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127-489: The West Indies fleet was the first permanent transatlantic trade route in history. Similarly, the related Manila galleon trade was the first permanent trade route across the Pacific. The Spanish West and East Indies fleets are considered among the most successful naval operations in history and, from a commercial point of view, they made possible key components of today's global economy . Spanish ships had carried goods from

254-582: A gyre as the Atlantic winds did, they sailed north, going all the way to the 38th parallel north , off the east coast of Japan, before catching the westerlies that would take them back across the Pacific. He commanded a vessel which completed the eastward voyage in 129 days; this marked the opening of the Manila galleon trade. Reaching the west coast of North America , Urdaneta's ship, the San Pedro , hit

381-608: A 20% severance tax on gross value. From the raw materials extracted from the mines, coins called pieces of eight were fashioned at the Potosí mint. For Europeans, Peru– Bolivia was located in the Viceroyalty of Peru and was known as " Upper Peru " before becoming independent as part of Bolivia . Potosí was a mythical land of riches, it is mentioned in Miguel de Cervantes ' famous novel, Don Quixote (second part, chap. LXXI) as

508-448: A Potosí"), meaning "to be of great value". The rich mountain, Cerro Rico , produced an estimated 60% of all silver mined in the world during the second half of the 16th century. Potosí miners at first mined the rich oxidized ores with native silver and silver chloride ( cerargyrite ) that could be fed directly into smelting furnaces. Especially successful were the small clay "flower pot" furnaces called guayras , which had been used by

635-415: 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. By

762-613: A brief lull during the Spanish–American War . In Manila, the safety of ocean crossings was commended to the virgin Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga in masses held by the Archbishop of Manila. If the expedition was successful the voyagers would go to La Ermita (the church) to pay homage, and offer gold and other precious gems or jewelries from Hispanic countries to the image of the virgin. So it came to be that

889-442: A candle tied to their foreheads. Many of them died or were seriously injured due to falls, accidents, and the harsh conditions of the mine life. Illness was another danger: at such a high altitude, pneumonia was always a concern, especially given the extreme and rapid changes of temperature experienced by workers climbing from the heat of the deep shafts to the freezing elements of the surface at 16,000 feet, and mercury poisoning took

1016-537: A concerted effort to centralize the administration of Spanish America and more efficiently tax profits from overseas trade. One of these reforms was the granting of trading monopolies for certain regions to trading companies ran by peninsulares , such as the Guipuzcoan Company . Another involved the increased use of registered ships, or navíos de registro , traveling solo outside the fleet system to transport goods. These reforms gradually decreased reliance on

1143-473: A greater extent. According to his research, though as few as 4500 mitayos were actively laboring in the mines at any given time, this was due to the mita ordinaria system, in which the up to 13,500 men conscripted per year were divided into three parts, each working one out of every three weeks. In addition, many of the remaining mingas and wage workers were either mita ordinaria workers on their off weeks or former mitayos who remained in Potosí. Within

1270-529: A land of "extraordinary richness". One theory holds that the mint mark of Potosí (the letters "PTSI" superimposed on one another) is the origin of the dollar sign . The urban complex in the remote Andes was important enough to be designated a Villa Imperial in the hierarchy of Spanish urban settlements. Although in mountainous terrain, the core of Potosí was laid out in the standard Spanish grid pattern, where by 1610 some 3,000 Spaniards and 35,000 creoles, mostly male, were resident. Indigenous settlements outside

1397-861: A latitude 20° north of the westbound galleon route and its currents. However, Spanish exploration in the Pacific was paramount until the late 18th century. Spanish navigators discovered many islands including Guam , the Marianas , the Carolines and the Philippines in the North Pacific, as well as Tuvalu , the Marquesas , the Solomon Islands , New Guinea , and Easter Island in the South Pacific. Spanish navigators also discovered

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1524-471: A little over a century earlier. This only increased the burden on the remaining natives, and at some point in the 1600s, up to half of the eligible male population might find themselves working at Potosí. Nevertheless, the number of mitayos dropped to about 4,000 by 1689, prompting the Viceroy Duke of Palata to raise the number again through a new census and inclusion of new populations not subject to

1651-533: A painted boat with an awning or canopy over the stern. They were dressed in clothing of white and yellow, and one wore a sword at his side and a feather in his hat. On landing, they kneeled down in prayer. The 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". Some scholars, particularly American, have dismissed these claims as lacking credibility. Debate continues as to whether

1778-464: A regular land crossing there, but the thick jungle and tropical diseases such as yellow fever and malaria made it impractical. 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 Mexico City and thence to Spain itself. Many of the so-called "Kastilas" or Spaniards in

1905-510: A result of the extreme precipitation deficit during the winter months, with the resulting aridity leading to an increased diurnal temperature variation. Potosí is home to football teams Real and Nacional , which play their matches at the 32,000-capacity multi-purpose stadium Estadio Víctor Agustín Ugarte , one of the highest stadiums in the world. The city is served by Aeropuerto Capitán Nicolas Rojas , with commercial airline flights by Boliviana de Aviación , Bolivia's flag air carrier. There

2032-512: A system of convoys in response to the sacking of Havana by French privateers . The main procedures were established based on the recommendations of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés , an experienced admiral and personal adviser of King Philip II . The treasure fleets sailed along two sea lanes. The main one was the Caribbean Spanish West Indies fleet or Flota de Indias , which departed in two convoys from Seville , where

2159-600: A tax known as the quinto real or royal fifth. By the end of the 16th century, Spain became the richest country in Europe. Much of the wealth from this trade was used by the Spanish Habsburgs to finance armies to protect its European territories in the 16th and 17th centuries against the Ottoman Empire and most of the major European powers. The flow of precious metals in and out of Spain also stimulated

2286-469: A thunderous noise, whereas it does in Aymara . Thus, if Potosí encompasses the idea of a thunderous noise, the location would have an Aymaran root rather than a Quechuan. The actual sharp structure of the term is contrary to the nature of both Aymara and Quechua. Another explanation, given by several Quechua speakers, is that potoq is an onomatopoeic word that reproduces the sound of the hammer against

2413-770: A variety of goods from Japan, the Spanish part of the so-called Nanban trade , including Japanese fans , chests, screens , porcelain and lacquerware . 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

2540-623: Is a national secret. In November 2023 the Colombian government are looking to recover the treasure. The Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas ( de ) (English: Our Lady of Miracles ) which had collided with another ship in the fleet suffered damage to its hull and sunk into a coral reef off the Bahamas in January 1656. The ship's cargo with almost 3.5 million items was recovered between 1650s and 1990s, while latest discoveries would be exhibited at

2667-703: Is no authoritative etymology for the word Potosí . According to legend, in about 1462, Huayna Capac , the eleventh Sapa Inca of what by then was known as the Inca Empire "set out for Ccolque Porco and Andaccaua, the location of his mines from which were taken innumerable arrobas of silver" (an arroba is a Spanish unit of weight equivalent to approximately 25 lb (11 kg)). Before leaving there, he saw Potosí, and admiring its beauty and grandeur, he said (speaking to those of his Court): "This doubtless must have much silver in its heart"; whereby he subsequently ordered his vassals to go to Ccolque Porco ... and work

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2794-498: Is the largest urban center in the Department of Potosí. A growing city, Potosí is now famous for its well-preserved colonial architecture, and unusual geographic setting as one of the highest cities in the world. It features a rare cold highland climate, and is marked by its long dry period, and short but strong wet season. While famous for its dominance as a mining center in early Spanish colonial history, Potosí still sits at one of

2921-777: The Casa de Contratación was based, bound for ports such as Veracruz , Portobelo and Cartagena before making a rendezvous at Havana in order to return together to Spain. A secondary route was that of the Manila Galleons or Galeón de Manila , which linked the Philippines to Acapulco in Mexico across the Pacific Ocean . From Acapulco, the Asian goods were transhipped by mule train to Veracruz to be loaded onto

3048-466: The San Pedro from the 1733 fleet , after being found by treasure hunters, are now protected as Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves . The Capitana ( El Rubi ) was the flagship of the 1733 fleet; it ran aground during a hurricane near Upper Matecumbe Key , then sank. Three men died during the storm. Afterward, divers recovered most of the treasure aboard. The Capitana was the first of

3175-790: The Santa Anna by Thomas Cavendish in 1589, the Encarnación by Woodes Rogers in 1709, the Covadonga by George Anson in 1743, and the Santísima Trinidad in 1762. The attempts to take the Rosario in 1704 and the Begonia in 1710 were foiled. Wrecks of Spanish treasure ships, whether sunk in naval combat or, as was more usually the case, by storms (with the ones which occurred 1622, 1715 , 1733 and 1750 being among

3302-554: The 38th parallel at the Russian River . The frustration of these failures is shown in a letter sent in 1552 from Portuguese Goa by the Spanish missionary Francis Xavier to Simão Rodrigues asking that no more fleets attempt the New Spain–East Asia route, lest they be lost. Despite prior failures navigator Andrés de Urdaneta effectively persuaded Spanish officials in New Spain that a Philippines-Mexico trade route

3429-674: The Dutch admiral Piet Hein managed to capture an entire fleet, in the Battle in the Bay of Matanzas in 1628, after which its cargo was taken to the Dutch Republic . The English admiral Robert Blake twice attacked the fleet, in the Battle of Cádiz in 1656 and in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1657, but he captured only a single galleon and Spanish officers managed to prevent most of

