Rotas e tratos no Atlântico Sul: a relação comercial entre Buenos Aires e o Estado do Brasil no século XVII (1612-1627).

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze the commercial transit of Lusitanian ships in the South Atlantic in the first half of the 17th century, period of the Union of Iberian Crowns. Through the “ship registers”, official sources produced by the Spanish American kingdom administration for the control of goods transported on arrival or departure ships from the port of Buenos Aires, we intend to glimpse the commercial dynamics established between the agents involved and the traded products on sea routes. For this purpose, we analyzed the mechanisms and local architectures that could establish a mercantile dynamic in the platinum region, which, despite the promotion of peripheral trade, we understand the strategic importance of this location for the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns, from the incorporation of local commercial practices converging with the State of Brazil, especially in conjunction with the city of São Salvador. Therefore, our main objective is, from a study of commercial relations, to understand the structuring of this trade from the survey of the paths taken by the pilots of the ships, the spaces of action of their middlemen in Lusitanian America and the relationship maintained with the residents of the platinum port city. Despite commercial control and practices often considered illegal, maritime traffic in this location proved to be intense during this period and important for the development of the region. From this perspective, we start from the hypothesis of the existence of an economic interdependence between the Rio de la Plata and the State of Brazil, effectively due to the transatlantic transit carried out by ships, mostly Portuguese, which allowed the commercialization of slaves, smuggled silver, manufactured goods and fruits of the earth between the two regions.