Manila galleon
Native name | Spanish: Galeón de Manila, Filipino: Galyon ng Maynila |
---|---|
English name | Manila galleon |
Duration | From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) |
Venue | Between Manila and Acapulco |
Location | New Spain (Spanish Empire) (current Mexico) |
Also known as | Nao de China or Galeón de Acapulco |
Motive | Trading maritime route from East Indies to the Americas |
Organised by | Spanish Crown |
The Manila galleon (
The term "Manila galleon" can also refer to the trade route itself between Acapulco and Manila that was operational from 1565 to 1815.[2]
The galleons sailed the Pacific, bringing to the Americas cargoes of Chinese and other Asian luxury goods such as spices and porcelain in exchange for New World silver. In addition, Filipino slaves known as "chinos esclavos" ("Chinese slaves") came across the Pacific to Mexico in what is known as the trans-Pacific slave trade.[4][5] The route also fostered cultural exchanges that shaped the identities and the culture of the countries involved.[2]
The Manila galleons were known in New Spain as La Nao de China ("The China Ship") on their voyages from the Spanish East Indies because they carried mostly Chinese goods shipped from Manila.[6][7] The Manila Galleon route was the first instance of globalization, as it marked the earliest period in history when a trade route from Asia crossed to the Americas, thereby connecting all the world's continents in one global silver trade.[8]
The Spanish inaugurated the Manila galleon trade route in 1565 after the Augustinian friar and navigator Andrés de Urdaneta pioneered the tornaviaje or return route from the Philippines to Mexico. Urdaneta and Alonso de Arellano made the first successful round trips that year, by taking advantage of the Kuroshio Current. The trade using "Urdaneta's route" lasted until 1815, when the Mexican War of Independence broke out.
In 2015, the Philippines and Mexico began preparations for the nomination of the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Trade Route in the
History
Discovery of the route
In 1521, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan sailed west across the Pacific using the westward trade winds. The expedition discovered the Mariana Islands and the Philippines and claimed them for Spain. Although Magellan was killed by natives commanded by Lapulapu during the battle of Mactan, one of his ships, the Victoria, made it back to Spain by continuing westward.
To settle and trade with these islands from the Americas, an eastward maritime return path was necessary. The
The Manila–Acapulco galleon trade finally began when Spanish navigators
Reaching the west coast of North America, Urdaneta's ship, the San Pedro, hit the coast near Santa Catalina Island, California, then followed the shoreline south to San Blas and later to Acapulco, arriving on October 8, 1565.[12] Most of his crew died on the long initial voyage, for which they had not sufficiently provisioned. Arellano, who had taken a more southerly route, had already arrived.
The English privateer Francis Drake also reached the California coast, in 1579. After capturing a Spanish ship heading for Manila, Drake turned north, hoping to meet another Spanish treasure ship coming south on its return from Manila to Acapulco. He failed in that regard, but staked an English claim somewhere on the northern California coast. Although the ship's log and other records were lost, the officially accepted location is now called Drakes Bay, on Point Reyes south of Cape Mendocino.[a][21]
By the 18th century, it was understood that a less northerly track was sufficient when nearing the North American coast, and galleon navigators steered well clear of the rocky and often fogbound northern and central California coast. According to historian William Lytle Schurz, "They generally made their landfall well down the coast, somewhere between Point Conception and Cape San Lucas ... After all, these were preeminently merchant ships, and the business of exploration lay outside their field, though chance discoveries were welcomed".[22]
The first motivation for land exploration of present-day California was to scout out possible way stations for the seaworn Manila galleons on the last leg of their journey. Early proposals came to little, but in 1769, the
The Manila galleon and California
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2020) |
Monterey, California, was about two months and three weeks out from Manila in the 18th century, and the galleon tended to stop there 40 days before arriving in Acapulco. Galleons stopped in Monterey prior to California's Spanish settlement in 1769; however, visits became regular between 1777 and 1794 because the Crown ordered the galleon to stop in Monterey.[23]
Trade
Trade with Ming China via Manila served as a major source of revenue for the Spanish Empire and as a fundamental source of income for Spanish colonists in the Philippine Islands. Galleons used for the trade between East and West were crafted by Filipino artisans.[24] Until 1593, two or more ships would set sail annually from each port.[25] The Manila trade became so lucrative that Seville merchants petitioned king Philip II of Spain to protect the monopoly of the Casa de Contratación based in Seville. This led to the passing of a decree in 1593 that set a limit of two ships sailing each year from either port, with one kept in reserve in Acapulco and one in Manila. An "armada", or armed escort of galleons, was also approved. Due to official attempts to control the galleon trade, contraband and understating of ships' cargoes became widespread.[26]
The galleon trade was supplied by merchants largely from port areas of
In addition, slaves of various origins, including East Africa, Portuguese India, the Muslim sultanates of Southeast Asia, and the Spanish Philippines, were transported from Manila and sold in New Spain. African slaves were categorized as negros or cafres while all slaves of Asian origin were called chinos. The lack of detailed records makes it difficult to estimate the total number of slaves transported or the proportions of slaves from each region.[29]
Galleons transported goods to be sold in the Americas, namely in
The cargoes arrived in Acapulco and were transported by land across Mexico. Mule trains would carry the goods along the China Road from Acapulco first to the administrative center of Mexico City, then on to the port of
The trade of goods and exchanges of people were not limited to Mexico and the Philippines, since Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru also served as supplementary streams to the main one between Mexico and Philippines.[31]
Around 80% of the goods shipped back from Acapulco to Manila were from the Americas – silver, cochineal, seeds, sweet potato, corn, tomato, tobacco, chickpeas, chocolate and cocoa, watermelon seeds, vines, and fig trees. The remaining 20% were goods transshipped from Europe and North Africa such as wine and olive oil, and metal goods such as weapons, knobs and spurs.[28]
This Pacific route was the alternative to the trip west across the Indian Ocean, and around the Cape of Good Hope, which was reserved to Portugal according to the Treaty of Tordesillas. It also avoided stopping over at ports controlled by competing powers such as Portugal and the Netherlands. From the early days of exploration, the Spanish knew that the American continent was much narrower across the Panamanian isthmus than across Mexico. They tried to establish a regular land crossing there, but the thick jungle and tropical diseases such as yellow fever and malaria made it impractical.[citation needed]
It took at least four months to sail across the Pacific Ocean from Manila to Acapulco, and the galleons were the main link between the Philippines and the viceregal capital at
In Manila, the safety of ocean crossings was commended to the virgin
Economic shocks due to the arrival of Spanish-American silver in China were among the factors that led to the end of the Ming dynasty.
End of the galleons
In 1740, as part of the administrative changes of the Bourbon Reforms, the Spanish crown began allowing the use of registered ships or navíos de registro in the Pacific. These ships traveled solo, outside the convoy system of the galleons. While these solo voyages would not immediately replace the galleon system, they were more efficient and better able to avoid being captured by the Royal Navy of Great Britain.[34]
In 1813, the
The Manila–Acapulco galleon trade ended in 1815, a few years before Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. After this, the Spanish Crown took direct control of the Philippines, and governed directly from Madrid. Sea transport became easier in the mid-19th century after the invention of steam powered ships and the opening of the Suez Canal, which reduced the travel time from Spain to the Philippines to 40 days.
Galleons
Construction
Between 1609 and 1616, nine galleons and six galleys were constructed in Philippine shipyards. The average cost was 78,000 pesos per galleon and at least 2,000 trees. The galleons constructed included the San Juan Bautista, San Marcos, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, Angel de la Guardia, San Felipe, Santiago, Salbador, Espiritu Santo, and San Miguel. "From 1729 to 1739, the main purpose of the Cavite shipyard was the construction and outfitting of the galleons for the Manila to Acapulco trade run."[35]
Due to the route's high profitability but long voyage time, it was essential to build the largest possible galleons, which were the largest class of European ships known to have been built until then.
Crews
Sailors averaged age 28 or 29 while the oldest were between 40 and 50. Ships' pages were children who entered service mostly at age 8, many orphans or poor taken from the streets of Seville, Mexico and Manila. Apprentices were older than the pages and if successful would be certified as sailor at age 20. Mortality rates were high with ships arriving in Manila with a majority of their crew often dead from starvation, disease and scurvy, especially in the early years, so Spanish officials in Manila found it difficult to find men to crew their ships to return to Acapulco. Many indios of Filipino and Southeast Asian origin made up the majority of the crew. Other crew were made up of deportees and criminals from Spain and the colonies. Many criminals were sentenced to serve as crew on royal ships. Less than a third of the crew was Spanish and they usually held key positions aboard the galleon.[38]
At port, goods were unloaded by dockworkers, and food was often supplied locally. In Acapulco, the arrival of the galleons provided seasonal work, as for dockworkers who were typically free black men highly paid for their back breaking labor, and for farmers and haciendas across Mexico who helped stock the ships with food before voyages. On land, travelers were often housed at inns or mesones, and had goods transported by muleteers, which provided opportunities for indigenous people in Mexico. By providing for the galleons, Spanish colonial America was tied into the broader global economy.[30]
Shipwrecks
The wrecks of the Manila galleons are legends second only to the wrecks of treasure ships in the Caribbean. In 1568, Miguel López de Legazpi's own ship, the San Pablo (300 tons), was the first Manila galleon to be wrecked en route to Mexico. Between the years 1576 when the Espiritu Santo was lost and 1798 when the San Cristobal (2) was lost, twenty Manila galleons[39] wrecked within the Philippine archipelago. In 1596 the San Felipe was wrecked in Japan.
At least one galleon, probably the Santo Cristo de Burgos, is believed to have wrecked on the coast of Oregon in 1693. Known as the Beeswax wreck, the event is described in the oral histories of the Tillamook and Clatsop, which suggest that some of the crew survived.[40][41][42]
Captures
Between 1565 and 1815, 108 ships operated as Manila galleons, of which 26 were captured or sunk by the enemy during wartime, including the Santa Ana captured in 1587 by
Possible contact with Hawaii
Over 250 years, there were hundreds of Manila galleon crossings of the Pacific Ocean between present-day Mexico and the Philippines, with their route taking them just south of the
This navigational activity poses the question as to whether Spanish explorers did arrive in the Hawaiian Islands two centuries before Captain James Cook's first visit in 1778. Ruy López de Villalobos commanded a fleet of six ships that left Acapulco in 1542 with a Spanish sailor named Ivan Gaetan or Juan Gaetano aboard as pilot. Depending on the interpretation, Gaetano's reports seem to describe the discovery of either Hawaii or the Marshall Islands in 1555.[45] If it was Hawaii, Gaetano would have been one of the first Europeans to find the islands.
The westward route from Mexico passed south of Hawaii, making a short stopover in Guam before heading for Manila. The exact route was kept secret to protect the Spanish trade monopoly against competing powers, and to avoid Dutch and English pirates. Due to this policy of discretion, if the Spanish did find Hawaii during their voyages, they would not have published their findings and the discovery would have remained unknown. From Gaetano's account, the Hawaiian islands were not known to have any valuable resources, so the Spanish would not have made an effort to settle them.
The theory that the first European visitors to Hawaii were Spanish is reinforced by the findings of
concerned seven foreigners who landed eight generations earlier at
Hawaiians, most helpful to those who were most helpless, received them kindly. The strangers ultimately married into the families of chiefs, but their names could not be included in genealogies".[45]
Some scholars, particularly American, have dismissed these claims as lacking credibility.[47][48] Debate continues as to whether the Hawaiian Islands were actually visited by the Spanish in the 16th century[49] with researchers like Richard W. Rogers looking for evidence of Spanish shipwrecks.[50][51]
Preparations for UNESCO nominations
In 2010, the Philippines foreign affairs secretary organized a diplomatic reception attended by at least 32 countries, for discussions about the historic galleon trade and the possible establishment of a galleon museum. Various Mexican and Filipino institutions and politicians also made discussions about the importance of the galleon trade in their shared history.[52]
In 2013, the Philippines released a documentary regarding the Manila galleon trade route.[53]
In 2014, the idea to nominate the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Trade Route as a
In 2015, the Unesco National Commission of the Philippines (Unacom) and the Department of Foreign Affairs organized an expert's meeting to discuss the trade route's nomination. Some of the topics presented include the Spanish colonial shipyards in Sorsogon, underwater archaeology in the Philippines, the route's influences on Filipino textile, the galleon's eastward trip from the Philippines to Mexico called tornaviaje, and the historical dimension of the galleon trade focusing on important and rare archival documents.[55]
In 2017, the Philippines established the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Museum in Metro Manila, one of the necessary steps in nominating the trade route to UNESCO.[56]
In 2018, Mexico reopened its Manila galleon gallery at the Archaeological Museum of Puerto Vallarta, Cuale.[57]
In 2020, Mexico released a documentary regarding the Manila galleon trade route.[58]
See also
- Asian Mexicans – Ethnic group of Asian-descending Mexicans
- Battles of La Naval de Manila – Naval battle of the Eighty Years' War
- Bernardo de la Torre – Spanish navigator (d. 1545)
- Chamorro people – Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands
- Filipino immigration to Mexico – Overview of immigration along the Galleon Route
- Global silver trade from the 16th to 19th centuries – International trade route carrying silver
- History of the Philippines (1521–1898)– Spanish colonial period of the Philippines
- History of the west coast of North America
- Landing of the first Filipinos– Arrival of Filipinos to the current United States in 1587
- María de Lajara – Spanish noble
- Mexican settlement in the Philippines – Mesoamerican peoples in the Southeast Asian country
- Pedro Cubero – Spanish missionary
- Pedro de Unamuno – Spanish soldier and explorer
- Spanish East Indies – Spanish territory in Asia-Pacific from 1565 until 1901
- Spanish Main – Historical region known as the Spanish West Indies