3556-637: 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. 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

3683-523: The New World since Christopher Columbus 's first expedition of 1492. The organized system of convoys dates from 1564, but Spain sought to protect shipping prior to that by organizing protection around the largest Caribbean island, Cuba , and the maritime region of southern Spain and the Canary Islands because of attacks by pirates and foreign navies. In the 1560s, the Spanish government created

3810-467: The Pedro de Alvarado . The Manila–Acapulco galleon trade finally began when Spanish navigators Alonso de Arellano and Andrés de Urdaneta discovered the eastward return route in 1565. Sailing as part of the expedition commanded by Miguel López de Legazpi to conquer the Philippines in 1564, Urdaneta was given the task of finding a return route. Reasoning that the trade winds of the Pacific might move in

3937-565: 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

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4064-634: The Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos during their search for Terra Australis in the 17th century. 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

4191-639: The Portuguese slave markets and Muslim captives from the Spanish–Moro conflict ) were also transported from the Manila slave markets to Mexico. 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. The route also fostered cultural exchanges that shaped

4318-768: The San Diego , which was sunk in 1600 in Bahía de Manila by Oliver Van Noort ; Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación captured by Woodes Rogers in 1709; Nuestra Senora de la Covadonga captured in 1743 by George Anson ; Nuestra Senora de la Santisima Trinidad captured in 1762 by HMS Panther and HMS Argo at the Action of 30 October 1762 in the San Bernardino Strait ; San Sebastián and Santa Ana captured in 1753–54 by George Compton; and Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad , in 1762, by Samuel Cornish . Over 250 years, there were hundreds of Manila galleon crossings of

4445-816: 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 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

4572-637: 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. 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

4699-673: The 11 million arriving in 1590, 2 million went to France for imports, 6 million to Italy for imports and military expenses, of which 2.5 went up the Spanish Road to the Low Countries and 1 million to the Ottoman Empire . 1.5 million was shipped from Portugal to Asia. Of the 2 million pesos reaching the Dutch Republic in that year, 75% went to the Baltic for naval stores and 25% went to Asia. The income of

4826-492: The 1733 ships to be found again in 1938. Salvage workers recovered items from the sunken ship over more than 10 years. Additional gold was recovered in June 2015. The ship's location: is 24° 55.491' north, 80° 30.891' west. The San José was sunk in 1708 by British forces near Colombian's coasts. Its wreckage was discovered in 2015 and is believed to contain the record 17B US$ in gold, silver, and other precious stones. Its place

4953-646: The 17th century. Spanish archives contain a chart that depicts islands in the latitude of Hawaii but with the longitude ten degrees east of the Islands ( reliable methods of determining longitude were not developed until the mid-eighteenth century). In this manuscript, the Island of Maui is named "La Desgraciada" (the unhappy, or unfortunate), and what appears to be the Island of Hawaii is named "La Mesa" (the table). Islands resembling Kahoolawe , Lanai , and Molokai are named "Los Monjes" (the monks). The theory that

5080-518: 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

5207-542: The Americas, most significantly silver from Mexico and Peru , were sent back to Spain. Fleets of fifty or more ships sailed from Spain, one bound for the Mexican port of Veracruz and the other for Panama and Cartagena. From the Spanish ports of Seville or Cádiz , the two fleets bound for the Americas sailed together down the coast of Africa, and stopped at the Spanish territory of the Canary Islands for provisions before

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5334-616: The Archaeological Museum of Puerto Vallarta, Cuale. In 2020, Mexico released a documentary regarding the Manila galleon trade route. Potos%C3%AD#History Potosí , known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia . It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal 4,090 m (13,420 ft). For centuries, it

5461-607: The Bahamas Maritime Museum. Manila galleons 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

5588-473: The Caribbean coast of Panama to load Peruvian silver. This had been shipped from the Pacific coast port of Callao and transported across the isthmus of Panama by mule. Other ships went to the Caribbean island of Margarita , off the coast of Venezuela , to collect pearls which had been harvested from offshore oyster beds. After loading was complete, both fleets sailed for Havana , Cuba, to rendezvous for

5715-497: The Caribbean treasure fleet for shipment to Spain. To better defend this trade, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and Álvaro de Bazán designed the definitive model of the galleon in the 1550s. Spain controlled the trade through the Casa de Contratación based in Seville , a river port in southern Spain. By law, the colonies could trade only with Seville, the one designated port in the mother country. Maritime archaeology has shown that

