The Fleet of the Indies was a Spanish maritime trade system from 1503 to 1789, connecting Spain with its American territories and the Philippines. These annual fleets transported goods between continents, strictly regulated by the Casa de Contratación and protected by warships. They carried European manufactured goods to the Americas and returned with silver and agricultural products like potatoes and corn. By 1789, this pioneering global trade network was abolished, marking the end of Spain’s maritime commercial monopoly.

The discovery of America revolutionized, among many other matters, the Spanish naval situation. It was necessary to formally communicate the metropolis with the newly discovered territories. For this reason, the fleets of the Indies were the operating mechanism of our commercial monopoly in America and constituted the essence of the so-called “Indies race”.

The fleet of the Indies encompassed all the trade and navigation of Spain with its overseas territories. It was set up in 1503 and lasted until 1789, when it was definitively abolished.

From Seville, Spain organized a communications network that, for the first time, acquired planetary dimensions. This network made it possible to travel the thousands of kilometres that separated Europe from the Americas every year.

Later, the transpacific route from the Philippines would be incorporated into the same network. In fact, with this incorporation, the Spanish route became the first world trade route in history, as well as the longest of its time.

The entire route from Spain to the Philippines amounted to some 15,000 nautical miles. It connected Seville with Veracruz in its Atlantic section, Veracruz and Acapulco through Mexico City by land and finally Acapulco and Manila crossing the entire Pacific.

It should be emphasized that this route of the fleet of the Indies was not only the longest of its time. It was also the first ecumenical or universal trade route – extending across the entire globe. It is therefore a clear precedent of the globalization in which we live today and shows that it began more than 500 years ago.

Other historical routes, such as the ancient routes from Europe to India, the Silk Road or the Portuguese and Dutch spice routes, were all shorter in length. In addition, the continental entity of these other routes was smaller since they were limited to Europe and Asia.

The need to organize the route

Already in the first decade after the discovery, Spain began to adopt precautions in its traffic with the new territories. On Columbus’ second voyage, 17 ships took part, sailing in formation and equipped with artillery.

Such early warnings are justified because pirate activity is very early, from the first years of the arrival in the West Indies. Thus, in 1501, the king already dictated ordinances for the persecution of pirates, whose activities were centered in the West Indian islands, as well as in the Azores and the Canary Islands.

But it was in 1503, with the creation of the Casa de Contratación in Seville, only ten years after the discovery, when trade with America was regulated in a strict way. In 1513, it was decided that ships had to be compulsorily armed and warships were sent to patrol the main routes.

In the first decades of the 16th century, navigation between Seville and America was carried out in isolated ships. The need to defend the Spanish markets going to or coming from the Indies was evident as early as 1522. It happened when Juan Florin, an Italian corsair in the service of France, seized two of the three ships that Cortes was sending to Spain with the Aztec treasures.

From 1526 onwards, the Casa de Contratación regulated that ships should travel in fleets, or “en conserva”, as it was then called, in order to better defend themselves against a possible attack.

The fleets: routes and protocols

In 1543, Seville definitively established the fleet system, which would remain unchanged for almost three centuries. Two armed convoys were established each year, with planned routes, fixed departure dates and strict control by the Casa de Contratación.

Thus, new ordinances fixed every aspect of the route, including the salaries of the sailors and officers, the supplies to be embarked, the taxes to be paid for the merchandise and the ports where to disembark and trade.

“La flota”, with a single route to the Antilles, was later divided into two convoys with different destinations: the Antilles and the coasts of the Caribbean and Veracruz. On their return, the galleons would meet in Havana to return to Seville. Around 1576, the Pacific route was established, linking Acapulco with Manila, which we will discuss in more detail on the next occasion.

In America there were two Viceroyalties, Mexico and Peru, each of which encompassed North and South America respectively. Thus, it was decided to send two annual fleets, one for each of them.

The Royal Decree of July 10, 1561, supplemented three years later, established that they would be organized on the Andalusian coast (Seville, Cadiz and Sanlúcar) and would depart from the river of Seville, guarded by a Royal Armada “escorting and guarding them… and bring our treasure and that of private individuals”. Although it was not very clear in the regulations, it seems that the royal treasure was to come in the Armada ships and not in the merchant ships.

