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Manila galleon

Galeón de Manila
Manila galleon (c. 1590 Boxer Codex)
Native name Spanish: Galeón de Manila, Filipino: Galyon ng Maynila
English nameManila galleon
DurationFrom 1565 to 1815 (250 years)
VenueBetween Manila and Acapulco
LocationNew Spain (Spanish Empire)
(current Mexico)
Also known asNao de China or Galeón de Acapulco[1]
MotiveTrading maritime route from East Indies to the Americas
Organised bySpanish Crown

The Manila galleon (Spanish: Galeón de Manila; Filipino: Galyon ng Maynila) refers to the Spanish trading ships that linked the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies to Mexico (New Spain), across the Pacific Ocean. The ships made one or two round-trip voyages per year between the ports of Manila and Acapulco from the late 16th to early 19th century.[2] The term "Manila galleon" can also refer to the trade route itself between Manila and Acapulco that was operational from 1565 to 1815.[1]

The Manila galleon trade route was inaugurated 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 galleons set sail from Cavite, in Manila Bay, at the end of June or the first week of July, sailing through the northern Pacific and reaching Acapulco in March to April of the next calendar year. The return route from Acapulco passes through lower latitudes closer to the equator, stopping over in the Marianas, then sailing onwards through the San Bernardino Strait off Cape Espiritu Santo in Samar and then to Manila Bay and anchoring again off Cavite by June or July.[1][3] The trade using "Urdaneta's route" lasted until 1815, when the Mexican War of Independence broke out. The majority of these galleons were built and loaded in shipyards in Cavite, utilizing native hardwoods like the Philippine teak, with sails produced in Ilocos, and with the rigging and cordage made from salt-resistant Manila hemp. The vast majority of the galleon's crew consisted of Filipino natives; many of whom were farmers, street children, or vagrants press-ganged into service as sailors. The officers and other skilled crew were usually Spaniards (a high percentage of whom were of Basque descent). The galleons were state vessels and thus the cost of their construction and upkeep was borne by the Spanish Crown.[3][4]

The galleons mostly carried cargoes of Chinese and other Asian luxury goods in exchange for New World silver. Silver prices in Asia were substantially higher than in America, leading to an arbitrage opportunity for the Manila galleon. Every space of the galleons were packed tightly with cargo, even spaces outside the holds like the decks, cabins, and magazines. In extreme cases, they towed barges filled with more goods. While this resulted in slow passage (that sometimes resulted in shipwrecks or turning back), the profit margins were so high that it was commonly practiced.[3] These goods included Indian ivory and precious stones, Chinese silk and porcelain, cloves from the Moluccas islands, cinnamon, ginger, lacquers, tapestries and perfumes from all over Asia. In addition, slaves (collectively known as "chinos") from various parts of Asia (mainly slaves bought from the Portuguese slave markets and Muslim captives from the Spanish–Moro conflict) were also transported from the Manila slave markets to Mexico.[5] Free indigenous Filipinos also migrated to Mexico via the galleons (including galleon crew that jumped ship), comprising the majority of free Asian settlers ("chinos libres") in Mexico, particularly in regions near the terminal ports of the Manila galleons.[5][6] The route also fostered cultural exchanges that shaped the identities and the culture of the countries involved.[1]

The Manila galleons were also known colloquially in New Spain as La Nao de China ("The China Ship"), because they carried mostly Chinese goods shipped from Manila.[3][7][8][9] The Manila Galleon route was an early instance of globalization, representing a trade route from Asia that crossed to the Americas, thereby connecting all the world's continents in global silver trade.[10]

In 2015, the Philippines and Mexico began preparations for the nomination of the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Trade Route in the UNESCO World Heritage List with backing from Spain, which has also suggested the tri-national nomination of the archives on the Manila–Acapulco Galleons in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

  1. ^ a b c d (in Spanish). "El Galeón de Manila. La ruta española que unió tres continentes". Fundación Museo Naval. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. ^ Williams, Glyn (1999). The Prize of All the Oceans. New York: Viking. p. 4. ISBN 0-670-89197-5.
  3. ^ a b c d Hayes, John D. (1934). "The Manila Galleons". United States Naval Institute Proceedings. 60 (12): 382.
  4. ^ La Follette, Cameron; Deur, Douglas; Gonzalez, Esther (2018). "The Galleon's Final Journey: Accounts of Ship, Crew, and Passengers in the Colonial Archives". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 119 (2): 210–249. doi:10.5403/oregonhistq.119.2.0210.
  5. ^ a b Seijas, Tatiana (2014). Asian slaves in colonial Mexico: from Chinos to Indians. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107063129.
  6. ^ Carrillo, Rubén. "Asia llega a América. Migración e influencia cultural asiática en Nueva España (1565-1815)". raco.cat. Asiadémica. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  7. ^ Bernabéu Albert, Salvador, ed. (2013). La Nao de China, 1565-1815. Navegación, comercio e intercambios culturales. Universidad de Sevilla. ISBN 8447215377, 9788447215379.
  8. ^ "La Nao de China: The Spanish Treasure Fleet System". Guampedia. November 4, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  9. ^ Stampa, Manuel Carrera (1959). "La Nao de la China". Historia Mexicana. 9 (1): 97–118. JSTOR 25134990.
  10. ^ Flynn, Dennis O.; Arturo Giráldez (2010). China and the Birth of Globalization in the 16th Century. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

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