The Age of Trade

Giráldez seeks to bridge the disciplinary gap between those who study the early modern Americas and those who analyze the Spanish Empire from a European perspective by examining the so-called galleon trade, the Spanish-controlled shipping link that connected the Philippines with Mexico between 1565 and the early 1800s. This link, the author argues, represents the dawn of the global economy in that it turned global trade into an uninterrupted flow. Fueled by Chinese demand for American silver and New World demand for porcelain, silk, spices, and ivory, the galleon trade was vital to the global Spanish Empire. The author discusses how the Spanish, taking advantage of endemic internal conflict, settled the Philippines and turned Manila into an emporium; how Manila's ethnic Chinese population played a vital role in its trade; and how political unrest and natural disaster disrupted traffic until, in the late 18th century, unrest in China, the British occupation of Manila, the expulsion of the indispensable Chinese community, and changing consumer taste among Mexico’s upper classes caused a severe decline in trade. . . .[T]his study...does a fine job showing how the galleon trade closed the last gap in the globe-spanning web of trade. Summing Up: Recommended. General, public, and undergraduate collections. * CHOICE *
This is the story of the Spanish treasure ships called Manila Galleons which sailed with their valuable cargo of silver between the Philippines and Mexico, starting with the founding of Manila in 1571 and lasting until the final galleon set sail in 1815. The establishment of Manila prompted the Pacific trade route, just like Christopher Columbus's voyages that set in motion the Atlantic economy and trade with nations within this sphere of influence. . . . This is . . . a historic recounting of the story of the establishment of a global economy and the rise and fall of the Spanish empire. . . . The book is well researched and very detailed. * Ontario Sailor Magazine *
The Age of Trade: The Manila Galleons and the Dawn of the Global Economy—a definitive treatment of the galleon line that sustained the commercial exchanges between China and the Spanish American colonies for almost 250 years—restores the missing link. . . .The Manila galleons serve as a powerful lens to understand the period and the region. While The Age of Trade acts as a summary of early historic relations between East Asia and the West, explaining China’s central role in global trade as well as the particular role of the Philippines, it also connects monetary history, climate change and the environment to reveal that the effects of this initial foray into globalization and world trade when first took place bear striking resemblance to those today. . . .On a larger scale, The Age of Trade reveals that the effects of world trade had already then begun to resemble much those today if not indeed foretell them. The benefits of a connected world seem immediately apparent. However, this first global trade led to major dislocations and displacements, exploitation and sunk many into dependence; it also caused environmental degradation, effects that then, as now, are not always transparent. The Manila Galleon may seem a world away from our own, but the reality is that it is strikingly close. * Asian Review Of Books *
This new work on the Manila Galleons is a welcome addition to the historiography of not only trans-Pacific trade, but also global maritime history from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. . . .This work is of substantial value to maritime history. It goes well beyond the history of the Manila Galleons as it synthesizes a large bibliography of books and articles to help explain the globalization of the China trade with Europe and America from the fifteenth into the nineteenth centuries. * International Journal of Maritime History *
Giraldez’s interdisciplinary ambition is ... responsible for giving us a work that is as valuable as it is long overdue. Finally, we have a definitive and updated academic overview of the galleon trade. The work’s textbook like coverage and general reliability are invaluable assets to both specialists and to a general academic audience. Before now, historians seeking to understand the galleons have had to turn to a diverse and often obscure hodgepodge of articles, books, and primary sources just to connect the most basic dots about the galleons.... By interweaving diverse sources, however, Giraldez has made a comprehensive history of the galleons accessible even to those who do not primarily study the Philippines, including of course those interested in Jesuit studies. Indeed, insofar as Journal of Jesuit Studies readers are invested in the workings of early global trade, this text will long be an indispensable reference.... Its expansive coverage ... indispensably paves the way for a growing body of literature about the early modern Philippines, the galleons, and their rippling effects on the rest of the world. * Journal of Jesuit Studies *
For more than two centuries, the giant Spanish treasure ships of the Manila Galleon crossed between Mexico and Manila, tying together—and profoundly affecting—economies in three continents. Yet, incredibly, no full history of this essential building block in the construction of globalization has been written since the First World War. At last, Arturo Giraldez has filled this lack. The fruit of more than two decades of research, The Age of Trade is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Pacific, the growth and decline of the Spanish empire, the underpinnings of today's globalization, and the little-known story of the world's money supply. -- Charles C. Mann, author of 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created