Each of the fleets had to carry a Captain General and an Admiral (the latter of lower rank than the former), in addition to a Governor of the Infantry tercio, a force that constituted the origin of the later Marine Infantry.

The merchantmen had to be armed and provided with armament in case of an encounter with the enemy. The cost of guarding the merchantmen with warships was levied on the merchandise transported by means of a tax called damage, which was prorated on the value of the goods.

The differentiation between the two fleets

In 1569 the two fleets were totally differentiated. The one going to Mexico, whose final destination was the port of Veracruz, was to leave Spain in April. It began to be called the Armada or Fleet of New Spain, to distinguish it from the other, and ended up being known simply by the name of Armada or Fleet.

The one destined to Tierrafirme, whose terminal was Nombre de Dios – later replaced by Portobelo, in present-day Panama – was to leave in August. It was called the Fleet of the Galleons and, finally, only “The Galleons”. Sometimes La Flota and Los Galeones sailed together, but each one of them kept its own personality and command.

As for the number of ships in total, it increased as security and exchange grew. The fleets grew from seventeen ships in 1550 to about one hundred and larger by the end of the 16th century. By the mid-17th century they consisted of about thirty ships, of which 10 to 20 percent were warships, which served as military escorts.

Crossing the Atlantic

The fleet left the peninsular coast and began its voyage through the so-called Sea of the Mares, which was part of the ocean between Sanlúcar [de Barrameda] and the Canary Islands. It took about ten or twelve days to cover, depending on the sea conditions.

In the lead was the Capitana, with standard hoisted on the mainsail. Next, the merchant ships. Closing the formation, the Almiranta, with insignia hoisted on the stern mast. The remaining warships were to windward of the merchantmen, to approach them quickly in case of attack.

From the Canary Islands, the fleet entered the so-called Sea of the Ladies, because it was said that “even women could steer the ships there, given the ideal sailing conditions that used to exist, with the trade winds blowing from the stern”.

The voyage then became more monotonous, accompanied by the endless creaking of the rigging and the creaking of the cables. Sometimes combat drills were ordered to keep the troops and sailors trained for a possible enemy attack, and this was perhaps the only thing that broke the tedium. The only distraction on board were the religious services that everyone had to attend. Passengers were not allowed to play or blaspheme.

At nightfall, the great lantern was lit on the Capitana, which guided the fleet. Some ships also lit lanterns of situation. The hours passed interminably, always sung by the cabin boys with some pious invocation.

The Sea of Ladies was crossed in a month, after which the island of Dominica was usually reached, where a short stopover was made. They went ashore and had a big feast. Those who went to America for the first time were astonished by the inhabitants, the landscape, etc. The landfall was brief, since it was necessary to continue on to Veracruz or Nombre de Dios and this represented another month’s voyage.

From Dominica to Veracruz

The fleet of New Spain set sail from Dominica to Veracruz. Along the way, ships bound for Honduras, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo and Cuba were leaving the fleet.

The fleet of Los Galeones set course for Cartagena, leaving behind some merchant ships bound for Margarita, La Guaira, Maracaibo and Riohacha. In Cartagena there was a long stopover of two weeks, since it was necessary to unload the merchandise destined for the Kingdom of Granada, which usually represented 25% of all that was taken to Tierra Firme.

Then they proceeded to Nombre de Dios, which was the real terminus. In 1595 Francis Drake destroyed this city and it was replaced by Portobelo (now in Panama), a port that had better conditions to accommodate the fleet and was fortified by the military engineer Antonelli.

The arrival of the fleet at its destination

The docking of the fleets was greeted with great demonstrations of jubilation. Local authorities and tax officials came on board, checked everything and gave their approval.

The valise coming from the metropolis was delivered and the departure order was given to two warning ships that were to return to Spain with the urgent correspondence and the news of the fleet’s happy arrival.

Then the unloading began. Endless caravans of colored freighters went up and down the slabs with the bales on their backs. In the port everything was bustling, for the fair had begun.