5842-743: The Crown ordered the galleon to stop in Monterey. 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. Until 1593, two or more ships would set sail annually from each port. The Manila trade became so lucrative that Seville merchants petitioned king Philip II of Spain to protect

5969-502: The Dutch occupied Curaçao in 1634. Other losses to foreign powers came later. In 1713 as part of the Treaty of Utrecht after the War of the Spanish Succession , the Spanish crown was forced to make concessions which included trading privileges for England that violated the previous Spanish monopoly on legal trade to its colonial holdings. In 1739 during the War of Jenkin's Ear , the British admirals Francis Hosier and later Edward Vernon blockaded Portobello in an attempt to prevent

6096-401: The European economy as a whole. The flow of precious metals made many traders wealthy, both in Spain and abroad. As a result of the discovery of precious metals in Spanish America, Spain's money supply increased tenfold. The increase in gold and silver on the Iberian market caused high inflation in the 17th century , affecting the Spanish economy. As a consequence, the Crown was forced to delay

6223-474: The Hawaiian Islands were actually visited by the Spanish in the 16th century with researchers like Richard W. Rogers looking for evidence of Spanish shipwrecks . 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

6350-430: The Incan vassals desisted in their purpose and returned to Porco and told the king what had happened; relating the occurrence in their own language, on coming to the word noise, they said "Potocsí" which means there was a great thunderous noise, and from that later was derived (corrupting a letter) the name of potosí. It is believed that Potosí is a Quechua word. However, in Quechua the root p'otoj does not refer to

6477-426: The Incas. By 1565, the miners had exhausted the direct-smelting ore, and silver production plummeted. Silver production was revived by the introduction of the patio process , invented by Spanish merchant Bartolomé de Medina in 1554. The patio process used mercury amalgamation to extract silver from lower-grade ores, and those containing silver sulfide ( argentite ), as was typical of the unoxidized ores found deeper in

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6604-410: The Pacific Ocean between present-day Mexico and the Philippines, with their route taking them just south of the Hawaiian Islands on the westward leg of their round trip and yet there are no records of contact with the Hawaiians. British historian Henry Kamen maintains that the Spanish did not have the ability to properly explore the Pacific Ocean and were not capable of finding the islands which lay at

6731-416: 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 . In 1521, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan sailed west across the Pacific using

6858-403: The Philippines using the Manila Galleons , resulted in a spectacular mining boom. The true champion of this boom in the silver industry was indeed the Spanish crown. By allowing private-sector entrepreneurs to operate mines under license and placing high taxes on mining profits, the Spanish empire was able to extract the greatest benefits. An example of a tax that was levied includes the quinto ,

6985-447: The Philippines were actually of Mexican descent, and the Hispanic culture of the Philippines is influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture in particular. Soldiers and settlers recruited from Mexico and Peru also gathered in Acapulco before they were sent to settle at the presidios of the Philippines. Even after the galleon era, and at the time when Mexico finally gained its independence, the two nations still continued to trade, except for

7112-461: 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. 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. In 2018, Mexico reopened its Manila galleon gallery at

7239-399: The Spanish merchant ship Encarnación , part of the Tierra Firme fleet, was discovered in 2011 with much of its cargo still aboard and part of its hull intact. The Encarnación sank in 1681 during a storm near the mouth of the Chagres River on the Caribbean side of Panama. The Encarnación sank in less than 40 feet of water. The remains of the Urca de Lima from the 1715 fleet and

7366-463: The Spanish crown from all sources was about 2.5 million pesos in 1550, 14 million in the 1590s, about 15 million in 1760 and 30 million in 1780. In 1665 the debts of the Spanish crown were 30 million pesos short-term and 300 million long-term. Most of the New World production was silver, but Colombian mines produced mostly gold. The following table gives the estimated legal production. It necessarily excludes smuggling, which

7493-416: 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. This happened in the case of the Marianas and the Carolines, which were not effectively settled until the second half of

7620-413: The administrative center of Alta California ), providing safe harbors for returning Manila galleons. 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

7747-483: The beginning of the rule of the Bourbon dynasty over the Spanish Empire, which brought with it the Bourbon Reforms . These reforms, designed to halt Spain's decline and increase tax revenue, resulted in a series of changes to the fleet system throughout the 18th century. Philip V began the reforms by sending investigators to report on conditions in Spanish America, who brought back evidence of fraud. He and following Bourbon kings, notably including Charles III , would make

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7874-403: The business of exploration lay outside their field, though chance discoveries were welcomed". 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 Portola expedition established ports at San Diego and Monterey (which became

