Title:
Declining Galleon Commerce (Part 2)
Date Created:
2021-05-29
Description:
Spain no longer had a monopoly on exporting Chinese goods. The trading company model managed by merchants was already in place among British (starting 1600), Dutch (1602) and French (1664). They were dealing directly with the Chinese. Manila was still exporting pearls and gems from India; rubies and cinnamon from Ceylon; Sumatran and Javanese pepper; clove and nutmeg from Maluco and Banda; Persian rugs from Ormuz; rich bedcovers from Bengal; high quality camphor from Borneo; Lequios musk; and ivory, rhinoceros or unicorn horns from Siam, Cambodia and Cochin China. China still brought to Manila silks, velvets, cotton blankets, porcelain, shawls, and curiosities of great price. Manila was still the transhipment depot that had started in the 16th century. The Chinese who shifted from paper to metal currency had no silver. Spanish pieces of eight paid for goods that were brought to Manila gave China silver. It is said that until 1750 (uncannily around the end of the Conquista in Filipinas) providing China with silver was at the center of the global economy. What San Antonio seems to have been pointing out is that Filipinas had rich natural resources ranging from gold and wax to civet, cacao, sugar and other food products. Yet Filipinas was not growing partly because there was no attention to agriculture. No one was investing in the colony’s production of goods for export.
Subjects:
Commerce -- History Manila (Philippines) -- Commerce -- China China -- Commerce -- Manila (Philippines) Spain -- Colonies -- Asia -- Economic conditions Natural resources -- Philippines
Exhibition:
J San Antonio
Source:
Batavia, the capital of Dutch East India. (Jakarta, today.) 1682. Published by Weduwe Van Jacob Van Meurs. Collection of Kononklijke Bibliotheek. Public Domain.
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Declining Galleon Commerce (Part 2)", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll222.html
Rights
Rights:
Public domain
Standardized Rights:
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/