19th Century Philippines as Rizal’s Context

 Abandonment of Mercantilism(an economic doctrine based on the idea that a country’s wealth and powered is measured
in terms of gold and silver)
 Laissez-fair Policy
 Middle class call for reforms.
 Enconmienda System - Forced labor and lost of ancestral lands.
 Actos Acordas - Laws enacted by the governor general
 Audencia Real - The supreme court and lower courts
 Polo y sevicio - forced labor

THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: THE THREE GREAT REVOLUTIONS

The birth of modernity was precipitated by three great revolutions around the world:
 The Industrial revolution in England
 The French Revolution in France
 The American Revolution.

Industrial Revolution in England

 The economic opportunities created by the Industrial Revolution had encouraged Spain in 1834 to open the Philippine
economy to world commerce.
 The Industrial Revolution that started in Europe had repercussions to the Philippine economy.
 The economic opportunities created by the Industrial Revolution had encouraged Spain in 1834 to open the Philippine
economy to world commerce.

The French Revolution in France

 The French revolution (1789-1799) started a political revolution in Europe and in some parts of the world.
 French revolution had democratic principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity--the battle cry of the French Revolution--
started to spread in Europe and around the world.
 The French revolution (1789-1799)
 The struggle between liberals and conservatives.
 This aspiration had inspired colonies under Spain and Portugal to revolt in order to gain independence from their colonial
masters in the 19th century.

The American Revolution

 The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the 13 colonies of
North America overthrew the rule of the British Empire and rejected the British monarchy to make the United States of
American a sovereign nation.
 The American revolution had given the world in the 19th century the idea that colonized people can gain their
independence from their colonizers.
 Indirectly, the American Revolution had in a way inspired
 Filipino reformists like Rizal to aspire for freedom and independence.

The Age of Enlightenment or simply The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural
life centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority.

The massive changes in society brought about by the three great revolutions has resulted to dissatisfaction.\

THE CHURCH IN THE 19TH CENTURY

 The weakening of the grip of the Catholic Church of the growing secularized society of Europe and Spain has implications to
the Philippines.
 In Spain, the liberals considered the Church as an enemy of reforms.
 The declining influence of the Catholic Church in Europe and Spain has little effect, however, to the control and power of
the local Churches in the Philippines.
The Philippines during Rizal’s time

 During the times of Rizal, the sinister shadows of Spain’s decadence darkened the Philippine Skies.
 Instability of Colonial administration
 Corrupt Officialdom
 No Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes
 Human rights denied to Filipinos
 No equality before the law
 Maladmi-nistration of justice
 Racial Administration
 Frailocracy
 Forced labor
 Haciendas owned by the friars
 Guardia civil

PHILIPPINE CONDITION IN THE 19TH CENTURY: THE RISE OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM

Characteristic of Philippine society during the Spanish Period

 Government – union of Church and State
 Economy – land-based
 Society – classes were based on “purity” of blood; the Spaniards, the Mestizos, and the indios.
 Friar abuses, corruption, racial discrimination

1760 – 1850 – one of the most significant periods in the Philippine history
 The concept of free trade spread in Europe, and Spain was forced to implement important economic reforms in the country
(e.g. direct trade between the Philippines and Spain)
 Agricultural resources (cash crops such as abaca, tobacco, sugar) were developed.
 Manila was opened to world trade

Effect: The spread of liberal ideas to the colonies due to the increased exposure to the west.

Other events which gave rise to nationalism

 The rise of the Chinese mestizo class (Illustrados – “enlightened ones”
 Education Decree of 1863 – established the public education system and a normal school for men.
 Liberal Government under Governor General dela Torre from 1869-1871
 Secularization in the clergy (priesthood)

The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the death of the Gomburza

On January 20, 1872, two hundred Filipinos employed at the Cavite arsenal staged a revolt against the Spanish government’s
voiding of their exemption from the payment of tributes. The Cavite Mutiny led to the persecution of prominent Filipinos;
secular priests Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora—who would then be collectively named GomBurZa—were
tagged as the masterminds of the uprising. The priests were charged with treason and sedition by the Spanish military tribunal—
a ruling believed to be part of a conspiracy to stifle the growing popularity of Filipino secular priests and the threat they posed to
the Spanish clergy. The GomBurZa were publicly executed, by garrote, on the early morning of February 17, 1872 at
Bagumbayan.