Historia Crítica

Hist. Crit. | eISSN 1900-6152 | ISSN 0121-1617

El “oro blando” previo a la Fiebre del Oro: las pieles de nutria marina en la “expansión competitiva” del capitalismo mercantil y la creación de una economía del Océano Pacífico

No. 89 (2023-07-04)
  • Arturo Giráldez
    University of the Pacific, United States
  • Analiese Richard
    Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Cuajimalpa, Mexico
https://doi.org/10.7440/histcrit89.2023.07

Resumen

Resumen. Objetivo/Contexto: en este artículo examinamos cómo la demanda china de pieles —de nutrias y otros mamíferos marinos— impulsó en el siglo XVIII la expansión competitiva de comerciantes y exploradores europeos y, más tarde, estadounidenses en las islas del Pacífico y a lo largo de la costa pacífica norteamericana. Las pieles de nutria marina fueron una mercancía directamente vinculada a la creación de una economía en el Océano Pacífico. La colonización de California resultó de la dinámica imperial a la que dio lugar este comercio. Metodología: con el uso de fuentes primarias y secundarias, examinamos cómo el afán de estos mercaderes por abastecer el lucrativo mercado de lujo chino con pieles —u “oro blando”— los puso en contacto con pueblos indígenas cuyos medios de vida y redes comerciales serían incorporados al mercado global, pero en términos desiguales y con consecuencias devastadoras. Originalidad: el crecimiento de este comercio en el Pacífico a lo largo del siglo XVIII alimentó rivalidades geopolíticas que desencadenaron la colonización de California con un sistema de misiones y guarniciones militares y, eventualmente, una nueva ecología, producto de las plantas y animales traídos de Nueva España antes de la Fiebre del Oro y del Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo. Muchos, incluidos Marx y Engels, han afirmado que la Fiebre del Oro contribuyó significativamente a las dinámicas del capitalismo industrial; sin embargo, en este articulo argumentamos que sus condiciones de posibilidad se establecieron siglos antes, gracias a las complejas conexiones geopolíticas y ecológicas a través de las cuales se articuló esta economía del Pacífico. Conclusiones: durante el siglo XVIII, los productos del Pacífico fueron extraídos y convertidos en mercancías en circuitos centrados en la demanda china. Es la existencia previa de estos mercados globales —concentrados en la plata y el “oro blando” –o pieles de nutria marina— la que explica la presencia de europeos y estadounidenses en California en 1848 ávidos por buscar el metal dorado.

 

Palabras clave: comercio de pieles , economía del Pacífico , imperialismo ecológico , imperio español

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