The slave trade in the Río de la Plata. Notes for its study

Abstract

The slave trade presented atypical characteristics within the Spanish economic system, since it did not apply the mercantilist principles typical of Spanish colonial institutions. It involved negotiations with foreign traders or direct extraction from Africa, continental distribution routes by private traders or factors and, mainly, a circulation outside the fleet ships. As a result, the slave trade was often linked to smuggling, especially during the 17th century.

The internment of slaves was carried out from Buenos Aires to distant points of the Viceroyalty of Peru and contributed to the maintenance of a trans-continental route linking Buenos Aires with Santiago de Chile. This trade, promoted during the 17th century, was encouraged by the crown in the 18th century to the detriment of the royal slave route that linked Cartagena with Lima.

It is necessary, then, to make a brief approach to the particularities of this trade in the Río de la Plata in order to gain a better understanding of the problems presented by the sources for its study. Those that were used for the elaboration of this work in no way totalize the existing ones on the subject, but they were selected because they were considered representative of the cases presented.