Lisbon played a central role in the development of the Age of Sail. Throughout the 15th century, a series of Portuguese navigators had established sailing routes between Europe and Asia via the coast of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. This culminated in Vasco de Gama’s 1497-99 voyage from Lisbon to Kozhikode, India, finally opening naval trading between the West and the East. Smith himself notes that this expansion – aimed at breaking Venetian supremacy over trade with the East – generated great wealth for Portugal. Around the same time, Spanish explorers had established contact with the Americas, and Portugal soon developed colonies both in the New World and in Asia. Lisbon provided an ideal port from which to set off for both.
Yet despite its centrality to both Eastern and Western trading routes, Lisbon in the mid-1770s was a city in flux. Rapid explosions in population over the preceding centuries had left the city with a severe overcrowding problem, poor city planning had created streets far too narrow for carriages, and sewage disposal had been neglected. An earthquake in 1755, along with a resultant tsunami and firestorm, had almost completely destroyed the city. For many young men, this decline meant the trading ships provided one of the few opportunities for steady work, even for those without experience. In fact, many sailors’ first voyage was a trans-Atlantic voyage to the Americas. In the Wealth of Nations, Smith notes another problem. Though the discovery of rich and fertile colonies had provided Portugal with great wealth, it came at a cost: a decline in domestic manufacturing and development (WN IV.vii.c.53).
Image: “Lisbon, Ville Capitale de Royaume du Portugal,” engraving by Pierre Aveline, public domain