. This contact remains unclear regarding many port cities and merchants in the Indian Sea. This article will contribute to world history by delineating the presence of the Spanish empire as one of the leading actors in the eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries.