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188 to shake itself free from the past, and they show the origin of many of the limitations under which commerce continues even to the present day.

Like other colonizing nations of the age of discovery, Spain sought to keep for herself all the advantages of her new possessions. To do so, she shut out all but Spaniards, and even trade with Spain was allowed only under strict regulation. Seville and Cadiz were made the only ports of entry in the home country, and only through Vera Cruz could the commerce pass into Mexico. This system of control lasted, with few exceptions, for about two and a half centuries. There were violations by large numbers of smugglers, but in theory there was but one recognized door through which the regular trade of Mexico could pass. Boats first went out singly, but later, for mutual protection against pirates and to avoid frauds in the revenue, they were required to sail in fleets. Not until the so-called ordinance of free commerce issued by Carlos III on October 12, 1778, did the old system nominally come to an end.

Concerning the character and value of this early trade there are no satisfactory data. For the first 50 years little more than an average of one boat a year went to Mexico, taking a cargo largely made up of supplies and armament and returning with native products about the character of which there is little available information. For the two centuries preceding 1778 the records are almost equally unsatisfactory. There appears to have been a steady rise in the tonnage of the fleets sent in the