| For 250 years, Spanish trading ships sailed the Pacific Ocean bringing goods from Manila in the Philippines to Acapulco in Spanish America (which included, during this period, most of the southern United States from California to Florida). Aboard these ships were Luzon Indians or Manila Men, who were the first Filipinos in America. Along with these seamen in the ship's crew, there were other Filipino natives who were transported to the western shores of the Americas in this period. These included exiled chieftains (accused of insurrection, sentenced to separation from their followers) and young women servants accompanying merchants and other paying passengers on the galleons to New Spain and other areas of Spanish America. |
Publications by Eloisa Gómez Borah (to 1996)AMERASIA Journal, Volume 21, No.3 (Winter 1996). The author conveys the events surrounding the Unamuno landing expedition in Morro Bay, California, with particular emphasis on the participation of the "Luzon Indians" in Unamuno's landing party. Light is shed on the vital roles played by these Filipinos in this voyage of discovery for new supply ports higher up the coast of California, and the fate they shared with the Spanish soldiers they accompanied. Also examined is how this documented evidence of Filipino presence in California in the 1500s disappears in subsequent reportage of the Unamuno voyage account. 21 references.
"Filipinos on Spanish Ships to America in the 16th Century" Before the Philippines was a country and even before Magellan "discovered" the Philippines for Spain, "Malays" from what is now known as the Philippines served as ship hands, navigators and interpreters on many ships flying European flags.
"The Filipino Landing in Morro Bay in 1587" Based on a presentation made by the author on October 21, 1995, in the city of Morro Bay, California, on the occasion of the FANHS' historic site dedication and unveiling of the historical marker honoring the Filipinos who may be the first to have set foot in what is now the United States. Relating the events of the Unamuno land expedition in Morro Bay, October 18-20, 1587, as it would have been seen through the eyes of the Filipino crew men on the Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de Buena Esperanza.
Selected List of Bibliographic Guides to Research Sources
Bibliography of Philippine Bibliographies in UCLA Libraries.
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Presentations by Eloisa Gomez Borah (to 1996)June 27-29, 1996 Filipino American National Historical Society Fifth National Conference, New York City
Filipinos on Spanish Ships to America in the 16th Century:
The Filipino Landing in Morro Bay in 1587
The Galleons Brought Them: Preview of a Video Project
Research Methodology: Manila Galleon Trade, 1565-1815
Filipinos in 16th Century America: Rediscovering History
Leaders, Able-bodied Men, and Child-bearing-Age Women:
Glimpses into Filipino Presence in North America Prior to 1890
Women on the Manila Galleons
Filipinos in Early American History
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