8001-642: The change to mining tin, which continued until 1985. At peak production in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the ore contained up to 40% silver. The ore deposits reside in veins present in the dacite volcanic dome . The hill is "honeycombed" with underground workings, reaching from the summit to depths of 1,150 m (3,770 ft). The conical hill has a reddish-brown gossan cap of iron-oxides and quartz, with grayish-blue altered dacite and many mine dumps below. Basement rocks consist of Ordovician clastic sediments consisting of phyllite with some sandstone interbedding . At about 13.8 Ma ,

8128-410: The city. The Cerro Rico is the reason for Potosí's historical importance since it was the major supply of silver for the Spanish Empire until Guanajuato in Mexico surpassed it in the 18th century. The silver was taken by llama and mule train to the Pacific coast, shipped north to Panama City , and carried by mule train across the isthmus of Panama to Nombre de Dios or Portobelo , whence it

8255-422: The coast near Santa Catalina Island , California, then followed the shoreline south to San Blas and later to Acapulco , arriving on October 8, 1565. 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

8382-412: 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. 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 Thomas Cavendish off the coast of Baja California;

8509-576: The command of Juan José Castelli ), which led to an increased sense that Potosí required its own independent government. Later, the Second Auxiliary Army (under the command of Manuel Belgrano ) was forced to retreat, Belgrano made the decision to blow up the Casa de la Moneda . The natives undid the fuse, as many refused to evacuate and would have lost their lives. Two more expeditions from Buenos Aires would seize Potosí. Potosí continues to be an important administrative center, mining town, tourist attraction, and population center in modern Bolivia. There

8636-428: 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 . In 1813, the Cortes of Cádiz decreed the suppression of the route and the following year, with the end of the Peninsular War , Ferdinand VII of Spain ratified the dissolution. The last ship to reach Manila

8763-504: The core were more haphazard. The villa was governed by a Spanish corregidor and town council. Some 40 notaries documented and recorded commercial transactions as well as last wills and testaments. Since Potosí was of such economic importance to the Spanish Empire , the crown bureaucracy was a significant presence. Large churches, lavishly decorated inside, were built, and friars from the Dominican, Franciscans, Augustinians, Mercederians, and Jesuits were present, but no convent for women. There

8890-412: The cost of their construction and upkeep was borne by the Spanish Crown . 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

9017-444: The dome was extruded . During the explosive process, the Venus breccia formed when the ascending dacite magma reacted with groundwater to produce a phreatic eruption . The released pressure allowed the formation of the Caracoles tuff ring on top of the breccia. The magma then extruded outward from a dike to form a volcanic dome over the tuff . The dacite dome is 1,700 m (5,600 ft) by 1,200 m (3,900 ft) at

9144-645: The economy of New Spain. 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. 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. This Pacific route

9271-535: The escorted convoys of the fleet system. In the 1780s, Spain opened its colonies to freer trade. In 1790, the Casa de Contratación was abolished, bringing to an end the great general purpose cargo convoys. Thereafter small groups of naval frigates were assigned specifically to transferring bullion as required. Every year, two fleets left Spain loaded with European goods in demand in Spanish America; they were guarded by military vessels. Valuable cargo from

9398-482: The female population were sex workers, which is a typical phenomenon in mining towns generally. In the early 17th century, Basques were well established in the city and made up for a substantial number of the inhabitants in Potosí. They gathered in a confederation opposed to another one, the Vicuñas , a melting pot of natives and non-Basque Spanish and Portuguese colonists, fighting for control over ore extraction from

9525-433: The first European visitors to Hawaii were Spanish is reinforced by the findings of William Ellis , a writer and missionary who lived in early 19th century Hawaii; he recorded several folk stories about foreigners who had visited Hawaii prior to first contact with Cook. According to Hawaiian writer Herb Kawainui Kane , one of these stories: concerned seven foreigners who landed eight generations earlier at Kealakekua Bay in

9652-576: 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

9779-596: The fleet, the Armada de Barlovento. Between 1703 and 1705 Spanish corsair Amaro Pargo began to participate in the West Indies Fleet. In this period he was the owner and captain of the frigate El Ave María y Las Ánimas , a ship which he sailed from the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Havana . He reinvested the benefits of the Canarian-American trade in his estates, devoted to the cultivation of

9906-567: The goods along the China Road from Acapulco first to the administrative center of Mexico City, then on to the port of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico , where they were loaded onto the Spanish treasure fleet bound for Spain. The transport of goods overland by porters, the housing of travelers and sailors at inns by innkeepers, and the stocking of long voyages with food and supplies provided by haciendas before departing Acapulco helped to stimulate

10033-483: The grapevines of Malvasía and Vidueño , whose wine products (mainly Vidueño) were sent to America . Walton gives the following figures in pesos. For the 300-year period the peso or piece of eight had about 25 grams of silver, about the same as the German thaler and Dutch rijksdaalder . A single galleon might carry 2 million pesos. The modern approximate value of the estimated 4 billion pesos produced during

