FISH AND FLOUR FOR GOLD, 1600-1800: SOUTHERN EUROPE IN THE COLONIAL BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BY JAMES G. LYDON Professor of History An e-Publication of the Program in Early American Economy and Society Library Company of Philadelphia 2008 Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved. The Library Company of Philadelphia 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 ISBN 978-0-914076-47-6 FISH AND FLOUR FOR GOLD, 1600-1800 Table of Contents List of Tables iii List of Abbreviations & Short Titles v Table of Weights & Measures vi Foreword, by Cathy Matson vii Introduction ix I. Permissive Mercantilism 1 II. Iberian Mercantilists 17 III. English Merchants in Iberia 35 IV. The Barbary States 47 V. Fish for Gold 65 VI. Salem and Bilbao: Symbiosis 89 VII. The Newfoundland Fishery 99 VIII. The Iberian Grain Trade 113 IX. Lisbon and North America 137 X. Carolina Rice Exports 157 XI. The Wine Trade 177 XII. Salt Imports 199 XIII. A Source of Treasure, 1730-1772 213 XIV. “Under Colours of a New Devise” 221 XV. Epilogue 237 Footnotes 253 Appendices 285 Bibliography 289 Tables 2-1. Lisbon Bullion Imports by Packet, 1740-1769 3-1. North American Imports, 1768-1772 3-2. Anglo-American Importers, 1772-1773 5-1. Codfish Consumption in Spain, 1770s 5-2. Codfish Exports to Southern Europe, 1701-1774 5-3. Massachusetts’ Southern European Clearances, 1711-1774 5-4. Southern European Destinations, 1752-1773 5-5. Registrations of Massachusetts Clearances, 1752-1765 5-6. Massachusetts Fish Exports, 1752-1774 5-7. Massachusetts Salt Imports (S.E.), 1752-1773 5-8. Massachusetts Wine Imports, 1752-1773 6-1. Salem Clearances to Southern Europe, 1714-1774 6-2. Salem Clearances to Southern Europe, 1768-1772 7-1. Newfoundland Fishery Statistics, 1700-1775 7-2. Bilbayan Fish Merchants, 1763-1775 7-3. Bilbao’s Fish Entrances, 1763-1775 7-4. Fish Vessels Clearing Bilbao, 1763-1775 7-5. Barcelona Fish Imports, 1769-1774 7-6. Southern European Fish Sales at Cost, 1768-1772 8-1. English Grain Exports, 1701-1800 8-2. English Wheat Exports to Portugal, 1700-1770 8-3. English and American Wheat Prices, 1720-1774 8-4. English/American Wheat Prices Compared, 1720-1774 8-5. New York and Pennsylvania Trade to Southern Europe, 1720-1774 8-6. New York and Pennsylvania Trade Statistics (S.E.), 1710-1774 8-7. American Wheat/Corn Exporters (S.E.), 1768-1772 9-1. North American/Lisbon Trade, 1769-1775 9-2. Lisbon/Philadelphia Shipping, 1772-1773 9-3. Lisbon/Philadelphia Trade by Decade, 1720-1774 9-4. Major Pennsylvania Traders to Southern Europe and Lisbon, 1769-1774 9-5. Willing & Morris Trade (S.E.), 1766-1775 9-6. Lisbon Consignees of American Goods, 1757-1776 10-1. Rice Exports to Iberia, 1731-1774 10-2. South Carolina Rice Exports to Iberia, 1731-1774 10-3. Rice Carriers Entering Lisbon, 1769-1775 10-4. South Carolina Rice Exports by Carriers, 1717-1766 10-5. London-Based Entries to South Carolina, 1717-1766 10-6. Charleston’s Southern European Trade, 1717-1772 10-7. Lisbon Firms Handling Rice, 1757-1775 10-8. Charleston’s Southern European Trade in Sterling, 1768-1772 10-9. Costs to Ship Rice to Southern Europe, over Time, 1732-1775 11-1. Wine Island Entrances, 1710-1774 11-2. New York Entrances from Madeira, 1763-1764 11-3. Wine Entrances by Ports, 1710-1774 11-4. Lisbon Clearances, 1771-1774 11-5. North American Wine Consumption, 1768-1772 11-6. Wine Imports at Selected Ports, 1768-1772 11-7. Estimated Wine Imports, Selected Ports, 1710-1774 iii 12-1. Portuguese Salt Sales to English, 1772-1773 12-2. Fisheries’ Salt Consumption, 1760-1774 12-3. Southern European Salt Entering New York, 1715-1772 12-4. Boston/Salem Salt Imports, 1753-1756, 1762-1763 12-5. North American Salt Imports, 1755-1771 12-6. North American Salt Imports, by Area, 1769-1771 12-7. Coastal Salt Imports and Exports, 1768-1772 13-1. Southern European Clearances, by Periods, 1730-1772 13-2. North American Trade to Southern Europe, 1768-1772 13-3. Commodity Tonnages to Southern Europe, 1768-1772 13-4. Estimated Division of Earnings, 1768-1772 15-1. Lisbon/United States Trade, 1783-1788 15-2. Lisbon/United States Trade, by Registry, 1783-1788 15-3. Bilbao and Lisbon Fish Entrances, 1770-1774, 1783-1794 15-4. Bilbao/North American Entrances, 1783-1794 Appendices A. Prices of Philadelphia’s Exports to Southern Europe, 1720-1774 B. Prices of Philadelphia’s Imports from Southern Europe, 1720-1774 iv ABBREVIATIONS & SHORT TITLES ADM Admiralty Papers, National Archives, U.K. AHN-M Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid: Seccion de Estado AHR American Historical Review AJ-L Adams-Jefferson Letters. Ed. Lester J. Cappon. Chapel Hill, N.C. 1959. AWM American Weekly Mercury BL Baker Library, Harvard Business School BNL Boston Newsletter CPR Com Privilegio Real, Junta de Comercio records in Arquivo da Torre de Tombo, Lisbon. CSPC Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series. Ed. John