The Life and Works of Rizal

Chapter 2

19th Century Philippines as Rizal’s Context

Chapter 2: 19th Century Philippines as Rizal’s Context

Introduction
The module 2 entitled “19 th Century Philippines as Rizal’s Context” will help the students to understand Rizal’s life within
the larger context of the nineteenth century. It focused on the economic, social, and political development in the century that shaped
the world in which Rizal lived.

The Philippines, being part of the wider Spanish empire, underwent changes when the Spanish Crown also had a dynastic shift in the
eighteenth century. With this came the Bourbon Reforms that brought new policies of economic reorientation for the colonies. With
the development of the cash crop economy and the opening of Manila and other cities to world trade, the economy boomed in the
nineteenth century.

This development in the economy also had a profound impact on the social and political landscapes. The new economy resulted in
changes in policies about education. And the nineteenth century saw the ascendance of the Chinese Mestizos that would assert their
relevance in society.

Specific Objectives

- Explain the circumstances of Jose Rizal in the context of the nineteenth century - Understand Jose
Rizal in the context of his times.

Duration

Chapter 2: 19th Century Philippines as Rizal’s Context = 3 hours

(2 hours discussion; 1 hour assessment)

19th Century Philippines as Rizal’s Context

 Philippine era was the era of challenges and responses.

 It is the period of major changes that affect man and society.
 Age of enlightenment

I. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A. End of Galleon Trade

The Galleon trade (Kalakalang Galyon) is also known in New Spain as “La Nao de la China” (The China Ship) because it
carried largely Chinese goods, shipped from Manila.
When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our ancestor were always trading with China, Japan, Siam, India, Cambodia, Borneo
and the Mollucas. The Spanish Government continued trade relations with these countries, and Manila became the center of
commerce in the East. The Spaniards closed the ports of manila to all countries except Mexico. Thus, the Manila-Acapulco Trade,
better known as the “Galleon Trade” was born.

The Galleon Trade was a government monopoly. Only two galleons were used: One sailed from Acapulco to Manila with some
500,000 pesos worth of goods, spending 120 days at sea; other sailed from manila to Acapulco with some 250,000 pesos worth of
goods spending 90 days at sea.
The Spanish trading ships which for two and a half centuries linked the Philippines with Mexico across the Pacific Ocean
lasted from 1565 to 1815.
 B. Opening of Suez Canal

Opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 relatively became an easy passage between Spain and the Philippines for Spanish
trading. The Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French
Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of
Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in
1856 the Suez Canal for 99 years after completion of the work. Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by
hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labor
disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869-four years behind schedule.
On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. When it opened, the Suez Canal was
only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Consequently, fewer than 500 ships navigated
it in its first full year of operation. Major improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the one of the
world’s most heavily traveled shipping lanes.

C. Opening of Ports to World Trade

The growing numbers of foreign merchants in Manila spurred the integration of the Philippines into an international
commercial system linking industrialized Europe and North
America with sources of raw materials and markets in the Americas and Asia. In principle, nonSpanish Europeans were not allowed
to reside in Manila or elsewhere in the islands, but in fact British, American, French, and other foreign merchants circumvented this
prohibition by flying the flags of Asian states or conniving with local officials. In 1834 the crown abolished the Royal Company of
the Philippines and formally recognized free trade, opening the port of Manila to unrestricted foreign commerce.

By 1856 there were thirteen foreign trading firms in Manila, of which seven were British and two Americans; between
1855 and 1873 the Spanish opened new ports to foreign trade, including Panay, Zamboanga in the western portion of Mindanao,
Cebu on Cebu, and Legaspi in the Bicol area of southern Luzon. The growing prominence of steam over sail navigation and the
opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 contributed to spectacular increases in the volume of trade.

D. The Rise of the Export Crop Economy

In 1851 exports and imports totaled some US$8.2 million; ten years later, they had risen to US$18.9 million and by 1870
were US$53.3 million. Exports alone grew by US$20 million between 1861 and 1870. British and United States merchants
dominated Philippine commerce, the former in an especially favored position because of their bases in Singapore, Hong Kong, and
the island Borneo.

