Episode 18: AJV Archaeology No. 018 - Spanish Treasure Fleets Part II: The History of the Spanish Treasure Fleet System

With the 400th anniversary of the 1622 Tierra Firme Fleet Disaster occurring next week, I am dedicating a podcast series to the earliest shipwrecks and maritime history of the Florida Keys.
 
In this podcast series, Spanish Treasure Fleets, we dive deep into the history of the oldest shipwrecks in the Florida Keys. This, the second podcast: The History of the Spanish Treasure Fleet System, illustrates the maritime system that shaped the modern world’s economy and de- and re-populated the Caribbean and the Americas. 
 
The Spanish Treasure Fleets carved one of the oldest and now most used routes from North America to Europe. They grew the economies of the “Old World” by stealing from and abusing the indigenous populations of the “new.” Precious metals drove the greed of conquistadors and the Royals who wished to tax the profits to fuel their wars—other nations colonized what the Spanish couldn’t hold to get in on the action. Here is the history of the treasure fleets, how they fell into enemy hands and were wrecked at the mercy of Mother Nature along the coasts of North America and the Caribbean.