The Manila Galleon: Silver, Silk, and the First Global Trade

The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History · Aug 8, 2026 · 8m · transcript

In 1565, a Spanish navigator named Andrés de Urdaneta finally cracked the Pacific's greatest secret: the tornaviaje, the return route from Asia to the Americas. That discovery opened the Manila Galleon, a trade route that would link the silver mines of Potosí to the silk weavers of Ming China, and make Manila a global crossroads. This episode follows the galleons from their first crossing to their last, tracing how the Spanish crown managed a monopoly from Mexico City, how the galleons' holds were packed with silver and silk, and how the trade reshaped economies from Acapulco to…