10160-420: The growth in trade was strong in the early years. Numbering 17 ships in 1550, the fleets expanded to more than 50 much larger vessels by the end of the century. By the second half of the 17th century, that number had dwindled to less than half of its peak. As economic conditions gradually recovered from the last decades of the 17th century, fleet operations slowly expanded again, once again becoming prominent during

10287-453: The identities and the culture of the countries involved. 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. 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 . In 2015,

10414-510: The impact of the Potosi mita on the Indians is that mita labor was only one form of work at the mines. A 1603 report stated that of 58,800 Indians working at Potosi, 5100 were mitayos , or fewer than one in ten. In addition to the mitayos there were 10,500 mingas (contractual workers) and 43,200 free wage earners." However, historian Peter Bakewell emphasizes the role of mita labor in Potosí to

10541-478: The importance of the galleon trade in their shared history. In 2013, the Philippines released a documentary regarding the Manila galleon trade route. In 2014, the idea to nominate the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Trade Route as a World Heritage Site was initiated by the Mexican and Filipino ambassadors to UNESCO . Spain has also backed the nomination and suggested that the archives related to

10668-426: The indigenous population. These mitayos faced harsh conditions in the mines, where they were often given the least desirable jobs. While more skilled laborers extracted the ore, mitayos were tasked with carrying it back to the surface in baskets, leather bags, or cloth sacks. These loads often weighed between 100 and 300 lbs, and the workers had to carry them up rickety ladders in steep, narrow shafts lit only by

10795-616: The interpretation, Gaetano's reports seem to describe the discovery of either Hawaii or the Marshall Islands in 1555. 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

10922-407: The journey back to Spain. The overland journey by mule train, as well as supplies provided by local farmers to prepare the fleets for long ocean voyages, invigorated the economy of colonial Spanish America. Preparation and the transport of goods required porters, innkeepers, and foodstuffs to help facilitate travel. However, in Mexico in 1635, there was an increase of the sales tax levied to finance

11049-483: The largest silver deposit systems in the world. Located in the Bolivian Tin Belt, Cerro Rico de Potosí is the world's largest silver deposit and has been mined since the sixteenth century, producing up to 60,000 tonnes by 1996. Estimates are that much silver still remains in the mines. Potosí became the second largest city, and the site of the first mint, in the Americas. By 1891, low silver prices prompted

11176-469: The late 16th to early 19th century. The term "Manila galleon" can also refer to the trade route itself between Manila and Acapulco that was operational from 1565 to 1815. 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

11303-421: The lives of many involved in the refining process. The Potosí mita caused dramatic demographic shifts in the local indigenous population as wives and children moved with workers to Potosí while thousands more fled their traditional villages, forfeiting their ayllu land rights in order to escape the labor draft. By the late 17th century, upper Peru had lost nearly 50% of its indigenous population compared to

11430-507: The main purpose of the Cavite shipyard was the construction and outfitting of the galleons for the Manila to Acapulco trade run." 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. In the 16th century, they averaged from 1,700 to 2,000 tons , were built of Philippine hardwoods and could carry 300–500 passengers. The Concepción , wrecked in 1638,

11557-573: 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. 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

11684-602: The mines and its management. Eventually, tension among both factions came to a head, resulting in the eruption of overt armed conflict starting 1622 up to 1625. The Spanish Crown intervened, siding at one point with the Basques. Both factions reached a settlement sealed with a wedding between the son and daughter of the leaders in either side, the Basque Francisco Oyanume and the Vicuña general Castillo. One of

11811-461: The mines and remove from them all the rich metal. They did so, and having brought their tools of flint and reinforced wood, they climbed the hill; and after having probed for its veins, they were about to open those veins when they heard a frightening thunderous noise which shook the whole hill, and after this, they heard a voice which said: "Do not take the silver from this hill, because it is destined for other masters." Amazed at hearing this reasoning,

11938-399: The mines, a figure called el Tío acts as a deity of the land itself. El Tío serves as a figure of the mountain itself. Laborers within the mines offer coca leaves and alcohol to statues constructed within the mines of the deity to protect themselves from the dangerous conditions. Potosí was a multiracial society, with native Andeans, Spanish settlers, and black slaves. The largest sector of

12065-483: The mita ( forasteros ). The reform failed, and the Duke's successor set the official number to 4,108 mitayos (1,367 active each week). In reality, the number of mitayos was even lower due to the increasing practice of buying oneself out of the obligation. For the remaining mita workforce, however, conditions remained harsh. Mine and mill owners notoriously ignored official regulations on provisions and especially withheld

