Write down the changes and development felt in the Philippines in the nineteenth century.

Changes and Development

Political In the 19th century, the Philippines was in its dark days as the
Spaniards' rule over the country was corrupt and dreadful. Filipinos
suffered because of the Spanish's instability in the colonial administration
and corrupted colonial officials, most of who were cruel and unjustly
appointed and accepted bribes through illegal means. There was also no
Philippine representation in Spanish Cortes, which meant that the Filipinos
had no way of exposing the irregularities and wrongdoings of the colonial
officers.

The Filipinos were denied human rights and equality before the law,
and they were forced into labor. There was maladministration of justice and
racial discrimination. It was also a time of frailocracy, which is the union of
the church and the state, which gave way to friars' owning haciendas,
which means Filipinos filling those lands even before the Spaniards
became tenants and had high land rentals. Although the Guardia Civil was
tasked with maintaining internal peace and order, the officers were
ill-trained and undisciplined, resulting in widespread abuse and
maltreatment.

The following are some of the important political developments in

the Philippines during the nineteenth century:
● The first time of unity of our nation called “FILIPINAS”.
● The rapid growth of commercial agriculture.
● Development of various political institutions.
● The launch of Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.
● Opening of the Philippines trading to the World Trade.
● The emergence of liberalism, bourbon reforms, and Cadiz
Constitution.

By the late 18th century, political and economic changes in Europe

were finally beginning to affect Spain, and thus, the Philippines. Spain
established one central government and many of the different barangays of
our ancestors disappeared. One government alone ruled most of the
country. Thus, for the first time in history, we became united as one nation
called "Filipinos." The rest of the world has come to know our country by
that name.

The growth of commercial agriculture resulted in the appearance of

a new class. Alongside the landholdings of the church and the rice estates
of the pre-Spanish nobility, arose haciendas of coffee, hemp, and sugar,

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 often the property of enterprising Chinese-Filipino mestizos. Some of the
families that gained prominence in the 19th century have continued to play
an important role in Philippine economics and politics.

The Spanish Gobernador-general established a central government

headed by the Spanish Gobernador-general. He had tremendous powers
and could make laws by himself, aside from exercising executive,
administrative, and judicial functions. As Capitan-General, he was the
commander-in-chief of all the Spanish armed forces in the Philippines. As
vice-royal patron of the Catholic Church, he was vested with certain
religious powers. For a long time, until 1861, he was also the president of
the Royal Audiencia, the Spanish Supreme Court in the country.

Americans expanded local participation in governance beyond that

which had been allowed under Spanish rule expanding representative
government beyond the merely advisory system that existed under the
Spanish. Political participation remained limited by pre-existing criteria on
status and wealth, with the addition of literacy as another consideration.

With the launching of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade in the

mid-18th century and the expansion of commerce at the turn of the 19th
century, new agrarian relations emerged whose focus was on export
markets. This paved the way for the beginning of capitalist agriculture. The
encomienda system began to decline and was abolished eventually due to
abuses, but "feudal landlordism based on private ownership of lands was
already institutionalized." (Ofreneo, 1980).

The opening of the colony to world trade encouraged the

development of agricultural specialization for crops like sugar, indigo,
coffee, hemp, and tobacco, on top of rice and corn, which were the staple
foods. This focus on foreign markers led the colonizers and the local
elites—the principalia, encomenderos, and the Chinese mestizos—to
acquire and grab more lands from the small Filipino landowners. During the
last two decades of the 19th century, before the Americans took over, there
were changes in economic conditions. Sugar began to lead all exports until
the close of the period. The extensive absorption of land and labor in
export agriculture led to the introduction of rice imports in the 1870s. 

Liberalism is a worldview founded on the ideas of freedom and

equality. Liberals normally 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 (Maebog et al., 2018). The
Bourbon Reforms were sets of economic and political legislation
promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various kings. The impact gave
the natives in the Philippines the idea that colonization could be done
without much intervention from the Catholic Church (Manebog et al. 2018).

