Cádiz, Commercial Activities in the Eighteenth Century and the 'González De La Sierra': A Point of Observation of Spanish Economy and Colonialism

Abstract

The subject of the paper is the position of Spanish entrepreneurs who revived the "Gonzalez de le Sierra" firm in the gaditiana society of the XVIII century; their cultural, economic, geographic and ethnic background; the firm strategies they used to reach the aims of development of the commercial enterprise of Cadiz; the social, economic and geographic context, where the impetuous growth of the Andalusia port took place. The Andalusian city, according to Antonio Garcia-Baquero Gonzalez, lived, during the XVIII century, "un autentico siglo de oro". In that period Cadiz, the most ancient city of the west (founded by Phoenician people around 1100 b.c.) had a great commercial growth and became, because of its merchants' enterprise, the capital of the commercial monopoly with America: the city was able to keep these sole rights up to 1778. The suppression of the old monopolistic system and the concession of liberty of traffic to the colonies with the harbors of Spain helped, however, at the end of the XVIII century, a revival and a great increase of the Spanish commercial activities with America: Cadiz was still the center of these activities, even if for a brief period. The origins of the "Gonzalez de le Sierra" firm are connected to the emigration which, from the northern regions of Spain, headed towards Cadiz, in the XVIII century. During this period we can analyze the events of the society: from the birth of the firm, which grows up as a distribution activity and as an alimentary and colonial products sale; to its development, with the settlement of a local system of commercial shops; to the growth of dimensions and to the transformation of the firm, which becomes an international level enterprise and which looks to the trades with the overseas colonies as its main activity; till to the gradual renouncing of the initial aims, the supplying and the sale of ultramarine products, the colonial trade. Looking to the commercial firm of Cadiz we can observe the particular inclination of the gaditiano merchant about the use of various activities (trade on one's own account, trade on order, other kind of intermediary forms, retail or wholesale trade, use of marine transports, etc.); as well as you begin to make a remark on the gaditiana mercantile middle-class, which has represented one of the most uncommon examples of the existence of a Spanish entrepreneurs class. The interest on the considered period is founded on the necessity of establishing a connection between the development of the "Gonzalez de le Sierra" society and the changes of the economy and trade of Cadiz. Particularly, though some general trends of economy can be confirmed by an examination of the events of the gaditiana commercial enterprise, we must pay attention to the firm activity, that reaches the top while the city starts to decay. To this historical paradox another one is added to confer other incentives to the analysis: the gaditiano trade, except in the last period of the XVIII century, sees the most important moments of expansion when the Spanish economy regresses or, at least, is slack.