By the late nineteenth century, three crops-tobacco, abaca, and sugar-dominated Philippine exports. The government
monopoly on tobacco had been abolished in 1880, but Philippine cigars maintained their high reputation, popular throughout
Victorian parlors in Britain, the European continent, and North America. Because of the growth of the worldwide shipping,
Philippine abaca, which was considered the best material for ropes and cordage, grew in importance and after 1850 alternated with
sugar as the islands’ most important export. Americans dominated the abaca trade; raw material was made into rope, first at plants
in New England and then in the Philippines. Principal regions for the growing of abaca were the Bicol areas of southeastern Luzon
and the eastern portions of the Visayan Islands.

Sugarcane had been produced and refined using crude methods at least as early as the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The opening of the port of Iloilo in Panay in 1855 and the encouragement of the British vice consul in that town, Nicholas Loney
(described by a modern writer as “a one-man whirlwind of entrepreneurial and technical innovation”), led to the development of the
previously unsettled island of Negros as the center of the Philippine sugar industry, exporting its product to Britain and Australia.
Loney arranged liberal credit terms for the local landlords to invest in the new crop, encouraged the migration of labor from the
neighboring and overpopulated island of Panay, and introduced stream-driven sugar refineries that replaced the traditional method
of producing low-grade sugar in loaves. The population of Negros tripled. Local “sugar-barons” --- the owners of the sugar
plantations—became a potent political and economic force by the end of the nineteenth century.
 E. The Rise of the Monopolies

On March 1, 1782, Spanish governor general Jose V. Basco established the tobacco monopoly as his economic program.
Thus, the tobacco production in the Philippines was under his total control. The provinces of Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Provinces,
Nueva Ecija, and Marinduque were ordered to plant tobacco. Only the government was allowed to buy the tobaccos. These tobaccos
were then bought to Manila to be made into cigar or cigarettes.

Why did Basco created the Tobacco Monopoly?

Expenses incurred in running the colony were usually paid for by a yearly subsidy called real situado sent from the Philippines’
sister colony, Mexico. This was, however, insufficient. The Royal fiscal, Francisco Leandro de Vianna, was prompted to devise a
plan to be able to a raise revenue on its own.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
II.

A. The Education System

A key factor in the emergence of nationalism in the late nineteenth century was the cultural development consequent on the
rapid spread of education from about 1861.
One of the major influences on the educational development of the nineteenth century was the return of the Jesuits. Expelled from
the Philippines and the rest of the Spanish empire in 1768, they finally returned in 1859 to take charge of the evangelization of
Mindanao. Having escaped, because of their expulsion, from the general decline that in the early part of the nineteenth century
affected the Philippine church and the system of education that depended on it, they returned with ideas and methods new to the
Philippine educational system. Asked by the Ayuntamiento to take over the municipal primary school in 1859 that became Escuela
Municipal, later renamed Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1865, now Ateneo de Manila University and opened it to the Filipino
students as well as the Spaniards for whom it had been founded. by 1865, Ateneo Municipal. had been transformed into a secondary
school that offered a level of instruction beyond the official requirements and more approximated today's college than high school.
Aside from Latin and Spanish, Greek, French, and English were studied. Rizal studied at Ateneo Municipal when this school was
located at Intramuros, Manila.
At the same time, such a role was given to the natural sciences that Rizal has the Filosopo Tasio (Rizal's father, Francisco)
say, "The Philippines owes (the Jesuits) the beginnings of the Natural Science, soul of the nineteenth century." Under the direction
of the Jesuits too was the other new educational institution, the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros (Superior Normal School) for
female teachers. It was opened in 1865 to provide Spanish-speaking teachers for the projected new primary school system. The
Escuela- Normal represented a hope of progress in the mind of the many Filipinos that just as it would be opposed by those for
whom modern education for Filipinos pose a danger to the continuance of Spanish rule.

