Encyclopedia
The
Manila galleons were
Spanish trading ships that sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean between
Manila in the
Philippines and
Acapulco in
New Spain . Service was inaugurated in 1565 and continued into the early
19th century. The
Mexican War of Independence and the
Napoleonic Wars put a permanent stop to the galleons. Though service was not inaugurated until almost 60 years after the death of
Christopher Columbus, the Manila galleons constitute the fulfillment of Columbus' dream of sailing west to go east to bring the riches of the Indies to Spain and the rest of Europe.
Discovery of the route
The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade began when
Andrés de Urdaneta, sailing in convoy under
Miguel López de Legazpi, discovered a return route from Cebu to
Mexico in 1565. Attempting the return, the fleet split up, some heading south. Urdaneta reasoned that the trade winds of the Pacific might move in a gyre as the Atlantic winds did. If in the Atlantic, ships made a wide swing to the west to pick up winds that would bring them back from
Madeira, then, he reasoned, by sailing far to the north before heading east, he would pick up trade winds to bring him back to the west coast of the New World. Though he sailed to 38 degrees North before turning east, his hunch paid off, and he hit the coast near Cape Mendocino,
California, then followed the coast south to Acapulco. Most of his crew died on the long initial voyage, for which they had not sufficiently provisioned.
By the eighteenth century it was understood that a less northerly track was sufficient, but galleon navigators steered well clear of the forbidding and rugged fogbound California coast; "they generally made their landfall well down the coast, somewhere between Point Concepcion 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."
The first motivation for exploration of Alta 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 the later eighteenth century several Manila galleons put in at
Monterey.
Spice trade
Trade served as the fundamental income-generating business for Spanish colonists living in Manila. A total of 110 Manila galleons set sail in the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade . Until 1593, three or more ships would set sail annually from each port. The Manila trade was becoming so lucrative that the merchants of
Seville petitioned Philip, complaining of their losses, and secured a law in 1593 that set a limit of only two ships to sail each year from either port, with one kept in reserve in Acapulco and one in Manila. An
armada, an armed escort was also allowed.
With such limitations, it was essential to build the largest possible galleons, which were the largest wooden ships ever built until that time. In the sixteenth century, they averaged from 1,700 to 2,000 tons, were built of Philippine hardwoods and might carry a thousand passengers. The
Concepcion, wrecked in 1638, was the largest Spanish ship built up to that time - 43 to 49 m long and displacing some 2,000 tons. Most of the ships were built in the Philippines and only eight in Mexico. The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade ended when Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, after which the Spanish crown took direct control of the Philippines.
The galleon carried
spices transshipped from the
Spice Islands to the south and
porcelain,
ivory,
lacquerware and processed silk cloth from
China and
Southeast Asia, to be sold in
European markets. Until Japan closed its doors in 1638, there was some trade with Japan as well. The cargoes were transported by land across Mexico to the port of
Veracruz on the
Caribbean, where they were loaded onto the Spanish treasure fleet bound for Spain. This route avoided the long and dangerous trip across the
Indian Ocean and around the
Cape of Good Hope, a route that was barred by the Dutch once they were in control of the
Cape Colony. 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
malaria made it impractical.
Europe longed for Chinese wares, but China was quite self-sufficient. The only product that Chinese markets really sought was the American silver from
Zacatecas and even from Potosí which would be shipped to Acapulco to be transshipped to Manila. It is estimated that as much as a third of the New World silver was going directly to China by this route. It took four months to sail across the
Pacific Ocean from Manila to Acapulco, and the galleon was the main link between the Philippines and the viceregal capital at
Mexico City and thence to Spain itself. Many of the Spaniards in the Philippines were actually of Mexican descent. In fact the Hispanic culture of the Philippines is closer to Mexican culture than any other. Even when Mexico finally gained its independence, the two nations still continued to trade, except for a brief lull during the
Spanish-American War. The Manila galleon sailed the Pacific for nearly three centuries, bringing to Spain their cargoes of luxury goods, economic benefits, and cultural exchange.
The wrecks of the Manila galleons are legends second only to the wrecks of treasure ships in the Caribbean. In 1568, Legazpi's own ship, the
San Pablo , was the first Manila galleon to be wrecked en route to Mexico.
Other names: Acapulco Galleon,
Nao de China.
See also
External links
- : illus. Spanish American arts influenced by the wares of China
References
- William Lytle Shurz, "the Manila Galleon and California" from Southwestern Historical Quarterly, vol 21.2
- Shurz, William Lytle, The Manila Galleon
