Describe the 

political, cultural, economic, and religious developments during the 19th century

Philippines as explained by Schumacher.  
• The 19th century was a time of great change for the Philippines, a transformation if you will; it
is a time where Jose Rizal existed at the same time as the various developments in the country
occurred. These developments would shape Rizal’s thoughts about nationalism, the Spanish, and
the Filipino people, may it be for the better or for worse, these developments are an integral part
of how the Philippines came to be and that they contributed to the Philippines that we live in
today.
The development of politics brought about by the Spanish, especially on their established
inconsistent policies due to their irregular governance and those Spanish that are anointed as
officials, especially when Filipinos were deprived and had little to no representation in
government brought about a backward kind of development for the country. These things
allowed corruption, the lack of basic needs, and in my opinion, the culture of elitism in the
country that persists today, along with the harsh Guardia Civil to ensue. With culture in mind,
beginning with the spread of education and knowledge, western thinking and ideals, the events
that are happening in the 19th century, especially at the time of the Age of Enlightenment, a
wider more liberal, and essentially modern perspective as opposed to the backwardness of Spain
would spread in the country from the ilustrados to being a major key piece, may it be in the
propagandist movement, which would enhance the Filipino world view and light nationalism
within Filipinos throughout made possible by the substantial amount of Filipinos who could
communicate in Spanish throughout the Philippines — a movement whose scope is both regional
and national. It is also worth noting that the rise of nationalism was also on account to the
interest in the past and the history of the Philippines largely inspired by European, especially
German preoccupation with history and ethnology, which influenced Filipinos, especially Rizal,
wherein he partook in the historical investigation of the Filipino heritage. Another one of the
developments was in the Philippine economy; Schumacher noted that as the British and
American merchants organized trade, there was an economic boom during this time, as the
economy was rapidly growing, wherein the upper and middle-class Filipinos were in a position
to take advantage of this situation and profit. The economy at that time allowed the inquillinos to
essentially gain traction in terms of their standing in the society, which enabled them, in a way to
have a revolt against the elites, the friars; this economic development is a factor for the eventual
revolution against the Spanish considering the benefit it had for the Inquillinos or the Filipinos in
taking a stand against the friars. Lastly, the 19th century Philippines saw the development of
religion, from the so-called antifriars, or even anticlerical or anti-Catholic, the Ilustrados were a
central aspect in this sense as they were called so because of their blatant abhorrence to the
Spanish friars, using the Catholic faith and their influence to essentially control the Filipino
people, and also abuse them, which made the friars the target for the Ilustrados. The Filipino
clergy is depicted in this sense as an instrument for change in opposition to Spanish friars and the
Spanish in general, where they fight for Filipino equality, their ideals, their mindset, and activism
in relation to the propagandist movement would eventually be a major factor in Filipino
nationalism, in the reform of the country, and in fighting for liberal reforms, coupled with the
events that led to the martyrdom of the GomBurZa, the development of religion in this way, like
all the other developments aforementioned are what led to the revolution which eventually freed
us from Spanish rule.