ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the creation and implementation of new Consulados (merchant guilds) in the Spanish colonial empire during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. These institutions, which ruled in matters of trade and particularly in the resolution of private mercantile disputes, date back as far as to the thirteenth century. It is broadly believed by historians both in Spain and Latin America that these newly created bodies were designed on the pattern of the long-existing peninsular-based institutions. The chapter reflects on some of the arguments commonly used to explain the chartering of these associations. It also examines the actual shape that these new associations took on the Western side of the Atlantic Spanish empire during this eighteenth century wave of institutionalization. The focus is set on the Havana body. The main aim of the chapter is to show that Havana’s case fits only partially into the model above stated, and, therefore, alternative explanations should be sought. In seeking to explain its distinctive features, special attention is paid to the entangled economic policies of the British, French and Spanish empires in the Caribbean Sea.
