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Spanish ships had brought treasure from the New World since ColumbusColumbus can refer to either of these people: Christopher Columbus, Genoese trader and explorer Realdo Colombo, anatomist and surgeon from the 16th century There are many places in the United States named Columbus Columbus, Arkansas Columbus, Georgia Colu' first expedition of 1492Events January 2 Boabdil, the last Moorish King of Granada, surrenders his city to the army of Ferdinand and Isabella after a lengthy siege. March 30 Ferdinand and Isabella sign a decree aimed at expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman, but a system of convoyThis article is about the general concept, particularly its use by the military. Convoy is also the name of a trucker's song by C. McCall and of a movie by Sam Peckinpah and Kris Kristofferson inspired by the song, as well as the Japanese name for the Tras started to be developed in the 1520sCenturies: 15th century 16th century 17th century Decades: 1470s 1480s 1490s 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s Years: 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 Events and Trends Fall of Tenochtitlan and conquest of Mexico by the Span in response to attacks by FrenchThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. and English privateers. Under this system, two fleets sailed each year from Seville (later Cádiz), consisting of galleons, heavily armed with cannon, and merchant carracks, carrying manufactured goods (and later slaves). One fleet sailed to the Caribbean, the other to the South American ports of Cartagena, Nombre de Dios (and later Porto Bello); after completing their trade the fleets rendezvoused at Havana in Cuba for the return trip.
Spain strictly controlled trade with its colonies: by law, the colonies could only trade with the mother country. Though the English and Dutch tried to break it, this monopoly lasted for two centuries, in which Spain first became the richest country in Europe and used the wealth from its colonies to fight wars against France, England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and then the precious metals from the Indies engendered the inflation of the 16th century, which destroyed the old economy.
The fleet carried the royal fifth of precious metals and wares of private merchants. Archaelogy has found that the quantity of metals really transported was usually much higher than that recorded at the Archivo de Indias as merchants resorted to contraband and corruption to transport their riches untaxed.
This economic system began to decline in the 17th century. The treasure fleets were menaced by storms (the fleets of 1622, including the Atocha, 1715 and 1733 were destroyed by hurricanes in the Caribbean) and by pirates, privateers and foreign navies. The threat of attack became greater as Spain's colonial rivals established their own, or seized Spanish, bases in the Caribbean: the English acquired St Kitts in 1624, and the Dutch Curaçao in 1634. Treasure fleets were captured by Piet Hein in 1628 and in 1656 and 1657 by Robert Blake. In the 1660s Henry Morgan attacked Spanish possessions. The 1702 treasure fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Vigo Bay.
These losses were tremendous economic blows to Spain. Weakened by continual wars and suffering economic depression, Spain was unable to protect its colonies. In 1739, Admiral Edward Vernon raided Porto Bello, and in 1762 (in the Seven Years' War) the British captured Havana and Manila.
Spain opened its colonies to free trade in the 1780s and the last treasure fleet sailed in 1790.