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 On March 18-19, 1812, a group of 300 deputies from Spanish America and
the Philippines promulgated a liberal constitution called the Cadiz
Constitution in the Mediterranean port of Cadiz, having Pedro Perez De
Tagle and Jose Manuel Coretto as the first delegates from the Philippines.
The Cadiz constitution declared that "sovereignty resides with the nation,
which has the exclusive right to establish its fundamental laws."

Economic The following are some of the important economic developments in

the Philippines during the nineteenth century:
● The rise of the cash-crop economy.
● The introduction of mercantilism in the Philippines economic
system.
● The opening of the Philippine ports to the World Trade.
● The importance of Manila Galleon in the World Trade.
● The rise of exportation and Filipino Middle Upper Class.
● The children education and the birth of Illustrados.

During the 19th century, the Philippines’ economic condition gave

rise to Haciendas or the “cash-crop economy”. Where a big portion of the
land would be used for cash-crop agriculture. Some cash-crops are: sugar,
tobacco, abaka, and coffee. The Philippines became a significant exporter
of these items and became well-known in other areas of the globe as a
result of its openness to international commerce and the abundance of
these products in the Philippines. As a result of these events, the economy
shifted from barter to money.

The opening of the ports to international trade was one of the key
factors for economic progress. When the ports of Cebu, Iloilo, and
subsequently Manila opened, traders from all over the world began to
arrive in the Philippines, not just Spanish traders, but also traders from
other nations, signaling the shift from a mercantile to a laissez-faire
economy. It arose from the increase of export, which refers to Filipinos'
ability to ship products to other countries outside of the Philippines. Due to
the increased demand, Filipinos, particularly farmers and tenants, were
pushed to produce more agricultural goods, which eventually led to the
growth of the Filipino middle and upper classes, who were tenants.

The transition from mercantilism, an economic system that

employed rigorous government regulation of commerce and international
commercial monopolies to unite and expand a country's power and
monetary riches, to a free trade or laissez faire economy. The Manila
Galleon was also involved, which was a specialized international
exchange, mostly of an inter-industrial type. This follows the trend expected
by traditional international trade models, in which nations concentrate in
activities where they have comparative advantages. Transport costs were
so high, as I'll explain later, that importing items with equivalent local

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 replacements was not a viable option. Furthermore, current protectionist
rules made it very hard for "non-exotic" imports to compete in market
places with indigenous items.

The demand for agricultural goods has grown dramatically as a

result of exports. Because the hashinderos being the landowners, the
Filipino middle and upper classes rented land from them. They were the
ones who looked after the farm; they employed farmers to sow and harvest
the crops, and then they sent the produce to traders who needed abaka,
tobacco, sugar, rice, corn, and other agricultural items.

Jose Rizal, a National Hero, is one of several Illustrados who

dedicated their schooling for the cause of the country. Many families back
then were able to become patriotic because their children were taught the
sense of nationalism in school. Their viewpoint shifted from a naive to a
patriotic one. They were able to observe the Spaniards' wrongdoings as
well as the widespread corruption at the time. The offspring of the middle
and upper classes in the Philippines eventually formed a driving force
behind the emergence of Filipino nationalism

There are further benefits to the Philippines' economic progress in

the nineteenth century, which are enumerated below:
▪ Modernization was largely a financial objective, and many of
those who were passionate about progressive economic
policies desired them for the financial gain they would reap.
▪ It also gave rise to the notion of "utang," or socially
acknowledged debt, which is still prevalent in our society.
▪ Several changes happened throughout the nineteenth
century that solidified the land tenure system and sparked
outrage over its inequities and inequalities.

However, there were certain drawbacks back then, including the

following:
▪ The inhabitants were asked to pay tribute, or "buwis," in both
specie (gold or money) and kind (e.g. rice, cloth, chicken,
coconut oil, abaca, etc.).
▪ The encomienda system, like the tribute, is one of the
principal reasons of native unhappiness with Spanish
authority. This method has given the Spanish encomiendero
the ability to collect tribute or taxes at his leisure. Because the
colony lacked a centralized taxing structure, the
encomiendero has the choice of collecting tribute in gold,
cash, or kind.
▪ Polo or forced labor is another Spanish that had created
discontent among the indios during the Spanish times.

