The Philippines in the19 th

Century as Rizal’s Context

 ECONOMIC

The End
of Galleon
Trade
– When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our
ancestors were already trading with China, Japan, Siam,
India, Cambodia, Borneo and the Moluccas. The Spanish
government continued trade relations with these countries,
and the 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.
• They were the sole means of communication between
Spain and its Philippine colony and served as an
economic lifeline for the Spaniards in Manila.
• Galleon trade became the fundamental income-
generating business for Spanish colonists living in the
Philippine Islands with a total of 110 Manila galleons set
sail in the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon
trade (1565 to 1815). \
On September 14, 1815, the galleon trade between the
Philippines and Mexico ended a few years before Mexico
gained independence from Spain in 1812.

The galleon trade had a negative effect on economic

development in the Philippines, since virtually all Spanish
capital was devoted to speculation in Chinese goods
Factors that made the Spanish Galleon ended
• Smuggling
• Competitions
• Corruption
• Problem back in Spain
- disease and poor nutrition
- voyage was considerably longer than expected
- journey from Philippine to Mexico was particularly
hazardous
• water supply become contaminated and they depend on
the rain wate
• people were packed together like sardines
Opening of the
Suez Canal
• 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 Company was formed and granted the
right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work

The Suez Canal was often called the "crossroads of Europe,

Africa and Asia" because the route was used to transport goods to
and from all three continents.
 Opening of World trade
September 6, 1834
 Philippines opened to world trade – by a royal decree,
Su Majestad or Your Majesty the King declared the Royal
Company of the Philippines abolished and opened Manila’s
ports to world trade. Because Manila was a great harbour
(the shape of the bay protected trade boats from rough
waters) it became one of the best cities to trade with, luring
American, British and other European and Asian merchants
to its shores. As a result, Spain’s economic supremacy lost
its footing in the region.
What is the impact of opening the port to world trade to all Filipinos In the
19th century?

When world trades open to the Philippines, it has caused for the
Spaniards to sell more product to other countries. Since the materials
came from the Philippines. They use our resources and do not repay
us as they sell more things we grow to have less resources .But the
positive is that our economy increases. The economy of the Philippines
rose rapidly and its local industries developed to satisfy the rising
demands of an industrializing Europe.

The opening of the port and the other parts of the Philippine to foreign
trade brought not only economic prosperity to the country but also
remarkable transformation in the life of the Filipinos
 Rise of the Export crop
Economy and Monopolies
• The demand for Philippine sugar and abaca (hemp) grew apace, and
the volume of exports to Europe expanded even further after the
completion of the Suez Canal in 1869.
• The mango de Manila, tamarind and rice, the carabao (known by 1737
in Mexico), cockfighting, Chinese tea and textiles, fireworks display,
tuba (coconut wine) making came to Mexico through the trans-Pacific
trade.
• In exchange, the return voyage brought innumerable and valuable flora
and fauna into the Philippines: avocado, guava, papaya, pineapple,
horses and cattle.
• The moro-moro, moriones festival, and the image of the Black
Nazarene of Quiapo, were also of Mexican origins.
 SOCIAL EDUCATION

The Chinese Mestizos

and the Rise of the
Inquilinos
Chinese+Indio=Chinese Mestizo

Chinese Mestizo are those Filipinos

with Chinese blood either on the
paternal or maternal side.

“Jose Rizal is a Chinese Mestizo”

 The rise of the mestizos were an important
elemenent of Philippine society in the 19th century.
 The Chinese mestizo played an important part in
the creation and evolution of what is now called
the Filipino nation. According to Fr. Jesus Merino,
no matter how Malayan it may be in its main
ethnic stock, no matter how Spanish and Christian
it may be in its inspiration, civilization and religion,
no matter how American it may be in its politics,
trade and aspiration, has been historically and
practically shaped, not by the Chinese immigrant,
but by the Chinese mestizo.
Inquilinos or tenants of Haciendas

• Gained power because of the rise of exports in

the agricultural sector
• Able to send their children to study at Manila
and even Europe
POLITICAL

Liberalism
Origins of 19th Century Liberalism

 The word was first used when the term was adopted by
the Spanish political party, the liberales, in 1812.

 Liberalism usually encompasses the belief that the

government should act to alleviate poverty and other
social problems, but not through radical changes to the
structure of society.
 Liberalism demanded representative government as
opposed to autocratic monarchy, equality before the
law as opposed to legally separate classes.

 General Carlos Maria de la Torre, a fierce liberal,

brought liberalism in the Philippines and was
appointed to be the Governor-General.
Impact of the Bourbon Reforms
Bourbon Reforms

 Were a set of economic and political legistation

promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various
Kings of the House of Bourbon, mainly in the 18th
century.

 The Bourbon Reforms have been termed “a revolution

in government” for their sweeping changes in the
structure of administration that sought to strenghten the
power of the Spanish State.
 During the Bourbon Reforms, the Catholic Churches
played a major role especially in the vice royalties.

 The Reforms caused many religious tensions as well as

social tension. One of the major modifications in the
Bourbon Reforms was the expulsion of the Jesuits.

 Though the legistation passed by the Bourbons did

much to reform the Empire, it was not enough to save
it.
Cadiz Constitution
 In 1812, in the middle of the occupation of almost all the
liberian peninsula by the French army, a group of 300
deputies from Spain, Spanish America, and the
Philippines promulgated a liberal constitution in the
Mediterranean port of Cadiz.

 Cadiz and the Constitution of 1812 was very important

period in the political and intellectual history of the
Spanish-speaking world and represents a major
contribution to Western political thought and practice
during the Age of Revolution.
 The Constitution of 1812 essentially established a
constitutional monarchy.

 The constitution of 1812 provided for a division of

government powers, consolidated and updated the
Spanish legal system, ensure civil equality, and curtailed
corporate privilege.
The life of an individual in
society
and society in the life of an
individual
• Instability of Colonial administration
• Philippine representation in Spanish Cortes
• Corrupt Colonial Officials
• Human Rights denied to Filipinos
• No Equality Before the Law
• Maladministration of Justice
• Racial Descrimination
• Frailocracy
• Forced Labor
• Haciendas owned by the Friars
• Guardia Civil
REFERENCES:

https://www.coursehero.com/file/p1tlamm/The-Philippines-of-Rizals-times-Corrupt-colonial-
officials-With-few-exceptions/

https://filipiknow.net/ways-filipinos-amused-themselves-before-television/

https://prezi.com/_sjfwvfaolg-/the-philippines-of-rizals-time-19th-century/

https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/Cultural-life#ref272985