ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 analyzes the evolution of the chocolate market, commercialization and forms of consumption during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The analysis considers the Atlantic, interregional and peninsular dynamics of trade, as well as the evolution of local guilds. The analysis of the Spanish Crown’s Atlantic policies regarding this branch of trade before 1778 shows how chocolate’s wide availability after the free-trade decree encountered an already well-defined and growing market, especially in Spain. Furthermore, the analysis of the interaction between inter-American traffic, Atlantic trade and the Spanish economy aims to understand how exactly Atlantic policies and trade flows towards the mother country were related to the diffusion of Caracas and Guayaquil cocoa in New Spain, finally contributing new information on the interdependence between various areas of the world and the processes of diffusion of exotic goods.