It lasted at least two weeks and usually a month. The Portobelo fair was held for 45 days. It was attended not only by merchants with hard cash, but also by people from all over the world to buy or sell. Prices skyrocketed and any sham was paid at the price of gold.

For this reason, the authorities set up alhóndigas, with basic necessities at affordable prices, but there was speculation in everything and everywhere; in the streets, in the squares and in the port.

After carrying out the mercantile transactions, the ships of the fleets coming from Spain had to go to Havana. There the warships were waiting for them, to leave all together to return before the 10th of August to avoid the cyclone season in the Caribbean.

The return voyage to Spain

The voyage was much more dangerous than the voyage from Spain, as there was the risk of cyclones and turbulent tides, as well as the interception of the fleet by pirates.

From Havana, the ships sailed north and sailed up the Bahamas Channel, a rather dangerous area where some ships sometimes sank. From there they headed for the Azores. The danger of a pirate attack increased, which meant that reinforcement warships were sometimes sent from Spain.

From the Azores it was not uncommon for a stop to be made in the Algarve to disembark the smuggled silver before reaching Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the danger did not end.

Those huge ships loaded with weight had to go up the Guadalquivir almost always with great difficulty, due to the sand bars at its mouth. Because of this, since 1680 the ships departed and arrived in Cadiz, and the Casa de Contratación was definitively transferred to that city in 1717.

The ships of the Fleet of the Indies

The Fleet of the Indies was always composed of three different types of ships. Warships, merchant ships and warning ships.

Warships: “La Capitana” and “La Almiranta”.

The warships that accompanied as defense to the rest of the ships were always headed by “La Capitana”, which opened the formation and by “La Almiranta”. They were also accompanied by a series of ships that usually ranged from two to eight ships and sailed to windward.

Both the Capitana and the Almiranta had to weigh about 300 tons and each carried about 100 sailors. Each sailor with his own musket. In addition, both ships were armed with eight bronze cannons, four iron cannons and 24 minor pieces of artillery.

These warships were forbidden to carry goods, although they often failed to do so and some even sank due to excess weight. Passengers leaving or returning from the Indies always travelled on these ships and were always armed.

Merchant ships and warning vessels

Merchant ships carried goods to and from Spain. They had to be new (less than two years after launching) and over 300 tons (in the 16th century they usually had 400 tons of tonnage) and had two pieces of bronze artillery.

Finally, there were the warning ships. Light and fast vessels, of only about 60 tons, which departed before the rest of the fleet to warn America of the coming arrival of the fleet. They carried mail in both directions. In theory, they could carry neither passengers nor merchandise, which they often failed to do.

The construction of the ships of the race of the Indies

The ships of the Race of the Indies were usually built in the Bay of Biscay or in the American shipyards of Cuba, Panama or Veracruz. During the second half of the 17th century, one third of the ships that made the Carrera de las Indias were American. Foreign-built vessels were not admitted, except for exceptions, which there always were.

Between 1540 and 1650 – the period of greatest flow in the transport of gold and silver– of the 11,000 ships that made the America-Spain voyage, 519 ships were lost, most of them due to storms or other natural causes. Only 107 were lost due to pirate attacks, that is, less than 1%. This minimal damage is explained by the great effectiveness of this convoy system, which had its final station in Seville.

A round-trip commercial circuit

The fleets of the Indies were interested in the “tornaviaje” (return voyage) or return of the merchants, which were the ones that brought silver and merchandise from the East. But they took advantage of the occasion to obtain equally good dividends from the outward voyage, carrying the articles needed by the settlers of America.

Soon it was seen that the Indian demand was centered on luxury items, which could also be heavily taxed, so it became another no less lucrative business.

Thus a complete commercial circuit was set up , back and forth, which consisted of taking foreign manufactures and some foodstuffs used in the urban diet (wine, oil, raisins, etc.) to the Indies and bringing back silver from them.

The following table illustrates the exchange of products, sticking to foodstuffs and some others used for medicinal purposes, at least at first.

Goods transported to America

These ships, especially during the first voyages, were loaded with the most unimaginable products: goats, sheep, donkeys, mules and horses, which, as well as chickens and hens, were almost always obligatory cargo.