 The Public School System in the 19th Century

Free access to modern public education by all Filipinos was made possible through the enactment of the Education Decree
of December 20, 1863 by Queen Isabella II. Primary instruction was made free and the teaching of Spanish was compulsory. This
was ten years before Japan had a compulsory form of free modern public education and forty years before the American
government started an English-based public school system in the Philippines. The royal decree provided for a complete educational
system which would consist of primary, secondary and tertiary levels, finally making officially available to Filipinos valuable
training for leadership after three centuries of colonization.
The Education Decree of 1863 provided for the establishment of at least two free primary schools, one for boys and
another for girls, in each town under the responsibility of the municipal government. It also commended the creation of a free public
normal school to train men as teachers, supervised by the Jesuits. One of these schools was the Escuela Normal Elemental, which, in
1896 became the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros de Manila (Manila Ordinary School for
Schoolmistresses). The Spanish government established a school for midwives in 1879, and Escuela Normal Superior de Maestras
(Superior Normal School) for female teachers in 1892. By the 1890s, free public secondary schools were opening outside of Manila,
including 10 normal schools for women. The Philippines was ahead of some European countries in offering education for women.
 In 1866, the total population of the Philippines was only 4,411,261. The total public school was 841 for boys and'833 for
girls. In 1892, the number of schools increased to 2,137, 1,087 of which was for boys and 1050 for girls.

B. The Chinese and Chinese Mestizos in the Philippines

The sectors that greatly benefited from the changing economy were the Chinese and the Chinese mestizos. Since pre-
colonial times, the natives of the Philippines had had trade relations with the Chinese. During the height of the Galleon Trade, it was
also Chinese products that comprised most the goods being traded. The influx of Chinese settlements in the Philippines made the
Spaniards suspicious of the Chinese. These feelings led to stringent state policies towards the sangley ranging from higher taxes, the
restriction of movement with the establishment of the Chinese enclave (the Parian), to actual policies of expulsion.
The Chinese, however, proved to be "necessary outsiders" in Philippine colonial economy and society. Although the
Spaniards were wary of the Chinese, they realized the importance that the latter played in sustaining the economy. From the goods
loaded on the galleons to the development of retail trade, the Chinese enlivened the economy. Eventually and gradually, they
became integrated into colonial society, giving rise to Intermarriages with indios that gave birth to Chinese mestizos. The Chinese
mestizos assumed an important role in the economy all throughout the Spanish colonial period. They influenced the changing
economy in the nineteenth century by purchasing land, accumulating wealth and influence.

 Impact on Life in the Colony

The economic developments, as mentioned, precipitated social, political, and cultural developments as well. For example,
the new economy demanded a more literate population to address the rising need for a more professionalized workforce to man the
trading activities in Manila and other centers. This demand compelled the issuance of the colonial government order in 1836 that
required all towns to set up primary schools to teach the population how to read and write. It eventually led to the passage of an
education decree in 1863 that mandated free primary education. Eventually, the nineteenth century also gave birth to many schools
that addressed the growing demand for more professionals. Schools like Ateneo Municipal were established during this time. The
complex nature of the developing economy also allowed the government to intensify bureaucratization and to streamline colonial
governance.
As Manila became a trading center, it became a viable destination for people seeking better opportunities or those wanting
to escape the worsening conditions in the farmlands. The increased rate of internal migration raised several concerns. One, people
flocked the centers of trade like Manila. Overcrowding implied issues in living quarters, sanitation and public health, and increase in
criminality. Two, the continuous movement of people made tax collection extra difficult. In order to mitigate these concerns, one
measure implemented was the 1849 decree of Governor-General Narciso Claveria that urged the people in the colony to adopt
surnames. With the catalogo de apellidos drawn up, the colonial government assigned surnames to people and forbade changing
names at will. Together with more policies like the registration and possession of a cedula personal bearing one's name and
residence, the colonial government sought to have a better surveillance mechanism. To help carry out policies better, the guardia
civil was eventually established. As the new economy afforded the colonial state new oppurtunities, it also prompted the state to be
more regulatory and to assert its authority.

