L’impresa González de la Sierra nel commercio atlantico: connessioni, traffici e ricchezze

The González de la Sierra company was a uniquely original experience within the milieu of Atlantic trade. The company archives highlight how this undertaking was based on a vast network of firms and agents, a wide range of activities (trade, navigation, insurance and finance) as well as on family-led entrepreneurship, itself based on a twofold territorial identity (as it originated in the Cantabria region and was based in Cadiz). This essay intends to present the complexity of the features of such entrepreneurship within the long-term framework of Spanish trade, between the Cadiz-based siglo de oro (i.e., the XVIIIth Century) and the subsequent loss of the Spanish colonial domains (i.e., the XIXth Century).

L’impresa González de la Sierra ha costituito un’originale esperienza nel commercio atlantico. L’archivio aziendale evidenzia l’organizzazione di una vasta rete di società e corrispondenti, un’ampia attività (commercio, navigazione, assicurazioni e finanza) e un’imprenditoria familiare con una duplice identità territoriale (l’origine cantabrica e la collocazione a Cadice). In questo saggio si presenta la complessità di questi aspetti, in una prospettiva di lungo periodo del commercio spagnolo tra il siglo de oro gaditano (XVIII sec.) e la successiva perdita dei domini coloniali (XIX sec.).