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Philippine Museum Brings Deadly and Lucrative Galleon Trade to Life
The museum says the trade killed about 30% of crewmen per voyage and cost forced laborers 40 days of unpaid service.
- On May 1, the Museo del Galeon in Manila will open featuring a full-size replica of the Espiritu Santo, aiming to tell the 250-year history of Pacific trade from the perspective of Filipinos who built and crewed the vessels.
- Starting in the 17th century, the Pacific galleon trade connected three continents, as ships transported silver from Spain's American colonies to Manila, exchanging it for luxury goods like silk and porcelain from China.
- Museum executive director Manuel Quezon noted the trade relied on forced labor, with vessels enduring an astounding mortality rate of "about 30 percent per voyage" under inhumane conditions.
- Ravaging local forests, construction of galleons like the Espiritu Santo required 800 trees now found only in Myanmar, while forced labor sparked deadly rebellions along the Cavite coast of Manila Bay.
- Wealthy families in the Philippines provided $16.5 million in funding for the project after government and foreign financing bids faltered, preserving a history Quezon said "made us who we are.
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Philippine museum brings deadly, lucrative galleon trade to life
A full-size replica of a Spanish galleon stares out into Manila Bay, the centrepiece of a museum that will transport visitors back to the 17th century, when conscripted Philippine mariners hastened the era of globalisation.
·Cherokee County, United States
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Leaning Left2Leaning Right8Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
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R 40%
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