Junta do Comércio

Junta do Comércio (Portuguese Board of Trade), established in 1755 to replace the mesa do bem commun, whose members had vigorously opposed the crown's formation of monopoly companies. The marquês de Pombal established the Junta do Comércio as a principal part of his strategy to reinvigorate Portugal's economy by creating a central agency that would coordinate the empire's commercial activity. The Junta's statutes, confirmed in 1756, called for a provedor (superintendent), secretary, procurador (advocate), six deputies (four from Lisbon and two from Porto) together with a judge conservator, and a solicitor of the exchequer. Only well-established businessmen who were Portuguese-born or naturalized could be appointed deputies. The Junta's commission authorized it to supervise "all affairs connected with the commerce and navigation of these kingdoms and dominions." It administrated the Brazil fleets and customhouses, set freight prices, issued passports, oversaw the loading and unloading of cargoes to prevent contraband, and managed the proceedings surrounding bankruptcies. In 1759 it helped establish the Aula de Comércio (Commercial School) to train aspiring merchants. Eventually, it licensed the operation of Lisbon's shops and oversaw apprentice training.

The Junta's charge soon went beyond administrating commerce to directly influencing economic policy. After 1700 it became the basic administrative organ for stimulating Pombal's industrial program by channeling funds and giving special privileges to public and private enterprises. Industries such as cotton and glass manufacturing and the production of luxury goods like silk, china, and jewelry were encouraged toward the goal of making Portugal independent of foreign manufactures. After Pombal's fall, the Junta do Comércio went into eclipse as his successors reversed his centralized administrative structure. In 1788 it became a royal tribunal with the title Real Junta do Comércio, Agricultura, Fabricas, e Navegação, but with considerably less real power, and was finally dissolved in 1834.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kenneth Maxwell, Conflicts and Conspiracies: Brazil and Portugal, 1750–1808 (1973).

Joel Serrão, ed., Dicionário de história de Portugal, vol. 2. (1979).

Additional Bibliography

Colmenares, Germán. Partidos políticos y clases sociales. Santafé de Bogotá: Universidad del Valle: Banco de la República: Colciencias: TM Editores, 1997.

Llano Isaza, Rodrigo. Los draconianos: Origen popular del liberalismo colombiano. Bogotá: Planeta, 2005.

                                        William Donovan