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Merchants, Money, and Mischief the British in Mexico, 1821-1862

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Barbara A. Tenenbaum
Barbara A. Tenenbaum*
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
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Extract

Scholars have frequently argued about the nature and extent of British participation in the economic and political life of the countries which emerged during the nineteenth century. Historians who seek to disprove general or specific theses concerning British imperialism in the nineteenth century, often focus their discussions on the doctrines of “Free Trade” and “Laissez-Faire” and their impact on the formulation and implementation of British official policy. They note that Britain refused any opportunity to attain formal special status and demanded that it have only equal opportunities for trade.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , January 1979 , pp. 317 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1979

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References

1 See Platt, D.C.M., Finance, Trade, and Politics in British Foreign Policy, 1815–1914. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), introduction.Google Scholar

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14 Letter from Carlos J. Furber to Manuel I. Madrid, January 20, 1856 in Manuel I. Madrid Papers, Garcia Collection in the Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas, Austin.

15 I am deeply indebted to Mary Clary, a doctoral candidate at Washington University for her most generous letter containing references in the Mexico City notarial archives to MacKintosh. This one comes from Notary Francisco de Madariaga 1834 and volume 2, 1835. All references from notarial archives which I use in this article were supplied by Ms. Clary.

16 See Manning-MacKintosh Papers, Folder 95, Wallet 1 for accounts of the Hospicio de Probes August 23, 1834, December 5, 1834, April 7, 1835, and March 22, 1837.

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20 It is possible that MacKintosh’s wife Teresa had known the Escandon Family in Veracruz but as yet I have found no evidence of this.

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38 Letter from Daniel Price to J. D. Powles, Esq., August 20, 1846 in Manning-MacKintosh Papers.

39 See Manning-MacKintosh Papers.

40 Letter from Daniel Price to J. D. Powles, Esq., August 20, 1846 in Manning-MacKintosh Papers.

41 Letter from Meinecke to MacKintosh, July 31, 1849 and Letter from John Richards to Henry MacKintosh at Mineral de Catorce, May 15, 1851 in Manning-MacKintosh Papers.

42 Randall, op. cit., pp. 119–120 and Letter from Meinecke to Ewen C. MacKintosh, January 6, 1849 in Manning-MacKintosh Papers.

43 On January 2,1850the firm wrote to MacKintosh as Markoe Price but on January 7, 1850 it wrote to MacKintosh as Manning, Markoe.

44 See Marquis de Radepont Papers in Houghton Library, Harvard University. MacKintosh’s relationship with Radepont ended with a long and complicated lawsuit.

45 Letter from Guillermo O’Brien, Paris to Ewen C. MacKintosh, January 29, 1847, February 26, 1847, March 29, 1847, April 28, 1847, etc. Judging from O'Brien’s letters, this endeavor did not meet with great success.

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49 Letter from Baring Brothers to Ewen C. MacKintosh, December 15, 1849, Manning-MacKintosh Papers, Folder 93, Part 2.

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58 This type of maneuver was by no means new to him. For example when he discovered that the United States was more likely to purchase the rights to Tehuantepec if it thought they were owned by a US citizen, he promptly staged a sale of the concession to his agent in the US, Peter Hargous. However, Hargous sent him a bill later for services rendered which included expenses for four months after the date of the presumed sale. Account from Peter A. Hargous to Ewen C. MacKintosh, June 22, 1849, Manning-MacKintosh Papers.

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72 Mora sought to injure MacKintosh because the British bondholder agent had deprived Mora’s patron, Manuel Lizardi, of the bondholder agency in London. Letter from Percy Doyle to Waddington, August 13, 1848 in British Foreign Office Papers, FO 50: 221. Mariano Otero along with his brother Antonio was involved in a complicated lawsuit with MacKintosh over the possession of the Mina de Luz silver mines. MacKintosh eventually won.

73 Letter from Doyle to Palmeston, December 14, 1848 in British Foreign Office Papers, FO 50:224.

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76 Williams, , British Commercial Policy, pp. 272–276 Google Scholar and Hale, Charles, Mexican Liberalism in the Age of Mora (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968), pp. 276–277.Google Scholar

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78 The British Foreign Office often asked its Ministers to do all they could unofficially to help bondholders. Letter from Palmerston to Percy Doyle, August 31, 1848 and October 1,1848 in British Foreign Office Papers, FO 50: 218.

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80 Ibid., p. 37

81 Diary of George A. Brown, pp. 31-32. Manuscript housed in the Archives of the Central Library, Liverpool. Mr. Brown went on to become a partner in the import-export firm of William Clegg and later was a member of the Mexican and South American Association of Liverpool.

82 Williams, , British Commercial Policy, p. 273 Google Scholar and Platt, D.C.M., Latin America and British Trade, 1806–1914 (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1973), pp. 59–60.Google Scholar

83 See for example Palacio, Mariano Riva, “Memoria del Ministro de Hacienda, 16 de agosto de 1848,” (Mexico City, 1848).Google Scholar

84 Williams, , British Commercial Policy, p. 262.Google Scholar Direct imports from Great Britain amounted to £27,572 in 1822, but rose to £1,409,386 in 1825.

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