The Manila Galleons Link Asia and the Americas
Once-a-year Spanish treasure ships trade Peruvian and Mexican silver for Chinese silk and porcelain, stitching together the first genuinely global trade route
Quick facts
- Route
- Manila, Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico
- Active
- 1565 to 1815
- Typical profit
- 150 to 200 percent
- Ships lost to piracy
- Only four in 250 years
What happened
From 1565, Spain used galleon ships to carry silver accumulated at Manila, in the Spanish-controlled Philippines, to Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coast, then overland or onward to Spain itself. Rather than route around Africa like the Portuguese, Spain sent its Pacific galleons eastward across open ocean, almost all of them built in the Philippines under a law enforced from 1679. Cargoes included silk, porcelain, spices, Persian carpets, jewelry, medicines, Indian cotton, gemstones, and often enslaved people, stored below decks in ships that could weigh up to 2,000 tons. Merchants routinely made 150 to 200 percent profit on their investment; a roll of silk was worth ten times more in the Americas than in Manila. Chinese manufacturers adapted their output to the trade's demand, and Ming porcelain workshops began producing designs specifically aimed at European and American buyers. The trade continued for 250 years, from 1565 to 1815.
Why it matters
The Manila galleons completed a circuit that connected Asia, the Americas, and Europe into a single trading system for the first time in history, with Potosi and Zacatecas silver as the medium that made it work in every direction. Only four galleons were ever lost to pirates in two and a half centuries, since they carried heavy armament to match their cargo's value.
How we know
World History Encyclopedia's dedicated article on the Manila galleons describes the 1565 to 1815 span of the trade, the Acapulco route, typical cargo and profit margins, and the requirement that galleons be built in the Philippines from 1679 onward.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Manila Galleon · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. The Silver of the Conquistadors · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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