Dan Gabriel R. Lettac
Sir Cabanilla
BSCOE 2-5
Assessment:
Instruction: Write down the changes and developments felt in the Philippines in the
nineteenth century.
Change and Development
Political
-
When Alfonso XII became the king, who brought Spain into a
time of stability and significant reform, liberal ideologies began
to influence the political situation of Spain. Spain eventually
adopted a new system of government under the Cadiz
constitution, which implemented several changes in the colonial
policies affecting its overseas territories.
-
A shift in the Spanish monarchy from the Habsburgs to the
Bourbons had the government start recalibrating colonial
strategies that had seriously impacted its economic and political
affairs. The new government then became of liberal ideologies.
-
The previous governors in chief struggled to adopt measures
that would advance the political progress of the colony. They
have not been able to actualize robust approaches to social and
educational advancement. Moreover, the abusive and powerful
friars dominated the colony's affairs, resulting in Catholicism
being more of a means of enslaving Filipinos. Consequently,
these issues turned into dispute, eventually sparking the
Philippine Revolution.
-
Meanwhile, the encomienda system continued to hurt the local
farmers. The colony moved to cash crops, and land ownership
and management became a significant concern of the
government. Local farmers were constrained, while the
hacienderos benefited solely from this development, resulting in
the worst problems of land grabbing.
Economic
-
Under the new government of liberal ideologies, GovernorGeneral Basco set up the Royal Philippine Company to fund
agricultural projects and negotiate new exchanges between the
Philippines and Spain and the rest of the world. Basco initiated
radical economic reforms - lifting restrictions on Chinese traders
that revitalized domestic trade and setting up improvements in
cash crop farming, among others - that helped the Philippines to
succeed in the global export economy.
-
The abolition of the Manila-Acapulco trade forced Spain to
create trade ties with other nations, resulting in the re-opening
of Manila to world trade for easier transactions.
-
The opening of the Port of Manila led to immense socioeconomic changes in the Philippine colony - it became one of
the best trading cities on its shores, attracting merchants across
nations with high demand for export products, such as rice and
tobacco. Despite economic constraints, the success of
numerous industries and institutions has prompted foreign
investors to try their fortune in the Philippines, giving enormous
profits to Filipino entrepreneurs and Chinese immigrants.
-
Modern production and transport methods have opened up
economic development as trade, mainly agricultural, becomes
increasingly more effective. An entirely new class emerged as a
result of the expansion of commercial agriculture, alongside the
land estates of the Church and the pre-Spanish nobles of coffee,
hemp, and sugar haciendas, which frequently were the property
of enterprising Chinese-Filipino mestizos. Some of these
families played a substantial role in the economic and political
campaigns of the Philippines. The Philippine economy rose
rapidly, and its local industries evolved to meet the increasing
demands of Europe that were industrializing.
-
The Chinese and Chinese Mestizos were two groups that
benefited greatly from the economy's development. The
Spanish were dubious of the Chinese's true motives as traders
due to the Chinese settlement boom in the Philippines. These
prompted the Spaniards to impose an unjust policy on sangleys,
extending from higher cost, limiting the development and
movement of their products in the Parian, to actual
arrangements for ejection. The Chinese still became an integral
part of the Philippine economy and society. They have a
significant role in contributing to the strengthening of the
economy. Manila became a feasible occasion for individuals
seeking a better chance or those seeking to get down from the
compounding condition in the farmlands.
Socio-cultural
-
Governor-General Carlos Maria dela Torre initiated changes,
such as abolishing flagging as a penalty in the Spanish army for
Filipino
deserters,
abolishing
press
censorship,
and
encouraging freedom of speech.
-
In education, a decree was passed in 1863 instructing the
founding of schools in various places and mandating Indios to
learn Spanish as the national language. Eventually, the
insulares, Chinese mestizos and indios started to identify as
Filipinos, contributing to national identity.
-
Meanwhile, the journey from Europe to Asia became shorter and
faster, leading to the influx of western liberal ideologies to the
Philippines. The minds of the Filipinos learned the ideas of
independence, freedom and solidarity.
-
As a result of substantial economic shifts in the lives of Filipinos,
a middle class of Asian-Eurasian mestizos has arisen in the
Philippine social group. They founded an elite social community
consisting of former governors, minor indigenous bureaucrats,
decorated workers and schoolmasters. In particular, the wealth
of the principalia, the inquilinos, came from the income produced
by land owned or leased. The Inquilinos, or land trustees, filled
the crucial role of local farmers and significantly contributed to
the social representation of the countryside as it widened the
wealth inequalities between natives and the landowners from
the encomienda system.
References:
Unit Three: The Nineteenth Century Philippines. Lesson 3: The Philippine’s Economic,
Social and Political conditions during the Spanish Colonization until the 19th century as
Rizal’s context.