ABSTRACT
SPANISH RULE Spanish rule was initially based in the port of Manila, which became Spain’s window of access to the Chinese marketplace. Spanish traders partnered with Manila’s resident Chinese merchant community in the profitable Manila galleon trade between Mexico and Manila with Chinese merchant connections to China’s seaports, which were unavailable to Spanish traders. Over time the Spanish in Manila and the local merchant community expanded their interests to the countryside to export cash crops such as tobacco, indigo, sugar, hemp, and coffee.