- Spanish treasure fleet – Convoy system used by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790
Notes
- ^ The Drakes Cove site began its review by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1994, thus starting an 18-year study of the suggested Drake sites. The first formal nomination to mark the Nova Albion site at Drake's Cove as a National Historic Landmark was provided to NPS on January 1, 1996. As part of its review, NPS obtained independent, confidential comments from professional historians. The NPS staff concluded that the Drake's Cove site is the "most probable"[13] and "most likely"[14][15][16][17] Drake landing site. The National Park System Advisory Board Landmarks Committee sought public comments on the Port of Nova Albion Historic and Archaeological District Nomination[18] and received more than two dozen letters of support and none in opposition. At the Committee's meeting of November 9, 2011, in Washington, DC, representatives of the government of Spain, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Congresswoman Lynn Wolsey all spoke in favor of the nomination: there was no opposition. Staff and the Drake Navigators Guild's president, Edward Von der Porten, gave the presentation. The Nomination was strongly endorsed by committee member Dr. James M. Allan, Archaeologist, and the Committee as a whole which approved the nomination unanimously. The National Park System Advisory Board sought further public comments on the Nomination,[19] but no additional comments were received. At the Board's meeting on December 1, 2011, in Florida, the nomination was further reviewed: the Board approved the nomination unanimously. On October 16, 2012, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed the nomination and on October 17, 2012, The Drakes Bay Historic and Archaeological District was formally announced as a new National Historic Landmark.[20]
References
- ^ Bernabéu Albert, Salvador, ed. (2013). La Nao de China, 1565-1815. Navegación, comercio e intercambios culturales. Universidad de Sevilla. ISBN 8447215377, 9788447215379.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m (in Spanish). "El Galeón de Manila. La ruta española que unió tres continentes". Fundación Museo Naval. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ISBN 0-670-89197-5.
- ^ https://glocat.geneseo.edu/discovery/fulldisplay/alma995443659904833/01SUNY_GEN:01SUNY_GEN
- ^ https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/edcoll/9789004346611/BP000055.xml
- ^ "La Nao de China: The Spanish Treasure Fleet System". Guampedia. November 4, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
- JSTOR 25134990.
- ^ Flynn, Dennis O.; Arturo Giráldez (2010). China and the Birth of Globalization in the 16th Century. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
- ISSN 0212-467X. Retrieved November 19, 2020. The letter is referenced as Rodríguez Rodríguez, I.; Álvarez Fernández, J. (1991). Andrés de Urdaneta, agustino. En carreta sobre el Pacífico [Andrés de Urdaneta, Augustinian. By cart over the Pacific] (in Spanish). Zamora. p. 181.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Osborne 2013, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Osborne 2013, p. 31.
- ISBN 9781550548655.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "University of California Archaeological Site Survey Record, Mrn-230". Winepi.com. Archived from the original (DOC) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ "A Brief History of Scholarship Relating to Drake's Port of Nova Albion". Winepi.com. Archived from the original (DOC) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
- ^ "National Historic Landmarks Property Name: Drakes Bay Historic and Archeological District". Winepi.com. Archived from the original (DOC) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
- ^ "Landmarks Committee of the National Park System Advisory Board Meeting". Federal Register. September 8, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ "Federal Register, Volume 76 Issue 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2011)". Govinfo.gov. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ "Interior Designates 27 New National Landmarks". Doi.gov. October 17, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ "The Drake Navigators Guild Press Release". Winepi.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
- ^ Schurz 1917, p.107-108
- ^ Schurz, William Lytle (1939). The Manila Galleon. New York: E. P. Dutton.[clarification needed]
- ^ Medillo, Robert Joseph P. (June 19, 2015). "Forgotten history? The polistas of the Galleon Trade". Rappler.
- ^ Schurz, William Lytle (1939). The Manila Galleon, p. 193.
- ^ ISBN 9780307596727
- ISBN 0-520-21091-3
- ISBN 978-0-307-59672-7
- ^ a b Mejia, Javier. "The Economics of the Manila Galleon". New York University, Abu Dhabi.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 978-1-139-95285-9.
- Rose, Christopher (January 13, 2016). "Episode 76: The Trans-Pacific Slave Trade". 15 Minute History. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ S2CID 163214741.
