The Manila Galleon and the First Globalization of World Trade

October 2020 ISSN 2444-2933 The Manila Galleon and the first globalization of world trade BY Borja Cardelús The route that united Asia, America and Europe The Manila Galleon and the first The Manila Galleon and the first globalization of world trade globalization of world trade THE LONG CONQUEST OF THE PACIFIC Despite all that, the final balance of all these misfortunes and frustrations was not entirely negative because the navigations allowed to The persistence of examine the climates and contours of that The persistence of Spain of the 16th century as Spanish sailor, serving the Spanish Crown, unprecedented ocean full of islands and Spain of the 16th made it possible to conquer an ocean as found the desired path and sailed the ocean for atolls,and above all its most relevant untamable as the Pacific, a century in which it the first time, but he died in a skirmish with century made it characteristic, for the purposes of the Spanish faced two types of conquests, all equally natives in the Filipino archipelago, when he possible to conquer claims to master it; although the trip through the astonishing. One was the terrestrial, that of had already accomplished most of his feats. It was Pacific from America to Asia was easy due to the an ocean as America, achieved in the surprising period of completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano aboard the favorable push of the trade winds, the return only fifty years. ship Victoria, full of spices, and when arriving to untamable as the trip, the return voyage, was revealing the Iberian Peninsula, after the long voyage, he Pacific, a century in impossible. The winds and currents circulated in The other one was such of the Pacific, where had completed the first travel around the the opposite direction to navigation, and the which it faced two the enemies were not arrows, nor indigenous world, and reliably demonstrated its sphericity. ships ended up at the bottom of the sea, defeated ambushes, nor poisoned darts,but the horrific types of conquests, by the elements. circumstances of an ocean that extends to But the enormous expansionist momentum of all equally almost 20,000 km from East to West, which the 16th century Spain that just came out full of So the Pacific ocean did not allow itself to be astonishing. One was harbors 25,000 islands and atolls. It occupies one energy from the Reconquerwould not be conquered, because it could only be navigated in third of the globe and is known for its limited to the discovery of that immense ocean. the terrestrial, that of one direction. The return was not feasible. But extremeness, when improbably calm as well as Charles V decided that it was needed to link it to there was one person that knew its secret, the America, achieved in with its overwhelming storms,having been the the Crown sovereignty to open a route through key to the conquest of the Pacific, the secret the surprising period tomb of many Spanish ships and sailors that the Pacific to the Maluku Islands, the heart of for the return voyage. succumbed to the savage harshness of the the Spice Islands, that was challenged by Portugal, of only fifty years. immense ocean. a nation that already had its own African and Atlantic route to trade with spices. The first one to spot it, the great discoverer of the Pacific, was the Extremaduran Vasco But neither the Emperor nor the Spanish Nuñez de Balboa who, after crossing the authorities knew about the fearsome nature inextricable jungles of Central America with a of the new ocean that they tried to master, handful of men, peered from a hill to that blue and one after another failed as many were lake that extended with no limits towards the dispatched for this: Jofre Garcia de Loaysa, South, and that is whyhe baptized it as the Sebastian Caboto, Alvaro de Saavedra, Hernando South Sea. de Grijalva, Rui Lopez de Villalobos, Gonzalez de Espinosa, Ortiz de Retes… great captains, After that achievement came the prodigious brilliant armadas that departed to win the feat of Magellan, that convinced the Emperor enormous ocean for Spain and failed in their Charles V to find a path through the American endeavor, because the Pacific showed its continent that, crossing the Pacific, arrived to irascible character: its winds, its currents, its the coveted Spice Islands, the quarry of cloves, storms left a sinister trail of shipwrecks and rhubarb or pepper. The Portuguese nationalized sailors buried under its untamed waters. 