Bankruptcy of Empire: Mexican Silver and the Wars Between Spain, Britain and France, 1760 - 1810 (Cambridge Latin American Studies)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: First Edition, 1/17/2008
EAN 9780521879644, ISBN10: 0521879647
Hardcover, 338 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
This book incorporates the rich literature on the history of the fiscal organization and financial dynamics of the Spanish empire within the broader historical debates on rival European imperial states from 1760 to 1810. The focus is on colonial Mexico because it served as a fiscal and financial submetropolis that ensured the capacity of the imperial state to defend itself in a time of successive international conflicts. Throughout the reign Charles IV, the finances of the Spanish state began to sink. This collapse was caused by the enormous expense of waging successive wars in the Americas and Europe. In each war, colonial Mexico was a most important source of resources for the Crown, but these demands gradually outstripped the tax base of the viceroyalty despite the extraordinary silver boom of the late eighteenth century. The bankruptcy of the Spanish monarchy and its empire was the inevitable consequence.
List of tables and figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Resurgence of the Spanish Empire
Bourbon Mexico as submetropolis, 1763–1800
2. An imperial state tax
the fiscal costs and benefits of colonialism
3. Imperial wars and loans from New Spain, 1780–1800
4. The royal church and the finances of the viceroyalty
5. Napoleon and Mexican silver, 1805–8
6. Between Spain and America
the royal treasury and the Gordon and Murphy Consortium, 1806–8
7. Mexican silver for the Cortes of Cádiz and the war against Napoleon, 1808–11
8. The rebellion of 1810, colonial debts, and bankruptcy of New Spain
Conclusions
the financial collapse of viceroyalty and monarchy
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.