Seeds of wheat and various vegetables were not lacking, as well as certain furniture brought to Seville from different parts of Europe; tapestries, pottery, specialized tools and chests full of official correspondence from the Spanish crown were sure cargo, as well as barrels containing oil, wine and the water necessary for the journey, as well as the supplies indispensable for the voyage.

The most common cargo for America was foreign manufactured goods (Dutch, French and Italian fabrics), Spanish silks and the agricultural products of the peninsula (wines, oil, dried fruits).

Another usual merchandise of the fleets going to the Indies was quicksilver. It was needed to separate the American silver. Although Peru was self-sufficient in this product thanks to the Huancavelica mine, the same did not happen in Mexico, which always depended on the peninsular shipments.

The mercury came from the mines of Almaden or Idria (Yugoslavia) and was transported in leather wineskins and special ships, called azogueros. This merchandise was a monopoly of the Crown.

To the above should be added some other frequent merchandise, such as Biscayan iron and war supplies, which were sent to the military garrisons. These supplies were mainly gunpowder and bullets for cannons and the like, destined not only for the military forts of the Spanish dominions, but also for those eventually used by the crew in arquebuses and pistols, in case of a siege by pirates.

The cats, essential travelers, always accompanied all types of galleons on their voyage in order to control, as far as possible, the plagues of rats and mice that always proliferated in the holds.

Along with private shipments, the fleet carried the “quinto real”, a 20 percent tax on precious metals and foreign currency shipments. And all under the strict control of the Crown, which took care of the protection of such shipments.

Goods coming from America

Although initially the commercial exchange was very focused on silver, this flowed less and less. On the other hand, the American products that were sold in Europe (cocoa, sugar, indigo, cochineal, cotton, leather and finally coffee) increased.

The arrival of agricultural products from the New World, such as potatoes and corn, unknown until then outside the Americas, not to mention tomatoes, cocoa and tobacco, to name but a few of the best known, had much greater consequences for humanity.

To these products must be added the most exquisite ones that departed from the Philippines for New Spain and -part of them- finally to Seville. These products included Indian ivories and precious stones, Chinese silks and porcelains, sandalwood from Timor, cloves from the Moluccas, cinnamon from Ceylon, camphor from Borneo, ginger from Malabar, damasks, lacquers, tibores, tapestries, perfumes, etcetera.

The curious history of donkeys in the U.S.

In the chapter of anecdotes there is another curious story, strictly true, of how Spanish donkeys arrived in the newly created United States of America. George Washington, after his long military and political career, retired to his ranch at Mount Vernon to take care of his plantations.

He soon found that he was short of mules, an animal suitable for agricultural work and very difficult to obtain on his land. Thus, using diplomatic channels and thanks to the excellent relations with the Spain of Charles III, which had supported the United States so much -and so selflessly on many occasions- in its War of Independence, he asked him to give him a good donkey stallion to cross with his mares, and the Spanish king sent him two specimens.

And again it was a Spanish ship that carried such a great gift, even though it was apparently so modest. Therefore, it is possible that the same donkey that is used as an emblem by the Democratic Party of the United States, is a “descendant” of those animals.

Financing of the Indies race

The entire monopoly of the Indies Fleet was possible thanks to a costly collection financed by various taxes. Of the diverse amalgam of taxes that financed the Carrera de Indias, three stood out.

The avería was used to finance the warships and varied according to the value of the merchandise being transported. The alcabala was a tax on tradable products and consisted of 5% of the value of the merchandise when it entered an American port and 2.5% when it left, and the almojarifazgo, which was a customs tax on all non-tradable goods leaving Spain for America.

Final years of the race of the Indies

This commercial network covered a large part of the world, with more than 30,000 kilometers each way. In 1717 Cadiz replaced Seville, maintaining the monopolistic system of a single port. In 1778 the Regulation of Free Trade was established, which allowed trade with other ports and in 1789 the fleet system disappeared.

A new mercantile structure was created based on the consulates and the maritime companies, including that of the Philippines. In 1815 the Manila galleon was abolished and in 1869 the Suez Canal was opened. Other routes were initiated, the worlds were linked by other routes.