1868 Massive Departure Manifest for the Chinese Coolie Trade Ship the America’s Voyage from Macau to Havana

On offer is a tremendous San Salvadorian ship manifest, recording the names and information of 622 Chinese men who were transported from the port of Macau to Havana, Cuba to complete their indentured servitude as “coolies”, working for Cuban sugar plantation owners.

This manifest is for the January 25, 1868 sailing of the Peruvian Galley, the America. This sailing was captained by Cpt Ferreiro for the Compania Maritima del Peru. This sailing was under the San Salvadorian flag. The ship arrived in Macau on May 20, 1868. 610 coolies departed Macau and 607 arrived in Cuba. This manifest was signed on January 24,1868 by Henrique W. Pearce, a Macao-based emigration agent.  It was also signed the day before departure on January 24,1868 by The Consul General of His Majesty, José de Alguilar. 

The America had previously been used as a coolie ship called Red Rose under the British flag and under the Italian flag as the America. The America completed a total of seven coolie voyages, transporting a total of 4,703 Chinese passengers. 

The Chinese coolie trade, a system of indentured labor that targeted young, poor Chinese men, operated from 1847-1874. Throughout this period, African slavery was slowly being abolished around the world. The coolie trade was initiated by Britain and was eventually dominated by both Britain and the United States of America. Chinese coolie laborers were sent to work in British, American and Spanish colonies, and the nature of the trade changed throughout its 27-year operation, due to social and political pressures. The coolie trade took place, in large part, between the shipping port in Macao (now a part of China, then under Portuguese rule) and Havana, Cuba (then under Spanish control). As Macau was under Portugese rule at the time of the coolie trade, they transported coolies on their vessels frequently and many of the manifests were written in Portuguese and/or Spanish. To learn more about the Chinese coolie trade and its importance in world history, click here to read our in-depth research blog on the topic. 

This departure manifest measures 8.5x13.5 inches. It contains 18 pages of writing (9 front and back) over 10 physical pages. Folded together. Significant bending with some tears at the crease lines. Some pages are ++ fragile with some pages becoming detached from the total document, however the document does remain in tact.  Legible. Overall Fair. 

Citation: 

Asome, J. (2020). Coolie ships of the Chinese diaspora (1846-1874). Proverse Hong Kong.