During the eighteenth century, a time of almost constant international warfare, European states had to borrow money to finance their military operations. Servicing public debt demanded the collection of more taxes in a newly efficient manner, resulting in the emergence of what scholars call European "tax states." This book examines a different kind of state finance, based on voluntary donations rather than taxes.
Relying on Spanish and Argentine archival research, the author analyzes the "gifts" (donativos) that residents of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, or colonial Argentina,...
During the eighteenth century, a time of almost constant international warfare, European states had to borrow money to finance their military operatio...
