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1565-1815Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Manila Galleon Trade Links Mexico to Asia

Silver crosses the Pacific to Manila and returns as silk and porcelain, making Acapulco a hinge of world trade for 250 years

On the timeline · around 1565-1815 · Conquest and New SpainPre-Columbian MesoamericaConquest and New SpainThe Manila Galleon Trade Links Mexico to Asia1100130015001600

Quick facts

Route
Acapulco, Mexico to Manila, Philippines
Operated
1565-1815
Silver per voyage (peak)
Up to 3 million silver pesos
Final voyage
The San Fernando, 1815

What happened

Beginning in 1565, Spanish treasure ships called Manila galleons sailed annually between Acapulco, Mexico, and Manila in the Philippines, carrying perhaps 50 tons of silver a year, and at times up to 3 million silver pesos per voyage, westward across the Pacific. In exchange, galleons returned to Mexico loaded with Chinese silk, porcelain, Persian carpets, spices, and other Asian goods; a roll of silk worth a fixed price in Manila could sell for ten times as much in the Americas, and merchants routinely made 150 to 200% profit on the round trip. The trade dominated Manila's economy for the better part of two centuries and continued until the final Manila galleon, the San Fernando, completed its voyage to Acapulco in 1815.

Why it matters

The galleon route made Mexican silver the world's first genuinely global currency and connected central Mexico's mining economy directly to Ming and Qing China's demand for silver, tying a Mexican port to a trade network spanning three continents two and a half centuries before anyone used the phrase global economy.

How we know

Spanish colonial shipping records and captured-cargo manifests document silver tonnage and peso counts per voyage; the 1815 final voyage is recorded in Spanish colonial administrative archives.

Sources

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