12192-512: The money the Indians should receive as recompensation for their travel. Just the cost of traveling to Potosí and back could be more than a mitayo was paid in a year, and so many of them chose to remain in Potosí as wage workers when their mita was finished. Former mitayos living in Potosí were not only exempt from the draft, but usually earned considerably more due to the valuable skills they had gained in permanent services. According to historian Noble David Cook, "A key factor in understanding

12319-589: 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. The galleon trade

12446-536: The most famous Basque residents in Potosí (1617–19) was Catalina de Erauso , a nun who escaped her convent and dressed as a man, becoming a driver of llamas and a soldier. During the Bolivian War of Independence (1809–1825), Potosí frequently passed between the control of Royalist and Patriot forces. Major leadership mistakes came when the First Auxiliary Army arrived from Buenos Aires (under

12573-488: The mountain. In 1609, another mercury amalgamation method, the pan amalgamation process was invented in Potosí, and proved better-adapted to the conditions at Potosí. Spanish American mines were the world's most abundant sources of silver during this time period. Spanish America's ability to supply a great amount of silver and China's strong demand for this commodity which the Spanish supplied via Latin American trade with

12700-621: The opening of the Suez Canal , which reduced the travel time from Spain to the Philippines to 40 days. 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,

12827-680: The ore, and oral tradition has it that the town derived its name from this word. Potosí has a rare climate for a city of its size, due to its extreme elevation at over 4,000m. Semi-arid and with average temperatures in its warmest month sitting right at 10 °C, the city's climate straddles a subtropical highland climate , Cwc , within the Köppen climate classification , with subpolar oceanic characteristics and an alpine climate (E). Summers are cool and wet. with daily highs rarely rising above 20 °C. Winters have cooler days with much colder nights, averaging −4 °C. These low temperatures are

12954-431: The payment of some major debts, which had negative consequences for its creditors, mostly foreign bankers. By 1690 some of these creditors could no longer offer financial support to the Crown. The Spanish monopoly over its West and East Indies colonies lasted for over two centuries. The economic importance of exports later declined with the drop in production of the American precious metal mines, such as Potosí . However,

13081-544: The period would come to $ 530 billion or €470 billion (based on silver bullion prices of May 2015). Of the 4 billion pesos produced, 2.5 billion was shipped to Europe, of which 500 million was shipped around Africa to Asia. Of the remaining 1.5 billion 650 million went directly to Asia from Acapulco and 850 million remained in the Western Hemisphere. Little of the wealth stayed in Spain. Of

13208-526: The population were native men, forced to labor underground mining the silver ore, but there were considerable opportunities for merchants and native traders, who became wealthy. Suppliers of food as well as holders of urban and rural real estate prospered in Potosí. Women, particularly widows, held property, since they were guaranteed a portion of their husband's estate under Spanish law. Small-scale female vendors dominated street markets and stalls, selling food, coca leaves, and chicha (maize beer). A portion of

13335-530: The quantity of goods transported was sometimes higher than that recorded at the Archivo General de Indias . Spanish merchants and Spaniards acting as fronts ( cargadores ) for foreign merchants sent their goods on these fleets to the New World. Some resorted to contraband to transport their cargoes untaxed. The Crown of Spain taxed the wares and precious metals of private merchants at a rate of 20%,

13462-757: The reign of the Bourbons in the 18th century. The Spanish trade of goods was sometimes threatened by its colonial rivals, who tried to seize islands as bases along the Spanish Main and in the Spanish West Indies . However, the Atlantic trade was largely unharmed. The English acquired small islands like St Kitts in 1624; expelled in 1629, they returned in 1639 and seized Jamaica in 1655. French pirates established themselves in Saint-Domingue in 1625, were expelled, only to return later, and

13589-583: The return sailing of the treasure fleet. In 1741 Vernon's campaign against Cartagena de Indias ended in defeat, with high losses of men and ships. Spain dealt with the temporary British seizures of Havana and Manila (1762–4), during the Seven Years' War , by using a larger number of smaller fleets visiting a greater variety of ports. The end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 marked

13716-689: The route under the possession of the Philippines, Mexico, and Spain be nominated as part of another UNESCO list, the Memory of the World Register . 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

13843-452: 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. 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,

13970-487: The silver from falling into English hands. The West Indies fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession , when it was surprised in port unloading its goods, but the Spanish sailors had already unloaded most of its cargo, including all of its silver. None of these attacks took place in open seas. In the case of the Manila galleons, only four were ever captured by British warships:

14097-469: 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

14224-433: The surface and narrows down to the 100 m (330 ft) wide dike at depth. Hydrothermal circulation and fracturing soon followed, altering the dacite and depositing ore minerals and gangue in the veins. Founded in 1545 as a mining town, it soon produced fabulous wealth, and the population eventually exceeded 200,000 people. The city gave rise to a Spanish expression, still in use: valer un Potosí ("to be worth

