World history conventionally ignores or underestimates the importance of Manila, the Manila galleons, and the Philippines as key stages in the development of trans-Pacific contact and of the world economy. Essays in this volume discuss Philippine-Asian exchanges prior to the entry of Europeans, and then look at European influences and the impact of Magellan’s voyage, and the emergence of Manila as one of global trade’s crucial linchpins during four centuries. Linkages between Latin America and China, and Spanish-Japanese competition for the Chinese marketplace are important topics. Tensions and cooperation among Chinese, Japanese, Iberians, Africans, Christians, Muslims and others on Philippine soil are also covered. This volume suggests the need for thorough re-evaluation of the Philippines’ central role in terms of both Pacific history and global history as perhaps the single most important stage in the traffic that linked China and Latin America.

Excerpt from The Conflict of European Nations in the Pacific The completion Of the panama-pacific Canal opens the fourth chapter in the history Of the Pacific Ocean. Since the Asiatic and American peoples seem to have had no regular intercourse across the Ocean, even if occasional fishermen may have been blown from shore to shore by the winds, the first chapter opened with the coming Of Europeans almost simultaneously to gaze upon the Pacific Ocean from both east and west, at the beginning Of the sixteenth century. For about two hundred years the Ocean re mained a Spanish lake, disturbed only by the intervention Of ad ven turers, explorers, and pirates Of other nations. Then came the second chapter, the chapter Of con ict between the nations Of Europe, which closed when the spanish-american countries, the United States Of America, and the Dominion of Canada occupied the American coast-line Of the Ocean. The third chapter covers the greater part Of the nineteenth century, during which Europe made spasmodic efforts among the islands and in China to secure a foot hold, and the power Of New Japan arose. This epoch now ends. The completion of the Panama Canal has brought Europe into closer touch with the Pacific Ocean; the Old isolation of the American coast Of the Pacific has come to an end; and new problems have arisen for merchants and politicians alike. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

The Pacific Ocean covers one third of the planet, but until 1513 no white man even knew it existed. In Pacific Passions, Frank Sherry tells in sweeping narrative the enthralling story of one of the most exciting periods of human history: the first 250 years of European exploration of the Pacific Ocean. It is an unforgettable tale of bold exploration and the cataclysmic events that molded sixteenth-, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. Pacific Passions recounts some of the most heroic voyages in human history and places them in their proper historical contexts. It is popular history at its most exciting.

This volume contains studies of scientific and cultural discoveries made on Cook's 1768-7 voyage to the South Sea in Endeavour, and issues emerging from this and successive Pacific voyages.

Traditionally, Germany has been considered a minor player in Pacific history: its presence there was more limited than that of other European nations, and whereas its European rivals established themselves as imperial forces beginning in the early modern era, Germany did not seriously pursue colonialism until the nineteenth century. Yet thanks to recent advances in the field emphasizing transoceanic networks and cultural encounters, it is now possible to develop a more nuanced understanding of the history of Germans in the Pacific. The studies gathered here offer fascinating research into German missionary, commercial, scientific, and imperial activity against the backdrop of the Pacific’s overlapping cultural circuits and complex oceanic transits.

Navigating the Spanish Lake examines Spain’s long presence in the Pacific Ocean (1521–1898) in the context of its global empire. Building on a growing body of literature on the Atlantic world and indigenous peoples in the Pacific, this pioneering book investigates the historiographical “Spanish Lake” as an artifact that unites the Pacific Rim (the Americas and Asia) and Basin (Oceania) with the Iberian Atlantic. Incorporating an impressive array of unpublished archival materials on Spain’s two most important island possessions (Guam and the Philippines) and foreign policy in the South Sea, the book brings the Pacific into the prevailing Atlanticentric scholarship, challenging many standard interpretations. By examining Castile’s cultural heritage in the Pacific through the lens of archipelagic Hispanization, the authors bring a new comparative methodology to an important field of research. The book opens with a macrohistorical perspective of the conceptual and literal Spanish Lake. The chapters that follow explore both the Iberian vision of the Pacific and indigenous counternarratives; chart the history of a Chinese mestizo regiment that emerged after Britain’s occupation of Manila in 1762-1764; and examine how Chamorros responded to waves of newcomers making their way to Guam from Europe, the Americas, and Asia. An epilogue analyzes the decline of Spanish influence against a backdrop of European and American imperial ambitions and reflects on the legacies of archipelagic Hispanization into the twenty-first century. Specialists and students of Pacific studies, world history, the Spanish colonial era, maritime history, early modern Europe, and Asian studies will welcome Navigating the Spanish Lake as a persuasive reorientation of the Pacific in both Iberian and world history.

The Pacific Ocean was the setting for the last great chapter in the convergence of humankind from across the globe. Driven by Enlightenment ideals, Europeans sought to extend control to all quarters of the earth through the spread of beliefs, the promotion of trade and the acquisition of new knowledge. This book surveys the consequent encounters between European expansionism and the peoples of the Pacific. John Gascoigne weaves together the stories of British, French, Spanish, Dutch and Russian voyages to destinations throughout the Pacific region. In a lively and lucid style, he brings to life the idealism, adventures and frustrations of a colourful cast of historical figures. Drawing upon a range of fields, he explores the complexities of the relationships between European and Pacific peoples. Richly illustrated with historical images and maps, this seminal work provides new perspectives on the significance of European contact with the Pacific in the Enlightenment.

"A survey of the economy of the Pacific Rim region"--