Hemispheric Connections: Trade Networks between Rio de la Plata and the United States, 1780–1815

In the last decades of the 18^th century, the Spanish empire experienced a series of crises that, among other processes, led to a significant increase in trans-imperial trade.  Historians have examined the significance of British and Portuguese commercial penetration in Spanish American markets during the last decades of colonial rule; however, the role and significance of trade between Spanish colonies and the newlyindependent United States have received scarce attention in the historical literature. This paper examines the trans-imperial networks connecting the Spanish colonies in Rio de la Plata with the United States during the late 18^th and early 19^th century. Based on ship manifests, notary records, newspapers,and merchants’ correspondence, this paper argues that since the last decades of the 18^th century Rio de la Plata – US commercial interactions were not only significant in terms of volume of trade, but also played a crucial role in shaping the circulation of information. The political dynamics of this trans-Atlantic space during the Age of Revolution were more complex than previous historiography has suggested.