The global history of the Pacific made good progress over the last few years.
David Armitage, Alison Bashford, David Igler, and Matt Matsuda have written important
books bridging events occurring both in the island and littoral Pacific. The attempt to
link the island worlds of Oceania with the continental landmasses of Asia and the
Americas has also been at the center of my research.
The “Spanish Lake” refers to a convenient historical shorthand signaling a period,
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, of increasing European expansion into the
Pacific. Historical investigations have long focused on the economic implications of the
Manila Galleon exchange as the onset of true globalization. However, the Manila
Galleon route linking colonial Latin America with East and Southeast Asia had limited
impact on the island world of Oceania. In my talk, I will argue for an expanded notion of
the “Spanish Lake” that moves well beyond the Manila-Acapulco link.
My seminar will be divided into two interrelated parts. Firstly, I will outline the
Pacific’s comparative framework by reading this ocean against the Atlantic and Indian
worlds. The second part of the presentation will situate my Iberian research into the
emerging global conceptualization of the Pacific.