 Renegotiating Social Stratification

The Philippine society felt the impact of the developing economy. As a result, social relations underwent redefinitions and
the changing dynamics brought about a renegotiation of social stratification. With the growing relevance of the mestizo population,
new lines were drawn with the following social strata:

 Peninsular- Pure-blooded Spaniard born in the Iberian Peninsula (i.e., Spain)  Insular- Pure-blooded
Spaniard born in the Philippines  Mestizo-Born of mixed parentage, a mestizo can be:
- Spanish mestizo — one parent is Spanish, the other is a native; or
- Chinese mestizo — one parent is Chinese, the other is a native
 Principalia- Wealthy pure-blooded native supposedly descended from the kadatoan class
 Indio- Pure-blooded native of the Philippines
 Chino infiel--- Non-Catholic pure-blooded Chinese
 As the Spaniards lost economic power in the nineteenth century, they asserted dominance by virtue of their race. This issue
brought complications with the rising principalia and mestizo populations who realized their indispensable position in society as
movers and facilitators of the economy. The renegotiation continued throughout the century as the mestizos and principalia elite
eventually demanded social recognition that the pure-blooded Spaniards had consistently denied them.
These wealthy mestizos and members of the principalia continued to amass economic and cultural capital. They also
availed themselves of the opportunity to obtain higher degrees of education not only in the Philippines but also in Europe. These
activities augmented their relevance in society as it was from these ranks that articulations of nationalism would emerge.

C. The Rise of the Inquilinos (Hacienderos)

The rapidly growing population in the nineteenth century needed increased amounts of rice.
Thus, those who controlled large rice, sugar, and abaca-growing lands in the Central Luzon,
Batangas, parts of Bikol region, Negros, and Panay profited the mst. These included not only the Filipino hacenderos of Pampanga,
Batangas, and Western Visayas, and the friar orders owning the large haciendas of Bulacan, Laguna, and Cavite, but also inquilinos
of the friar haciendas. By this time, many of these inquilinos were equivalently hacenderos in their own right, pass on from one
generation to the next the lands they rented from the flier hacienda and farming them by means of their share-tenants or kasama. To
the latter, they stood in a semi feudal relationship little different from that which existed during Rizal's time in the Nineteenth-
Century Context between owner¬ hacenderos and their tenants. The prosperity which the new export economy had brought to some
may be illustrated by the case of Rizal's Chinese ancestor Domingo Lam-co. When he had come to the Biñan hacienda in mid
eighteenth century, the average holding of an inquilino was 2.9 hectares; after Rizal's father had moved to the hacienda, the Rizal
family in the 1890's rented the hacienda over 390 hectares. But on the friar haciendas, rising prosperity had also brought friction
between inquilinos and haciendas as lands grew in value and rents were raised. A combination of traditional methods and
modernizing efficiency led to disputes, ultimately over who should 'reap the larger part of the fruits of the economic boom.
Eventually, this would lead to a questioning of the friar's rights to the haciendas. But it is a gross misnomer to speak of the
Revolution as an "agrarian revolt" in the modern sense. For it would not be the “kasama” who would challenge friar ownership, but
the prosperous inquilinos. And their motive would be as much political as economic — to weaken the friars' influence in the
Philippine political life.

III. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

The Spaniards ruled the Filipinos in the 19th century. The Filipinos became the Spaniard's slave. The Spaniards claimed
their taxes and Filipinos worked under the power of the Spaniards.There was an appointment of officials with inferior qualifications,
without. dedication of duty and moral strength to resist corruption for material advancement. Through this power and authority, the
Spaniards possessed, they collected and wasted the money of the Filipinos.There were too complicated functions to the unions of
the church and the state.Through the power that the Spaniards possessed, they had the right to appoint the different positions. The
appointment of positions is obtained by the highest bidder which is the Governor-general of the country. The term of office which is
the length of time a person (usually a politician) serves in a particular office which is dependent on the desire of the King of Spain.
The Spanish officials traveled to various places and the needs of the Philippines were ignored. They did not put too much attention
to the needs of the other people. There were inadequate administrative supervisions, they were unable to face and" solve the
problems regarding the Philippines. There were also overlapping of powers and privileges of officials which made them
competitive. Personal interest is over the welfare of the State.

They were corrupt during the 19th century and the Alcaldias/Alcalde is considered as the most corrupt over the other
corrupts. The Alcaldias/Alcalde includes the administrators, judges and military commandants. They usually have P25/mo. Liberal
allowances and privileges to take a certain percentage of money from the total amount of taxes. There were also monopoly trades or
business practices known as indulto para comerciar.

