Opium after the Manila Galleon: The Spanish involvement in the opium economy in East Asia (1815-1830)

Ander Permanyer-Ugartemendia
Additional contact information
Ander Permanyer-Ugartemendia: Institut Universitari d’Història Jaume Vicens i Vives, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research (IHE-EHR), Journal of the Spanish Economic History Association, 2014, vol. 10, issue 03, 155-164

Abstract: This paper identifies the Spaniards’ involvement in the opium trade in China at the beginning of the 19th century. Several sources have been consulted, mainly the Jardine Matheson Archive at the University of Cambridge and the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. These activities took place from the end of the Manila Galleon until 1830, and were undertaken by some employees of the Spanish Royal Philippine Company in Calcutta and Canton in their private businesses. These houses collaborated closely with the British firms during the opium boom, and Manila private financial support was provided. Thus, Spaniards undoubtedly made a fundamental contribution during a key stage of development of the opium economy and evolution of modern Chinese history, being a precedent of what became the prestigious British company Jardine, Matheson & Co. KEY Classification-JEL: N45. N75. N76. N85

Keywords: Opium. Spain–China relations. Spanish Royal Philippine Company. Jardine; Matheson & Co. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/IHE/article/view/70641/42764 (application/pdf)
This is an Open Access journal

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ahe:invest:v:10:y:2014:i:03:p:155-164

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research (IHE-EHR), Journal of the Spanish Economic History Association from Asociación Española de Historia Económica Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Elena Garcia Cruz ().