Hi everyone, long time lurker, new poster here! I want to preface this by stating that slavery and the slave trade are undeniably horrific acts. That said, both had an undeniable impact on history, particularly in the Atlantic world and I think examining the effects of a similar trade in the Pacific is worth a look. There have been some past threads on the topic (such as this one: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/economics-of-a-trans-pacific-slave-trade.477234/), but they tend to focus on the Portuguese and on long circumnavigation trade routes.
I am more interested in the effects that an expansion of the nanban trade and the manilla galleon trade route into a Spanish pseudo-"triangle trade" instead. Like the Atlantic triangle trade, this would be exploiting trade imbalances in each region to make a profit on each leg by shipping silver and other precious metals from the New World to China, silk and other luxury goods from China to Japan, and slaves from Japan and Korea to the New World. One of the perennial problems for the Spanish silver mines at Potosi and cinnabar mines at Huancavelica were labour shortages, which in OTL lead the Spanish to expand upon the existing Inca Mita system to alleviate labour shortages. This of course was caused by horrific conditions of the mines which lead to death rates comparable to the worst abuses of the Caribbean sugar plantations. European powers tended to resort to the Atlantic slave trade to solve these sorts of labour issues, but Spain was disadvantaged in this due to strong Portuguese control of the trade in part due to the treaty of Tordesilla.
China meanwhile had huge demand for silver and Japan for silks due to inability to trade with China as a result of wokou raiding. Japan during this period OTL was frequently trading slaves to the Portuguese as part of this trade and were doing so to such an extent which horrified Sebastian of Portugal and Toyotomi Hideyoshi . So what if the Spanish get involved in the nanban trade and this slavery expanded? Japan at this time was involved in Korea at this time and could have been one source of slaves for the trade. Wokou raids could have expanded to slave raiding as well, and the existing trade in Japan a further sources.
The existing Manila Galleon route already goes along the coast of Japan, so expanding the trade along the route is a nonissue.
So what impact would this have? Obvious effects would be a larger amount of Asians in the New world. It is not much of a stretch to see Asian slaves outside of simply the pacific coast, so this could have an impact in the Spanish Caribbean colonies as well. Korea, and likely Japan and China as well, will see a drain on population and human capital that was experienced in Atlantic Africa, which will have a tremendous negative impact on the development of these nations. I think it is fairly likely to see an earlier development of California with greater Manila trade along its route. How might a spread of East Asian religions to the new world have on indigenous belief systems? What other effects might this have on the Pacific world?
I am more interested in the effects that an expansion of the nanban trade and the manilla galleon trade route into a Spanish pseudo-"triangle trade" instead. Like the Atlantic triangle trade, this would be exploiting trade imbalances in each region to make a profit on each leg by shipping silver and other precious metals from the New World to China, silk and other luxury goods from China to Japan, and slaves from Japan and Korea to the New World. One of the perennial problems for the Spanish silver mines at Potosi and cinnabar mines at Huancavelica were labour shortages, which in OTL lead the Spanish to expand upon the existing Inca Mita system to alleviate labour shortages. This of course was caused by horrific conditions of the mines which lead to death rates comparable to the worst abuses of the Caribbean sugar plantations. European powers tended to resort to the Atlantic slave trade to solve these sorts of labour issues, but Spain was disadvantaged in this due to strong Portuguese control of the trade in part due to the treaty of Tordesilla.
China meanwhile had huge demand for silver and Japan for silks due to inability to trade with China as a result of wokou raiding. Japan during this period OTL was frequently trading slaves to the Portuguese as part of this trade and were doing so to such an extent which horrified Sebastian of Portugal and Toyotomi Hideyoshi . So what if the Spanish get involved in the nanban trade and this slavery expanded? Japan at this time was involved in Korea at this time and could have been one source of slaves for the trade. Wokou raids could have expanded to slave raiding as well, and the existing trade in Japan a further sources.
The existing Manila Galleon route already goes along the coast of Japan, so expanding the trade along the route is a nonissue.
So what impact would this have? Obvious effects would be a larger amount of Asians in the New world. It is not much of a stretch to see Asian slaves outside of simply the pacific coast, so this could have an impact in the Spanish Caribbean colonies as well. Korea, and likely Japan and China as well, will see a drain on population and human capital that was experienced in Atlantic Africa, which will have a tremendous negative impact on the development of these nations. I think it is fairly likely to see an earlier development of California with greater Manila trade along its route. How might a spread of East Asian religions to the new world have on indigenous belief systems? What other effects might this have on the Pacific world?
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