14351-640: The total number of slaves transported or the proportions of slaves from each region. Galleons transported goods to be sold in the Americas, namely in New Spain and Peru , as well as in European markets. East Asia trading primarily functioned on a silver standard due to Ming China's use of silver ingots as a medium of exchange. As such, goods were mostly bought with silver mined from New Spain and Potosí . The cargoes arrived in Acapulco and were transported by land across Mexico. Mule trains would carry

14478-622: The virgin was named the "Queen of the Galleons". 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 . 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

14605-583: The voyage across the Atlantic. Once the two fleets reached the Caribbean, the fleets separated. The New Spain fleet sailed to Veracruz in Mexico to load not only silver and the valuable red dye cochineal , but also porcelain and silk shipped from China on the Manila galleons . The Asian goods were carried overland from Acapulco to Veracruz by mule train. The Tierra Firme fleet, or galeones, sailed to Cartagena to load South American products, especially silver from Potosí . Some ships went to Portobello on

14732-531: 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 in the Philippines, 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

14859-823: The worst), are a prime target for modern treasure hunters . Many, such as the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita , have been salvaged . In August 1750, at least three Spanish merchantmen ran aground in North Carolina during a hurricane. The El Salvador sank near Cape Lookout , the Nuestra Señora De Soledad went ashore near present-day Core Banks and the Nuestra Señora De Guadalupe went ashore near present-day Ocracoke . The wreck of

14986-428: Was 43 to 49 m (141 ft 1 in to 160 ft 9 in) long and displaced some 2,000 tons. The Santísima Trinidad was 51.5 m (169 ft 0 in) long. Most of the ships were built in the Philippines; only eight were built in Mexico. 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

15113-575: Was an ecclesiastical court for legal issues regarding the clergy. Indigenous laborers were required to work in Potosí's silver mines through the Spanish mita system of forced labor, based on an analogous mit'a system traditional to pre-Hispanic Andean society (though the mit'a directed labor for public works and collective agricultural projects). Laborers were drawn from the native population of an area that encompassed almost 200,000 square miles. Thirteen thousand men were conscripted each year, constituting about one out of every seven adult males in

15240-423: Was increasingly important after 1600. The crown legally took one fifth ( quinto real ) at the source and obtained more through other taxes. Despite the general perception that many Spanish galleons were captured by foreign privateers and pirates , relatively few ships were lost to Spain's enemies in the course of the flota's two and a half centuries of operation; more flota galleons were lost to hurricanes. Only

15367-401: Was necessary. The Trinidad , which tried this a few years later, failed. In 1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón also tried sailing east from the Philippines, but could not find " westerlies " across the Pacific. In 1543, Bernardo de la Torre also failed. In 1542, however, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo helped pave the way by sailing north from Mexico to explore the Pacific coast, reaching just north of

15494-439: Was preferrable to other alternatives. He argued against direct trade between Spain and the Philippines through the strait of Magellan on the basis that climate would made passage through the strait possible only during summer and that therefore ships would need to stay the winter in a more northern port. His preference for Mexico rather than for the shorter oveland route through Darién is thought to have been due to his links to

15621-699: Was supplied by merchants largely from port areas of Fujian , such as Quanzhou , as depicted in the Selden Map , and Yuegang (the old port of Haicheng in Zhangzhou , Fujian ), who traveled to Manila to sell the Spaniards spices, porcelain, ivory, lacquerware , processed silk cloth and other valuable commodities. Cargoes varied from one voyage to another but often included goods from all over Asia: jade, wax, gunpowder and silk from China; amber, cotton and rugs from India; spices from Indonesia and Malaysia; and

15748-461: Was taken to Spain on the Spanish treasure fleets . Some of the silver also made its way east to Buenos Aires , via the Rio de la Plata . Some of the silver was also transported to Acapulco, Mexico , where it was sent via the Manila Galleons to buy Asian products. Cerro de Potosí's peak is 4,824 m (15,827 ft) above sea level . Today, Potosí continues to be an important mining center, and

15875-553: Was the San Fernando or Magallanes , which arrived empty, as its cargo had been requisitioned in Mexico. 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

16002-734: 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

16129-587: Was the location of the Spanish colonial silver mint . A considerable amount of the city's colonial architecture has been preserved in the historic center of the city, which—along with the globally important Cerro Rico de Potosí—are part of a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Potosí lies at the foot of the Cerro de Potosí —sometimes referred to as the Cerro Rico ("rich mountain")—a mountain popularly conceived of as being "made of" silver ore that dominates

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