GEN ED 9

The Life and Works of Jose Rizal

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

 Context

Understanding the events in the 19 th

Century will help us understand the life

of Jose Rizal.
 Chapter 2
19 Century Philippines as Rizal’s
th

Context
 The Contexts

• The Economic Context

• The Social Background
• The Political Landscape
 Chapter 2.1

The Economic Context

 The Economic Context
End of Galleon Trade
• Roy Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in
Cebu in 1565.
• Andres de Urdaneta discovered a return
route from Cebu to Mexico.
• 1565 – The Spanish government closed
the ports of Manila to all countries
except Mexico.
The Galleon Trade Route
 Products from the Philippines
• Mango de Manila
• Tamarind
• Rice
• Carabao
• Cockfighting
• Chinese tea and textiles
• Fireworks display
• Tuba (coconut wine) making
 Products from Mexico
• Guava
• Avocado
• Papaya
• Pineapple
• Horses
• Cattle
 End of Galleon Trade
• Manila became a trading hub where
China, India, Japan, and Southeast
Asian countries.
• Running and working on the hub
were primarily Chinese.
• Chinese arrived in junks yearly,
bringing goods and workforce.
 End of Galleon Trade
• The Manila Galleon Trade allowed
modern liberal ideas to enter the
Philippines.
• September 14, 1815, the Galleon
trade ended with Mexico’s war for
independence.
 The Economic Context
Opening of the Suez

Canal
• An artificial sea-level
waterway in Egypt.
• Connects the
Mediterranean Sea and
the Red Sea.
 Opening of Suez Canal
• Constructed by the
Suez Canal Company
between 1859-1869.
• Under the leadership of
French diplomat
Ferdinand de Lesseps.
• Opened on November
17, 1869.
 Opening of Suez Canal
• Shortened the travel distance between Europe and
the Philippines.
• Lessened the voyage from three months to 32 to 40
days.
• It has a huge advantage in commercial enterprises,
especially between Europe and Asia.
• Expedited the importation not only of commercial
products but also books, magazines, and
newspapers with liberal ideas from America and
Europe.
 Opening of Suez Canal
• It shortened the travel distance between Europe and
the Philippines.
• It lessened the voyage from three months to 32 to
40 days.
• It has a huge advantage in commercial enterprises,
especially between Europe and Asia.
• The canal expedited the importation not only of
commercial products but also of books, magazines,
and newspapers with liberal ideas from America and
Europe.
 The Economic Context
Rise of the Export of Crop Economy
• After the end of the Galleon Trade,
between 1820 and 1870, the
Philippines was well on its way to
developing an export crop economy.
• This was motivated by the commercial
undertakings of North European and
North American merchants who
provided capital, organization, and
access to foreign markets and sources
of imports.
 Rise of the Export of Crop Economy
• Products such as sugar, Manila hemp, and coffee
were produced for foreign markets while imported
goods of the European factory industry found their
way into many parts of the Philippines.
 The Economic Context
Monopolies
• Monopoly contracting was another main source of
wealth during the post-galleon era.
• After 1850, government monopoly contracts for the
collection of different revenues were opened to
foreigners for the first time.
• The Chinese instantly took advantage of this
commercial opportunity.
 Monopolies
• The opium monopoly was a
specifically profitable one. During the
1840s, the Spanish government
legalized the use of opium (provided it
was limited to Chinese) and a
government monopoly of opium
importation and sales was created.

• The majority of contracts in the

monopoly were held by the Chinese.
 Monopolies
Monopolies before 1850

• Spirituous liquors (1712-1864)

• Betel nut (1764)
• Tobacco (1782-1882)
• Explosives (1805-1864)
 Monopolies
• The most controversial and
oppressive to locals was perhaps
the tobacco monopoly.

• March 1, 1782, Governor-General

Jose Basco placed the tobacco
industry under government
control, thereby establishing the
tobacco monopoly.
 Monopolies
• An order was issued for the
widespread cultivation of tobacco
in the provinces of Cagayan
Valley, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La
Union, Isabela, Abra, Nueva Ecija,
and Marinduque.

• They planted nothing but tobacco

and sold their produce only to the
government at a pre-designated
price
 Monopolies
• Positively, it raised revenues for
the government and made
Philippine tobacco prominent all
over Asia and some parts of
Europe.

