Silver, Trade, and War
Subtitle: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: March 24, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9780801861352
Subjects: Colonization & independence; Economic history; European history: c 1500 to c 1750; International trade; Modern period, c 1500 onwards; History - General History; Spain And Portugal - History; U.S. History - Colonial Period (1607-1775); United States - Colonial Period; Spain; History: World; Empires & historical states; The Americas; Europe - Spain & Portugal; International - General; United States - General; History / Europe / General; Colonies; America; Commerce; History; Silver industry
First sentence: At the end of the seventeenth century, after two hundred years of imperialism, in nominal control of the human and natural resources of dominions in America and the western Pacific, Spain, like its imperial neighbor Portugal, was an underdeveloped, stagnant area of western Europe.
Description: "Spanish colonialism, the authors suggest, was the cutting edge of the early global economy. America's silver permitted Spain to graft early capitalistic elements onto its late medieval structures, reinforcing its patromonialism and dynasticism. However, the authors argue, silver gave Spain an illusion of wealth, security, and hegemony, while its system of "managed" transatlantic trade failed to monitor silver flows that were beyond the control of government officials.".

"Silver, Trade, and War is about men and markets, national rivalries, diplomacy and conflict, and the advancement or stagnation of states."--BOOK JACKET.