William Fortescue et al. 45 vols. London, 1880-1964. CO Colonial Office Papers, National Archives, U.K. EG Essex Gazette (Salem) EHR Economic History Review HAHR Hispanic American Historical Review Hist. Mss. English Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, New York HSP Historical Society of Pennsylvania JEH Journal of Economic History MHS Massachusetts Historical Society MSR Abstracts of Massachusetts Naval Office Records NEQ New England Quarterly NEWJ New England Weekly Journal NORNY Naval Office Records of New York, CO 5 NYHSQ New-York Historical Society Quarterly PC Customs data from Pennsylvania magazines, AWM and PG PEM Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. PG Pennsylvania Gazette PMHB Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography PSR Pennsylvania Ship Registries SPFP State Papers Foreign, Portugal, National Archives, U.K. SPFS State Papers Foreign, Spain, National Archives, U.K. TDB Records of Tonnage Duties on Incoming Vessels, 1765-1775, 3 vols., HSP, Cadwallader Collection; Thomas Cadwallader Section. WMQ William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series “Averia Accounts” Manuals des Ambos Averias, Archivo del Consulado de Bilbao (Archivo Municipal de Bilbao) Boston Records Boston Records XXXII (Aspinwall Notarial Records, 1644-1651). Boston, 1903. “Livros” Livros das entradas da Marco das Navios, Arquivo Historico Municipal at the Camara Municipal (Lisbon) v TABLE OF WEIGHTS & MEASURES Beans: 1 ton = 22.5 blls.; 1 bll. = 100 lbs. Beef or Pork: 1 ton = 14 blls.; 1 bll. = 160 lbs. Beeswax: 1 ton = 6.68 blls.; 1 bll. = 335.3 lbs. Boards: 1 ton = 1,000 board feet Bread: 1 ton = 16 blls.; 1 bll. = 140 lbs. Candles: 100 candles = 25 lbs. Corn: 1 ton = 40 bushels; 1 bushel = 56 lbs.; 1 cask = 4 bushels Fish: 1 ton = 22.5 hundredweights (cwt. or Qtl. or K) 1 cwt. = 100 lbs.; 2 cwts. = 1 bll. 1 hogshead = 7 cwts.; 1 tierce (cask) = 1.33 blls. Flour: 1 ton = 11.48 blls.; 1 bll. = 196 lbs. 4.5 bu. of wheat converts to 1 bll. of flour (196 lbs.) Hides: 1 hide = 15 lbs. Oil: 1 cwt. = 4 arrobas; 1 arroba = 25 lbs. Raisins: 1 ton = 11 blls.; 1 bll. = 203.6 lbs. Rice:* 1 ton = 4.28 blls. = 6 tierces 1 bll. = 8 bu. = 525 lbs. ; 1 bu. = 65 lbs. Salt (coarse): 1 ton = 22.5 bu. ; 1 bu. = 100 lbs. 1 hhd. = 8 bu. ; 1 moy = 1,500 lbs. ; 1 wey = 40 bu. 1 moyo = 23 bu. ; 1 last = 12 blls. = 2 tons Shingles : 1 ton = 2,000 shingles Staves: 1 ton = 1,000 staves; 1 bll. stave = 30 inches Wheat: 1 ton = 4 quarters = 32.1 bu. =2,240 lbs. 1 quarter = 8 bu. =560 lbs.; 1 bu. = 70 lbs. 1 hhd. = 6.56 bu. 1 fanega (Port.) = 1.56 bu. = 109.5 lbs. 1 alquier (Sp.) = 0.4 bu. – 28 lbs.; 2.5 alquiers = 1 bu. 1 carga (Port.) = 4 fanegas Wine: 1 ton (Tun) = 2 pipes = 4 hhds. =252 gals. 1 bll. = 32.5 gals.; 1hhd. = 2 blls. 1 cask = 1.33 blls. = 42 gals.; 1 quarter cask = 10.5 gals. 1 pipe = 1 butt = 126 gals. *Rice barrels changed over time, increasing in size. See Chapter IX. Weights and measures in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were not nicely precise. Containers varied somewhat in size. These are the figures used in this study. vi FOREWORD James Lydon’s Fish and Flour for Gold, 1600-1800 is the inaugural e-publication of the Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) of the Library Company of Philadelphia. It adds an important new dimension to the program’s ongoing activities. Now in its ninth year, PEAES promotes scholarly discussion of all aspects of the early American economy. It also brings together people who wish to advance our understanding of the economy under the umbrella of numerous disciplines, methodologies, and subjects. PEAES sponsors a printed monograph series with Johns Hopkins University Press, regular seminars, resident research fellowships, public outreach programs, and conferences on topics of wide interest and publication of their proceedings. The program is also engaged in the ambitious acquisition of print and manuscript sources about the early economy. Scholars are accustomed to interpreting the development of early modern empires in light of a parade of seemingly endless wars and contests over boundaries. Historians and economists have written scores of narratives about the wars that Western European empires fought for dominion, labor, and the goods that made possible their rise to global power. But seventeenth- and eighteenth-century imperial dominion was also porous everywhere in the Atlantic world. In recent years, historical research has shifted considerably toward studying the additional dimensions of economic and cultural networking that reveal less clear-cut contention between one empire and another; due to this new scholarship, the balance of power and economic maturation can be seen now as a series of shifting networks of negotiated authority over the people and goods that shaped the two hundred years covered in Lydon’s study.