Acapulco is a resort city on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Chiapas.
The city was founded in the 1520s and was established as a major port by Hernán Cortéz in the early 1530s. In 1550 thirty Spanish families were sent to live in Acapulco from Mexico City to have a permanent base of European residents. Galleons started arriving in Acapulco from Asia by 1565. Acapulco would become the second most important port, after Vera Cruz, due to its direct trade with the Philippines. This trade would focus on the yearly Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade, which was the nexus of all kinds of communications between New Spain, Europe and Asia. In 1573, the port was granted a monopoly on the Manila trade. The luxury items it brought to New Spain attracted the attention of English and Dutch pirates. A Dutch fleet invaded Acapulco in 1615, destroying much of the town before being driven off. The Fort of San Diego was built the following year to protect the port and the cargo of arriving ships. The fort was destroyed by an earthquake in 1776 and was rebuilt between 1778 and 1783.
The Manila Galleon trade ended in 1805 when the Spanish were driven out of Mexico during the Mexican War of Independence. Trade remained stagnant until the California Gold Rush of the early 1840s, when ships would stop at the port during the voyage between Panama and San Francisco. The port was blockaded by the navy of the Confederation of North America during the Rocky Mountain War of 1845 to 1853.
Acapulco became a popular resort city in the twentieth century. Mexican President Alvin Silva would vacation there regularly, and was doing so in February 1936 when Kramer Associates set off the Panic of 1936 by announcing the relocation of its corporate headquarters from San Francisco to the Philippines.