4 5 The Manila Galleon and the first The Manila Galleon and the first globalization of world trade globalization of world trade ANDRES DE URDANETA Andres de Urdaneta was a born adventurer, These words would not fall on deaf ears, they hardened in thousands of wars and seafaring,and flew through impenetrable rough paths in the even that he also accompanied Pedro de Atlantic to get to the ears of the King of Alvarado in the Guatemala conquer, his main Spain himself. stage was always the Pacific, where he sailed for the first time as a cabin boy at the service of Philip II was not happy about the Treaty of Loaisa. He stayed for a long time in the political Zaragoza signed by his father, Charles I, who had hornet's nest of the Maluku, where the interests of sold the controversial rights of the Maluku to Spaniards, Portuguese and local kings competed, Portugal for 350,000 ducats. It is true that the and in many cases his life was at true risk, American silver from Potosi and Zacatecas was needing to hide for several months in the overtaking the once coveted spices in regards to malicious jungle of the treacherous Portuguese value and interest, whose search was the origin of Governor Pedro de Meneses. Until the Treaty of Columbus's voyage and the expeditions through the Zaragoza put an end to the Hispanic-Portuguese Pacific, but even so Philip II did not want to rivalries, and it was when he left the Maluki and, surrender the effort of his conquer, despite all the old and tired after so many changes and filled troubles caused such as shipwrecks, deaths and with a religious vocation, decided to be failures. He was aware that dominating the huge ordained Augustinian and to shut himself ocean signified to protect the western side in away in a monastery in Mexico and spend the America,that was thought to be impenetrable until rest of his life praying and retired. the predatory intrusions of Drake from the South American side. But public life was not only not finished for Andres de Urdaneta, but also he was about to In such way the King, as part of his hegemonic write his most glorious page, the one that geostrategy of Spain,decided to finally control would make him escape from the anonymous list the impenetrable Pacific, what demanded two of so many characters to write his name in the requirements: to occupy the Philippines history of mankind. During his maritime archipelago, on the brink of Asia, and to adventures, he had gathered information and assure the route of the return voyage. For the gained experience about the winds and first, he chose a wise person, Miguel Lopez de currents in that uncontrolled Pacific Ocean, Legazpi, Mayor in Mexico at that time. For the Last page of Andres de Urdaneta's diary. and he had drawn his own conclusions. He was so second, he personally wrote a dark Augustinian confident about them, that he boasted that the monk retired in a Mexican monastery who was return route through the ocean, the return voyage, called Andres de Urdaneta. was such an easy effort for him that he would be able to return “in a cart”. 6 7 The Manila Galleon and the first The Manila Galleon and the first globalization of world trade globalization of world trade THE EXPEDITION OF PHILIPPINES Once the chest was opened, the final decision was acknowledged: the expedition that left The destination shall Mexico on the 17th day of November of 1564 of When Urdaneta received the King’s letter A bitter controversy arose in New Spain New Spain in control of Legazpi, would not go asking him to enroll as cosmographer in the regarding the direction to follow, but as not be the to New Guinea but to the Philippines. Legazpi expedition, he accepted immediately, but Urdaneta persisted with his conditions and for the Philippines, which he Urdaneta got very upset and said that “having with just one condition.The destination shall Crown his participation was essential, a solution considered included known or understood on the ground that this not be the Philippines, which he considered of commitment accepted by all of them was was to be defeat, the day would not come." But as included in the Portuguese area after the agreed: the official destination would be New in the Portuguese good vassal of the Spanish monarch, he finally Treaty of Zaragoza, but he shall head for Guinea, but after sailing one hundred miles , a area after the Treaty accepted it and the expedition continued its more South, to New Guinea, that could also chest locked with three keys shall be opened to of Zaragoza, but he path with no further discussions. come to be the western base for the control of find a sheet with the final direction. the Pacific. shall head for more Once they stopped to replenish the water South, to New Guinea, supply in the Mariana Islands, which would be a mandatory stop in the subsequent that could also come expeditions, the expedition reached port in to be the western Cebu, where Spaniards found a statue of the base for the control infant Jesus, the Holy Child, left there by the Mallegan expedition, and deeply venerated of the Pacific.

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