Content and Context Analysis

CONTENT

Authenticity and Provenance

Author of the letter: Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin

Background of the author: The author was an Augustinian priest. He studied various subjects at the Convent of San
Pablo in Manila. The author was well known for his work: Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas, a chronicle of early
Philippine history from the author’s point-of-view
When it was produced: Approximately around the year 1720

Where it was produced: The Philippines

What type of primary source is it? Manuscript

Physical Characteristics: Made of paper

Credibility

What the letter is about: The letter contained various observations of Fr. Gaspar about the lifestyle of the early Filipino.
Though at that time, they referred to them as ‘Indians’ in the same way as the European colonizers referred to the native
Americans. The author went on to detail about the difficulty of which he found the task of understanding the ‘Indians’.
He went on to say that to understand the individual Indian was to understand the race; for they are all the same in his
eyes. His understanding of the attitude of the early Filipino boils down to three things: the Indians are unruly,
impertinent, and inherently uncivilized.
To whom it was intended: Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin’s correspondent in España

Point-of-View: Second person point-of-view

Language Used: Translated from Spanish to English with some phrases written in Latin

Author’s possible motive: To accomplish the task given to him which was to understand the native people of the
Philippines.
 CONTEXT

Period of when it was written: The height of Spanish colonization of the Philippines

What does the source tell us: The letter of Fr. Gaspar was definitely a sign of the time. A time of colonization for God,
Gold, and Glory. A time where the natives of the Philippines were seen to be a lower-level human being. Seen as
uncivilized savages despite the fact that the colonizers engaged in acts of oppression and brutality themselves. This is all
evident on how the priest worded his letter. His intentions were to detail all of what he observed and learned about the
native Filipino and yet he didn’t write anything positive about the Filipinos. Everything detailed on his letter was a
nitpick of all he found annoying about the native Filipino. Some were even worded to make it seem worse than it actually
is. All in all, the letter can be seen as a microcosm of how colonizers thought very little of us during those times.
Events that produced the source: The colonization of Philippines.

Inconsistencies: Though the priest was clear on his grievances of the Filipino people, he also stated various verses from
the Bible as comparison to his experiences. Most notably was a reference to the book of Proverbs chapter 30, verse 18.
The verse was essentially about the mysteries of the world and how one must embrace the un-understandable as still
created by God and thus have the same value as all his creations. The priest referenced said verse to compare on his
difficulty in understanding the ways of the native Filipino. Which he then went to effectively insult in his letter and
seemingly forgetting that the ‘Indians’, as uncivilized as he sees them to be, were still created by the same God whose
words he swore to uphold. The irony is glaring.