- ^ Schottenhammer, Angela (2019). "Connecting China with the Pacific World". Orientierungen: Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens. 31: 144–145 – via Academia.edu.
- ISBN 0549122869
- ^ Mehl, Eva Maria (2016). Forced Migration in the Spanish Pacific World, p. 235. Cambridge University Press.
- OCLC 1015274908.
- ^ ISBN 9781456775421.
- ^ See Chinese treasure ship for Chinese vessels that might have been larger.
- S2CID 204432430.
- ^ Leon-Guerrero, Jillette (November 4, 2015). "Manila Galleon Crew Members". Guampedia. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ "Shipwrecks of the Philippines". Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ISBN 978-981-10-0904-4. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- S2CID 165790449. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- S2CID 165403120.
- ^ Fish, Shirley (2011). The Manila-Acapulco Galleons: the Treasure Ships of the Pacific: With an Annotated List of the Transpacific Galleons 1565-1815, p. 510. AuthorHouse. ISBN 145677543X, 9781456775438. Google Books. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ISBN 0060932643.
- ^ ISBN 0-8248-1829-6.
- ^ "Hawaii Nature Notes the Publication of the Naturalist Division, Hawaii National Park and the Hawaii Natural History Association". The Publication of the Naturalist Division, Hawaii National Park, and the Hawaii Natural History Association. June 1959. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014.
- ISBN 0824812336
- doi:10.2307/1794586
- ISBN 0-312-42260-1
- ^ Rogers, Richard W. (1999). Shipwrecks of Hawaii: A Maritime History of the Big Island. Pilialoha Press
- NARA.
- ^ Angara, Edgardo (October 18, 2014). "A Galleon Museum in Manila". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
- ^ Rodis, Rodel (October 26, 2013). "The Second Coming of Filipinos to America". Inquirer.net.
- ^ Galvez, Manny (July 5, 2015). "Spain backs inclusion of galleon trade route to World Heritage List". Philstar Global. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ Sembrano, Edgar Allan M. (April 26, 2015). "Historic Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade set for nomination to Unesco World Heritage List". Inquirer Lifestyle.
- ^ Fernandez, Butch (August 8, 2017). "Manila-Acapulco Galleon Museum rises in SM MOA". BusinessMirror.
- ^ "'El Galeón de Manila: The Spice Route' reopens museum in Puerto Vallarta". Vallarta Daily News. June 3, 2018.
- ^ Roa, Óscar (April 23, 2020). "En búsqueda del Galeón de Manila" [In search of the Manila Galleon]. ContraRéplica (in Spanish).
Sources
- Osborne, Thomas J. (2013). Pacific Eldorado: A History of Greater California. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-9454-9.
Further reading
- Bjork, Katharine (1998). "The Link that Kept the Philippines Spanish: Mexican Merchant Interests and the Manila Trade, 1571–1815." Journal of World History vol. 9, no. 1, 25–50.
- Carrera Stampa, Manuel (1959). "La Nao de la China." Historia Mexicana 9 no. 33, pp. 97-118.
- Gasch-Tomás, José Luis (2018). The Atlantic World and the Manila Galleon: Circulation, Market, and Consumption of Asian Goods in the Spanish Empires, 1565-1650. Leiden: Brill.
- Giraldez, Arturo (2015). The Age of Trade: The Manila Galleons and the Dawn of the Global Economy. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Luengo, Josemaria Salutan (1996). A History of the Manila-Acapulco Slave Trade, 1565–1815. Tubigon, Bohol: Mater Dei Publications.
- McCarthy, William J. (1993). "Between Policy and Prerogative: Malfeasance in the Inspection of the Manila Galleons at Acapulco, 1637." Colonial Latin American Historical Review 2, no. 2, pp. 163–83.
- Oropeza Keresey, Deborah (2007). "Los 'indios chinos' en la Nueva España: la inmigración de la Nao de China, 1565–1700." PhD dissertation, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Históricos.
- Rogers, R. (1999). Shipwreck of Hawai'i: a maritime history of the Big Island. Haleiwa, Hawaii: Pilialoha Publishing. ISBN 0967346703
- Schurz, William Lytle. (1917) "The Manila Galleon and California", Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 107–126
- Schurz, William Lytle (1939). The Manila Galleon. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
External links
- Findings from the wreck of Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion in the Marianas, 1638
- Metropolitan Museum: Manila Galleon
- Manila Galleons along the Californian coasts
- Asociación Cultural Galeón de Manila, Spanish-Philippine research group based in Madrid (in Spanish)