"Winds of Colonisation: The Meteorological Contours of Spain's Imperium in the Pacific 1521–1898"

Bankoff, Greg. “Winds of Colonisation: The Meteorological Contours of Spain’s Imperium in the Pacific 1521–1898.” Environment and History 12, no. 1 (Feb., 2006): 65–88. doi:10.3197/096734006776026827. This paper examines the relationship between prevailing weather systems and colonialism in the context of Spanish possessions in the Pacific from 1521, the year in which Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines, till the end of the nineteenth century. It argues that any historical appreciation of Hispanic colonialism and culture would be incomplete without due consideration of the role meteorological phenomena played, both at the macro-level in terms of the form and extent of empire and at the more micro-level as manifest in the daily experience of communities. All rights reserved. © 2006 The White Horse Press