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 ▪ During Rizal's time, the Spanish friars of various religious
orders were the richest landlords in the Philippines, since
they held the best haciendas (agricultural holdings).
▪ Most landed peasants in the Philippines were reduced to
simple renters on their own property.

Socio-Cul The Filipinos in the 19th century suffered from feudalistic and master
tural slave relationships with the Spaniards. Their social structure is ranked into
three groups: They are the highest class – they have the power and
authority to rule over the Filipinos. They enjoyed their positions and did
what they wanted. The middle class includes those who belong in this
class, including the natives, mestizos, and criollos. The lowest class
consists solely of Filipinos.

The Spaniards ruled the Filipinos in the 19th century. The Filipinos
became the Spanish lord’s slaves. The Spaniards claimed their taxes, and
they worked under the power of the Spaniards. Here are some sources of
abuse in the administrative system: There was an appointment of officials
with inferior qualifications. There were too many complicated functions in
the church-state unions. During the nineteenth century, they were corrupt,
and the Alcaldias/Alcalde was considered the most corrupt of the corrupt.

The following are some of the important socio-cultural developments in

the Philippines during the nineteenth century:

● The road on opening public education in the Philippines.

● The widespread spiritual lecture and education system.

The Philippines had a public education system in 1863, but the

curriculum was still controlled by the church. Less than one-fifth of those
who went to school could read and write Spanish, and far fewer could
speak it properly. The limited higher education in the colony was entirely
under clerical direction, but by the 1880s, many sons of the wealthy were
sent to Europe to study. There, nationalism and a passion for reform
blossomed in the liberal atmosphere. Out of this talented group of overseas
Filipino students arose what came to be known as the "Propaganda
Movement." Magazines, poetry, and pamphleteering flourished. José Rizal,
this movement’s most brilliant figure, produced two political novels - Noli
Me Tangere (1886; Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (1891; The Reign
of Greed), which had a wide impact in the Philippines.

The Christian churches built by the Spanish and the mosques built
by the Muslims provided a spiritual anchor. The education system
established by the United States and expanded by the Filipinos has
become emblematic of cultural unity and socioeconomic progress.
Nonetheless, through the persistence of strong family ties, the revival of the

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 barangayas (the smallest unit of government), increased attention to Asian
history and literature, and the subsequent revival of dormant traditions, the
Philippines has strengthened its Asian heritage without abandoning its
Western cultural acquisitions.

There are advantages when it comes to socio-cultural situation of

the Philippines in 19th century which are as follows:
✔ Some brilliant and educated Filipinos thrived in their chosen areas to
prove that indios were not inferior people. Juan Luna was a gifted
painter. Fr. Jose Burgos has a background in theology and canon
law.
✔ By outperforming Spanish authors in literary contests and achieving
distinction as a physician, man-of-letters, scholar, and scientist, Jose
Rizal demonstrated that a brown man might be as great as, if not
greater than, a white man.
✔ The Chinese mestizo was an active agent of hispanization and a
driving factor in the development of the Filipino culture that is
presently found in Manila and the bigger cities.

There are also disadvantages back then which are enumerated below:
⮚ Racial discrimination is a type of social exclusion in which people
are denied access to public goods because of their physical
characteristics.
⮚ Upper class Filipinos can be the only one who afford to travel
overseas, like Rizal did.
⮚ Lower class Filipinos are treated as slaves.
⮚ In our civilization, social ranking was established.
⮚ Only pure-blooded Spaniards were allowed to hold higher posts in
government.
⮚ Because their friar tutors inspire dread in them, the Filipinos are
disheartened or hesitant to fight.

REFERENCES:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/Cultural-life
https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/The-19th-century
https://www.facebook.com/103537724823520/posts/social-structurethe-filipinos-in-the-19th-ce
ntury-had-suffered-from-feudalistic-/103567088153917/
https://pdfcoffee.com/the-philippine-in-19th-century-as-rizal-pdf-free.html

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 https://pjacintoblog.wordpress.com/portfolio/19th-century-philippines-a-blast-from-the-past/
https://www.slideshare.net/BUGLAS/the-nineteenth-century-philippine-economy-society
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/southern-luzon-state-university/research/module-2-con
ditions-in-the-philippines-during-19th-century/12727885
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SjqnGfhhm0

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