GALLEON TRADE

“The Manila Galleon was… the first medium to reduce the world to a village.”- Nick Joaquin (1990)

When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our ancestors were already trading with China, Japan, Siam, India, Cambodia, Borneo and the Moluccas. The Spanish government continued trade relations with these countries, and the Manila became the center of commerce in the East. The Spaniards closed the ports of Manila to all countries except Mexico. Thus, the Manila–Acapulco Trade, better known as the “Galleon Trade" was born. The Galleon Trade was a government monopoly.

The History . . . .

it was the longest shipping line in history

lasted for two and a half centuries after Legazpi’s settlement in Cebu, from 1565 to 1815.

The Galleon Trade . . . .

108 galleons were used, and of this number, 30 were lost by shipwreck

It made Manila the first primate city in Southeast Asia by the early seventeenth century

Basically a trade between Mexico and China through the Pacific Ocean with Manila as its stopover and/or transshipment port

The first global transaction that opened the East to the West for a period of 250 years,

The Galleon Trade . . . .

The trade saw an exchange of goods between Mexico and China

Mexican silver was the principal product delivered to China

The majority of the Manila Galleons sunk in the Philippines and surrounding areas, including China and Japan.

Most of the galleons were built in the Philippines and only 8 in Mexico.

The Galleon Trade . . . .

In 1568,Miguel Lopez de Legazpi’s own ship the San Pablo (300 tons) was the 1st Galleon to be wrecked in route to Mexico.

The Philippines was considered interestingly as “a colony of a colony” with Mexico as the most favored colony of Spain renamed as Nueva España or New Spain

The Philippines was for the first 200 years under Mexico receiving and annual subsidy known as the “situado”

A colony of a colony. . . .

From a broad economic point of view, the Philippines through the era of the galleon trade became part of what has been called the first-world economy of modern times, namely, that based on Seville and the Atlantic.

The Pacific trade moved in phase with economic activity in the Atlantic.

The galleon trade was more of the result than the cause of the ups and downs in the economy of the Spanish Empire.

The Philippines whose geographical position as an outlier of the Southeast Asian island arc had made it in Pre-Hispanic times among the last to receive some of the major cultural influences of the region, now found itself in a position to gather together trade flows from many directions.

General view. . . .

It attracts…

It attracts…

spices

Exchanging them for silver from the New World

Exchanging them for silver from the New World

cottons

silk

ivory

Spice trade . . . .Trade served as the fundamental income-generating

business for Spanish colonists living in the Philippine Islands.

A total of 110 Manila galleons set sail in the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade (1565 to 1815).

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

Until 1593, three or more ships would set sail annually from each port.

With such limitations, it was essential to build the largest possible galleons, which were the largest class of ships known to have been built anywhere up to that time.

In the 16th century, they averaged from 1,700 to 2,000 tons, were built of Philippine hardwoods and could carry a thousand passengers.

An "armada", an armed escort was also allowed.

The galleons carried . . .

spices

lacquer ware

ivory

porcelain

East Asia trading primarily on a silver standard, the goods were mostly bought by Mexican silver.

It took four months to sail across the Pacific Ocean from Manila to Acapulco, and the galleons were the main link between the Philippines and the vice regal capital at Mexico City and thence to Spain itself.

The Manila galleons sailed the Pacific for nearly three centuries, bringing to Spain their cargoes of luxury goods, economic benefits, and cultural exchange.

Filipinos made up from 50 to 80 percent of the crews of the galleons and were paid less than Spanish sailors

They suffered from;

Filipinos in the Galleon Trade. . . .

the unaccustomed cold of the high latitudes from frauds delays in getting their wages bad treatment aboard

The last half century of the Galleon Trade was a period in which Spain introduced new economic initiatives but Spain also embroiled in a series of war and there is some haziness about trends at that time.

The last years of the Trade. . . .

In 1586, there had been 194 shippers sending cargo on the annual galleon. Two centuries later, there only 28. By then, there were notorious inequalities of fortune among Manila’s citizen.

By the 1790’s the Galleon Trade had fallen the hard times. New efforts to promote trade liberalization and economic development had been made under Charles III.

The last years of the Trade. . . .

The Mexican War of independence broke out in 1810, and 1813 the Mexican patriot Morelos took and held Acapulco for few months;

during this occupation, the Manila Galleon was prevented from unloading and had to retire to San Blas up the coast.

Finally, a conservative position was taken in a decree of September 14, 1813; the Galleon Trade was to be discontinued, but in its place private Philippine ships could trade at Acapulco.

The last years of the Trade. . . .

The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade earned for the Filipinos the reputation as the “Ablest Asiatic Seamen”

The Galleon Trade between Manila and Acapulco opened the Philippines to the world.

The galleons attracted avid attention of various and sundry freebooters, pirates, privateers, and ultimately state navies.

The disadvantage . . .

A Royal Order in 1582 cut off the Peruvian Trade, followed by laws passed in 1591, 1592, 1593, 1595 and 1604 prohibiting trade between China and the Philippines with all of Spain’s American possession except Mexico. To ensure that no Asian silks reached Peru.

The Restrictive System. . .

a.) Necessary to measure cargo space in the galleons and allot rights to such space to shippers.

In carrying the Restrictive System,. . .

b.) The right to ship on the galleon was represented by a boleta - a ticket corresponding to one pieza for a value of 125 pesos

c.) The distribution of boleta was handled differently at different times.

A full evaluation of the galleon trade lies beyond the scope of the present work, but some points can be made briefly.Despite the charge of industrial neglect, the galleons to the end carried Philippine textiles, which could not be said of subsequent phases of the trade.

A Brief Appraisal . . . .

Have been the establishment of Manila as the first primate city in Southeast Asia

The incorporation of the Philippines into the first modern world economy based on Seville and the Atlantic

Schurz, William Lytle, The Manila Galleon

References ;

www.wikipedia.comLegarda, After the Galleons