A. Rise and Gradual Spread of Liberalism and Democracy

The principal ideas of liberalism- liberty and equality- were first realized successfully in the American Revolution and then
achieved in part in the French Revolution. This political and social philosophy challenged conservatism in the European continent. -
Liberalism demanded representative government as opposed to autocratic monarchy, equality before the law as opposed to legally
separate classes. The idea of liberty also meant to specific individual freedoms: freedom of the press; freedom of speech, freedom of
assembly; and freedom from arbitrary arrest.
Democracy became a way of life in many European countries, like Britain, Belgium, and Switzerland. Democracy was gradually
established thru the following means: promulgation of laws that advance democracy; undertaking of reforms thru legislation;
abolition of slavery; adoption of a liberal constitution; providing the citizens the opportunity to propose laws; adoption of manhood
suffrage; and granting of political, economic and social rights to the people.

B. Impact of the Bourbon Reforms

The Bourbon Reforms (Castilian: Reformas Borbonicas) were a set of economic and political legislation promulgated by
the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, mainly in the 18th century. The strengthening of the crown's
power with clear lines of authority to officials contrasted to the complex system of government that evolved under the Habsburg
monarchs. In particular, the crown pursued state supremacy over the Catholic Church, resulting in the suppression of the Society of
Jesus in 1767 as well as an attempt to abolish ecclesiastical privilege (fuero eclesiastico).
The reforms resulted in significant restructuring of the administrative structure and personnel.
The reforms were intended to stimulate manufacturing and technology to modernize Spain. In Spanish America, the reforms were
designed to make the administration more efficient and to promote its economic, commercial and fiscal development. The crown
did so, hoping that it would have a positive effect on the economy of Spain. Furthermore, the Bourbon Reforms were intended to
limit the power of Creoles and re-establish Spanish supremacy over the colonies such as the Philippines.
The reforms achieved mixed results administratively but succeeded in alienating the local elites of the Americas (who called
themselves Criollos) and eventually led to the demise of all overseas dominions of the Spanish crown.

C. Cadiz Constitution of 1812

A Spanish constitution adopted by the constituent Cortes in Cadiz on Mar. 18, 1812, and made public on Mar. 19, 1812,
during the Spanish Revolution of 1808-14. The constitution declared that "sovereignty resides in the nation, which retains the
exclusive right to establish its own fundamental laws" (art. 3). Spain was proclaimed a hereditary monarchy (art. 14), with
legislative power vested in the Cortes and the monarch (art. 15) and executive power represented by the monarch (art. 16). The
constitution proclaimed individual freedom and the inviolability of domicile (arts. 286 and 307) but declared Catholicism the
official religion of Spain and prohibited the practice of any other religion (art. 12). The constitution proclaimed the equality of
Spaniards of the mother country and those of the Spanish colonies (art. 18) and established a national militia in the provinces (art.
362). On his return to Spain, King Ferdinand VII revoked the constitution on May 4, 1814. Restored at the outbreak of the Spanish
Revolution of 1820-1823 (it was proclaimed by Riego y Nuñez on Jan. 1, 1820, and Ferdinand VII swore to uphold it on Mar. 9,
1820), it was again abolished on Oct, 1, 1823, by Ferdinand VII. On Aug. 12, 1836, the constitution went into effect for a third time
in response to the demands of the masses and remained in force until the adoption of a new constitution on June 18, 1837.

References/Additional Resources/Readings

De Viana, A.V., Cabrera, F.C., Samala, E.P., De Vera, M.M., & Atutubo, J.C. (2018). Jose Rizal: Social Reformer and Patriot. Rex
Book Store, Inc.

Zaide, G.F. & Zaide, S.M. (2008). Jose Rizal: life, works and writings of a genius writer, scientist and national hero. All-Nations
Publishing Co., Inc.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/The-19th-century

https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/la-verdad-christian-college/bachelor-of-science-inaccountancy-i/19th-century-philippines-as-
rizals-context/11636319

https://pdfcoffee.com/the-philippines-in-the-19th-century-as-rizals-context-pdf-free.html