The Spanish Atlantic Galleon Exchange: Trade, Treasure, and the Convey System that Fueled an Empire

The Atlantic Galleon Exchange (Spanish: Carrera de Indias) was an exchange system that linked the Spanish American colonies with the city of Seville, which had a monopoly over this route. It was operated by a new type of ship—the galleon—and lasted from about the mid-sixteenth century until the mid-eighteenth century when economic reforms launched under the newly formed Spanish Bourbon government made the system obsolete.

In broad terms, winds and currents in the Northern Atlantic operate in a circular manner. Winds generally blow in a steady manner north from the coast of Portugal, then in a northeasterly direction from the islands of Madeira and the Canaries, and end up carrying vessels east across the southern part of the Northern Atlantic to the Caribbean. These airstreams are called trade winds. From the Caribbean, winds blow in a westerly direction to carry vessels across the Atlantic to Northern Europe. These winds are referred to as the westerlies (also known as the anti-trade winds). Broadly speaking, currents generated by these winds follow similar patterns. The warm waters of the Caribbean serve as a breeding ground for the dreaded hurricanes, tropical storms that form from about June through November with a high incidence of these phenomena between August and September. Many galleons fell victim to these storms that often determined the patterns of arrival and departure of the fleets.

Following the Spanish conquest of the Caribbean Basin, Mexico, and Peru, the initial vessels of exploration proved inadequate to carry heavy cargo across the Atlantic. The vessel that came to dominate the exchange was the Spanish galleon, which combined northern and southern European ship design to result in a vessel that had four masts rigged with square and lateen sails. The galleon’s hull had a high superstructure both on the stern and the bow that allowed for higher cargo storage but also made the ship top-heavy and more difficult to navigate.

The discovery of rich gold and especially silver deposits in the Americas required safe passage to Spain. Initial galleons fell victim to weather patterns, uncharted reefs, and sandbanks, as well as Northern European pirates. King Philip II ordered a system to reduce such losses that took into consideration enemy incursions, environmental challenges, and geographical obstacles. The result was a heavy fortification of significant port cities and a protected convoy system, which was initiated in the 1560s. There were two fleets heading to Spain. The first departed the Mexican port of Veracruz in early March to avoid the hurricane season and combined the riches of New Spain with the items arriving at Acapulco from the Manila Galleon exchange. A second fleet departed Cartagena de Indias (in today’s Columbia) in mid-March and carried the silver from the Peruvian silver mines. Both fleets would rendezvous in Havana, Cuba, during the month of April after which they would combine their forces (sometimes as many as 60 galleons) to sail across the Atlantic. Once unloaded in Spain, both fleets would depart separately for Veracruz and Cartagena carrying with them passengers, wine, and domestic animals, as well as agricultural seeds and implements. The ships were also ballasted with bricks and stones to be used in colonial buildings in the Americas.

The Atlantic Galleon Exchange was the keystone of Spain’s maritime economy, linking the Iberian metropole with the colonial periphery. Although the system never reached perfection, it provided much bullion for the Spanish Crown. This bullion needs to be contextualized, however. Given the Spanish tendency for conflict in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, the money arriving from the Americas was quickly spent. Moreover, the large quantities of gold and silver arriving in Seville led to periodic inflations, which affected the value of the currency. Lastly, the occasional total or partial loss of the fleet due to pirates or natural disasters greatly affected the Spanish economy. Rainer F. Buschmann

FURTHER READING:Bankoff, Greg. 2017. “Aeolian Empires: The Influence of Winds and Currents on European Expansion in the Days of Sail.” Environment and History 23: 163-96.

Parry, John Horace. 1966. The Spanish Seaborne Empire. New York: Alfred Knopf. Perez-Mallaina, Pablo E. 1998. Spain’s Men of the Sea: The Daily Life of Crews on the Indies Fleet in the Sixteenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.