The Interconnected Markets of Enslaved Humans, Commodities, and Manufactures between the United States and Río de la Plata, 1797–1808

Between 1797 and 1808, US merchants emerged as a significant economic force in the Rio de la Plata markets (present-day Argentina and Uruguay). Leveraging Spanish fiscal incentives for the importation of enslaved humans into Spanish ports, US traders imported over eight thousand enslaved Africans into the region during this period. Concurrently, they developed a robust trade in commodities and manufactures, navigating through and often circumventing mercantilist constraints. Previous studies have often considered these trades in isolation. This paper delves into the intricate interplay between the trades in manufactures, commodities, and enslaved Africans. Drawing on US, Spanish, and Luso-Brazilian archives, it analyzes the strategies slave traders employed, utilizing fiscal incentives and access to Spanish ports for slave trading to bolster trade in goods and bills of exchange through legal channels and illicit means.