• Negatively, it brought food

shortages.
 Monopolies
• On June 25, 1881, a Royal decree
was issued by King Alfonso XII
abolishing the tobacco monopoly
in the Philippines.

• The order was applied in the

islands in 1882.
 Chapter 2.2

The Social Background

 The Social Background
The Social Structure of Filipino
Peninsulares – Spaniards born in Spain
Society
Insulares Filipinos – Spaniards born in the
Philippines
Mestizos – Spanish and Chinese half-breeds

Indios or Natives
 The Social Background
Education in the 19th Century
• Spanish colonizers introduced the
European system of education to the
archipelago.

• Schools were established and run by

Catholic missionaries.

• Aim to convert the natives to the

Catholic faith and make them obedient,
religion was made a compulsory
subject at all levels.
 Education in the 19 Century th

Education in the 19th Century

• Spanish colonizers introduced the
European system of education to the
archipelago.

• Aim to convert the natives to the

Catholic faith and make them obedient,
religion was made a compulsory
subject at all levels.
 Education in the 19 Century th
• King Phillip II (1556-1598) developed
the first version of the Leyes de
Indias (Laws of the Indies) mandated
the Spanish authorities in the
Philippines to educate the locals - to
teach them how to read, write, and
learn Spanish.

• Missionaries did not seriously teach

Spanish to the natives. King Phillip II
 Education in the 19 Centuryth
• The first formal schools were the
parochial schools opened in their
parishes by missionaries.
• Native children were taught
reading, writing, arithmetic, and
some vocational and practical arts
subjects.
• Latin was also taught to the
students instead of Spanish.
• Corporal punishment was imposed.
 Education in the 19 Century th
• Later on, colleges were
established for boys
and girls.
• The subjects taught to
college students
included history, Latin,
geography,
mathematics, and
philosophy.
Santa Potenciana College or Colegio de Santa
Potenciana was the first school for girls established in 1589
 Education in the 19 Century th
• University education was
opened in the country during
the early 17th century.
• Initially, colleges and
universities were open only to Seminario-Colegio de San Carlos at the start of the
Vincentian administration in 1867
the Spaniards and those with The UST Main Building during its early years (1920s-

Spanish blood (mestizos). It 1930s).

was only in the 19th century

that these universities started
accepting native Filipinos.
 Education in the 19 Century th
• The Educational Decree of 1863 (a Royal Decree)
called for the establishment of a public school system
in the Philippines.
• Education in the colony was administered by the
government during the last half of the 19 th century.
• The church controlled its curriculum.
• Universities become open to natives, with the
limitation to the sons of wealthy indio families.
• The growing number of educated natives resulted to
the emergence of a new social class in the country --
the ilustrados.
 The Rise of Chinese Mestizo
• The development of commercial
agriculture in the archipelago
resulted in the presence of a new
class.
• Alongside the landholdings of the
church and the rice estates of the
pre-Spanish nobility, there emerged
haciendas of sugar, coffee, and
hemp, typically owned by
enterprising Chinese-Filipino
mestizos.
 The Rise of the Inquilinos
• The 19th-century inquilino system in
the Philippines is better understood
as a qualified system of tenancy, or
the right to use land in exchange for
rent.
• The end of the Galleon trade and the
opening of the Suez Canal gave way
for more extensive rice cultivation
and production of crops, making
many estates turn to the inquilino
system of land tenure.
 The Rise of the Inquilinos
Most large estates are owned by Spanish friars.
Landowners

Mostly lay Spanish, or lay Filipino brother. Inquilinos

Inquilinos paid a fixed rent and the amount was determined by
the size and quality of the land being worked on.

Inquilinos sub-lease their land to

Sharecroppers
sharecroppers of kasamas.
 The Rise of the Inquilinos
• As friar estates enlarged, outlining
the boundaries that separated these
estates from communal lands became
a common cause of conflict.

