Title Page -- Contents -- Figures and Tables -- 1: Introduction -- The historiographical context -- Chapter structure and methodology -- 2: Economic Aspects of Spanish Imperial Expansion, 1492-1550 -- Motives for European overseas expansion -- The first voyage of Christopher Columbus -- Columbus' second, third, and fourth voyages -- Herna ́n Corte ́s and the conquest of Mexico -- Early trade between Spain and America -- Exploration in South America -- 3: Commodities and Resources During the Conquest Period -- The Columbian Exchange and its economic potential -- The reality of economic and commercial exchange -- 4: The Hapsburg Commercial System -- Origins -- Structure and principal features -- Trans-Atlantic commercial trends, 1550-1700 -- 5: Inter-Colonial Trade and the Hapsburg Commercial System -- Hapsburg Commercial System -- Peruvian-Mexican trade and the Manila galleon -- Caribbean and South American trade -- 6: Foreign Penetration of the Ibero-American Economy in the Hapsburg Period -- Motives and significance -- The Caribbean -- The Pacific -- The Rio de la Plata -- 7: Economic Growth in Spanish America in the Hapsburg Period -- Economic interdependence -- Mining -- Agriculture -- Industry -- 8: Commercial and Economic Relations in the Early Bourbon Period, 1700-1765 -- The new dynasty -- The War of the Spanish Succession -- The Treaty of Utrecht -- The War of Jenkins' Ear -- The Seven Years' War -- 9: 'Free Trade' and the Peninsular Economy -- The introduction of 'free trade', 1765-89 -- Exports from Spain to America, 1778-96 -- Exports to America and Spanish regional economies -- American markets for Spanish exports -- 10: 'Free Trade' and the American Economy -- Values of imports into Spain from America -- Ports of arrival -- Commodities -- Origins of imports -- The mining industry in the Bourbon era.

11: Economic Relations Between Spain and America on the Eve of the Revolutions for Independence -- Economic growth in the late eighteenth century -- Commercial and economic trends, 1797-1810 -- 12: Conclusion: Economic Grievances and Insurrection in Late Colonial Spanish America -- The abdication of economic authority -- Anti-fiscal protests in the late colonial period -- Appendix: Spanish Monarchs -- Glossary of Spanish Terms -- Bibliographical Essay -- Index.