Manila Men in the New World: Filipino Migration to Mexico and the Americas from the Sixteenth Century

by Floro L. Mercene

The Filipino diaspora is at least four hundred years old. For two-and-a-half centuries, Filipinos by the hundreds traveled yearly to Mexico and the Americas, with many electing to stay and find a new life. The chief means for migration was the Manila galleon that sailed between the Philippines and Mexico to carry on a lively trade in Asian goods in exchange for silver from the Americas and the trappings of civilization from the West.

The end of the galleon trade in 1815 did not stop the exodus of Filipinos to foreign lands as they began to discover the lure of other exotic ports in Asia and Europe. This book attempts to answer the question often What happened to those Filipinos who started the diaspora? The answers are important because they fill a gap in the long history of this adventurous race.

Genres: History

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manila Men in the New World reveals that the Filipino diaspora did not start during the American colonial period when Filipinos became American nationals but much earlier in the early Spanish colonial period with the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade.

The galleon trade led to some unintended consequences: Filipinos settling in Mexico, California, and even Louisiana; not an American state Filipinos would normally consider moving to from the Philippines in this modern age.

With stories that would surprise you and make you wonder, I recommend this book to anyone who intends to explore this mostly unknown migrant history of the Filipino People.

[Ben Fisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read about the history of the Philippine people's early experiences in the New World. As they manned the Spanish Galleons coming from their homelands they were brought to America by that epic of globalization. It is an eye opener as to how much influence the culture of the Philippines had in Mexico and the US. One interesting tidbit: perhaps the first Asians to settle into California were Filipinos escaping a Galleon at Morro Bay in the 1580's. Other interesting facts, the mole sauce was probably introduced by the Filippinos settling around Acapulco where the galleons were harboured. It is an important book for people interested in globalization and immigration between the Americas and Asia. Also, for anyone who has gone through the public schools in California, if not America, it is an eye opener about how important Mexico was to the development of global trade.