• Land border conflicts became so

acute that they served as catalysts
for agrarian uprisings.
 Chapter 2.3

The Political Landscape

 Liberalism
• Liberalism is a worldview founded on
the ideas of freedom and equality.
• It includes a wide range of political
philosophies that consider individual
liberty to be the most significant
political goal.
• Liberals believe that government is
necessary to protect individuals from
being abused by others though they
are also aware that government itself
can pose a threat to liberty.
 Liberalism
• The French Revolution (1789-1799)
started a political revolution in
Europe and in some other parts of
the globe. This revolution became a
period of fundamental change in the
political history of France as the
French government structure was
changed from absolute monarchy to
a more liberal government system Liberty Leading the
People

founded on the principles of

citizenship and inalienable rights.
 Liberalism
• As a result of the French Revolution, Spain later
experienced political disturbances which included
numerous changes in parliaments and constitutions,
the Peninsular War, the loss of Spanish America, and
the struggle between liberals and conservatives.

• Radical modifications in government form were also

introduced by liberals in Spain.
 Liberalism
• The opening of the Suez Canal eased the
importation of books, magazines, and
newspapers with liberal ideas from the West

• Jean Jacques Rousseau – Social Contract

• John Locke – Two Treatises of Government
• Thomas Paine – Common Sense
• Thomas Jefferson
• Charles Louis de Secondat
• François-Marie Arouet
 Liberalism
• Actual experience of liberalism in the
Philippines came from the role-modeling of
the “first liberal governor-general in the
Philippines”, Governor-General Carlos
Maria de la Torre.

• After the liberals had deposed Queen

Isabela II in the 1868 mutiny, a provisional
government was formed. The new
government extended to Spain’s colonies
the reforms implemented in the
motherland.
 Liberalism
• Governor-General Carlos Maria de la Torre
was appointed by the provisional
government as Governor-General of the
Philippines (1869-1871). He is widely
considered to be the most beloved of the
Spanish Governors-General ever assigned
in the country.

• His rule was essential in the dawn of

national consciousness of the locals in the
19th century.
 Liberalism
• His liberal and democratic governance had
provided Jose Rizal and the others a
preview of a democratic rule and way of
life.

• He avoided luxury and lived a simple life.

He also encouraged freedom and
abolished censorship. He also recognized
the freedom of speech and of the press,
which were guaranteed by the Spanish
constitution.
 Impacts of the Bourbon Reforms
• Advocated by Spanish Bourbon King Philip V, and his
successors, Ferdinand VI and Charles II. It is a century-
long effort to reform and modify the Spanish empire.

King Philip V King Ferdinand VI King Charles II

 Impacts of the Bourbon Reforms
• These policies include curtailing contraband
commerce, reclaiming control over
transatlantic trade, restricting the church’s
power, reforming state finances, and founding
tighter administrative and political control
within the empire.
• Ideally, these reforms were advantageous to
the Philippines which was under Spain from
1565 to 1898.
• The reforms impacted the way the colony was
run by Spanish administrators but only to a House of Bourbon
Coat of Arms
limited extent
 Impacts of the Bourbon Reforms
• The effectiveness of the reforms was
questionable since the policies lacked some
ideological coherence, with the diverse and
frequently contradictory aims of Madrid
policymakers.

• The process of the reforms was also complex

since the Spanish reformers sometimes
promoted distinctly different kinds of policies
for provinces in its diverse empire.
House of Bourbon
Coat of Arms
 Impacts of the Bourbon Reforms
• Its impact. It gave people, especially the
natives in the Philippines, the idea that
colonization could be done without much
intervention from the Catholic Church.

House of Bourbon
Coat of Arms
 The Cadiz Constitution
• During the Napoleonic occupation of
Spain, a liberal constitution was
promulgated in Cadiz in March 1812.

• The Cadiz constitution was the first

constitution in Europe to deal with
national sovereignty, recognizing the
sovereignty as coming from the people
and not from the king.
 The Cadiz Constitution
• The first delegates from the Philippines
were Pedro Perez de Tagle and Jose
Manuel Coretto who took their oath of
office in Madrid.

• The Cadiz constitution established the

principles of universal male suffrage,
national sovereignty, constitutional
monarchy, and freedom of press.
 The Cadiz Constitution
• The constitution was very influential in
the Philippines in the 19th century as it
was a liberal constitution that vested
sovereignty in the people, recognized
the equality of all men, and the
individual liberty of the citizen, and
granted the right to suffrage.
• Perks: Exclusion of the locals from
paying tributes and rendering open
administrations dependent on its equity
provision.
 The Cadiz Constitution
• King Fernando VII – announced
that the Cadiz Constitution was
invalid in May 1814, and
reestablished absolute monarchy in
Europe

King Fernando VII