First Man to

Circumnavigate the
Globe Readings in Philippine History
By: Cittle Joy P. Sobrevega
Sebastian Elcano (del Cano)
 Antonio Pigafetta

Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer. He joined the

expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the
flag of King Charles I of Spain and after Magellan's death in the Philippine Is-
lands, the subsequent voyage around the world. During the expedition, he
served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal, which later as-
sisted him in translating the Cebuano language. It is the first recorded docu-
ment concerning the language.
Pigafetta was one of the 18 men who made the complete trip, return-
ing to Spain in 1522, under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, out of
the approximately 240 who set out three years earlier. These men completed
the first circumnavigation of the world.
ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS
Spanish Ministry of Culture

Elcano and the 18 survivors of the expedition were the first men to
circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition. Following Magellan's death in
Mactan (Philippines) in 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the
ship Victoria, sailing from Borneo, the Spice Islands and back to Spain across
the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and north along the west
coast of Africa. They arrived in Spain three years after they left, in 1522.
 Antonio de Herrera

Magellan and Elcano’s expedition was the first to “traverse and discover the
roundness of the world”, according to the words of Elcano himself. It happened
between 1519 and 1522, when the navigation tools were still incredibly rudimentary,
and life on those primitive ships was deprived of any comfort or safety. It was also a
trip to the unknown, full of dangers, and where being rescued was not an option.

After circumnavigating the world, he obtained fame and honours, and he

was compensated by the Emperor with a life annuity of 500 golden ducats per year,
and a coat of arms with the inscription Primus Circumdedisti Me, “the first to
circumnavigate me”.
 Secondary
Source
Harry Kelsey

Elcano was appointed to the post of cap-

tain on the Concepcion. Before the fleet left Spain,
he joined Gasper de Quesada, Luis de Mendoza,
and Juan de Cartagena in a plot to seize control of
the armada.
When the plot failed, he and the others
were tried and condemned to death, though Magel-
lan commuted his punishment to hard labor on the
ships during the bitter winter in the Strait of Magel-
lan. His command was then restored, and after the
loss of the Concepcion, he became master of the
Victoria and finally the captain general of the Ar-
mada.
 Secondary
Source
Santiago Díaz de Leguizamo

Information received by the magistrate of the house

and court, Santiago Díaz de Leguizamo, in which the captain
of the Victoria Juan Sebastián Elcano, Francisco Albo, and
Fernando de Bustamente declare the vicissitudes of the jour-
ney of the first voyage across the world.
 Secondary
Source
Erin Blakemore
After Magellan’s death, his
crew continued in the single ship that
remained, captained by Juan Sebas-
tian Elcano, a Basque. They re-
turned to Spain in September 1522.
Along the way, they had encountered
a new ocean, mapped new routes for
European trade, and set the stage
for modern globalism. Sixty thousand
miles later, and after the death of 80
percent of those involved, the expe-
dition had proven that the globe
could be circumnavigated and
opened the door to European colo-
nization of the New World in the
name of commerce.
 THANK YOU
Presented by: Cittle Joy Sobrevega, BSN 1-L
Last Filipino
General to
Surrender to the
Americans

Macario Sakay
Primary Source
 Primary Sources
Dominador Gomez Macario Sakay y de León
Gomez appealed and assured
“Death comes to all of us sooner or
Sakay that the Americans promised to
later, so that I will face the Lord
form a Philippine Assembly comprising
Almighty calmly. But I want to tell you
of Filipinos in the years to come and
that we are not bandits and robbers,
that the assembly would eventually lead
as the Americans have accused us,
to independence. Gomez presented a
but members of the revolutionary
letter from the American Governor
forces that defended our mother
General which promised that if Sakay
country, Filipinas! Farewell! Long, live
surrendered, he and his men would not
the republic and may our indepen-
be punished or jailed. Sakay took the
dence be born in the future! Farewell!
bait, went down from the mountains on
Long Live Filipinas!”
July 14, 1906. On July 17, Sakay and
his staff were invited to attend a party
hosted by the acting governor of Cavite.
Just before midnight, they were
surrounded, disarmed and arrested by
American officers. Sakay and his men
were incarcerated.
 Secondary Source
According to Gen. Pio del Pilar in a
letter to Mr. Jose P. Santos, dated January
23, 1930, “Macario Sakay in his best knowl-
edge was a true patriot who spread the seeds
National Historical of the Katipunan to win the independence of
the Philippines. He was one of those who
Commission of the went from town to town, winning the people
Philippines over to the cause of the Katipunan, and thus,
(written by Quennie Ann J. Palafox, History Researcher II) kept alive the spirit of resistance to the ene-
mies”. He added, “Sakay may be called a
tulisan or bandit by the Americans. That was
the reason they executed him. But before
God, Country, and Truth, he was a true son of
the Country whom his fellow countrymen
must revere for all the times”.
This statement was supported by
Gen. Artemio Ricarte in his letter sent to Mr.
Jose P. Santos. He said, “Sakay and de Vega
were hanged because of the LEY DE BAN-
DOLERISMO in order that these patriots who
refused to surrender might be persecuted as
outlaws.
 Secondary Sources
Comparison of Arguments
Miguel Malvar
Date surrendered: April 16,
1902
(Teodoro Agoncillo)
Title: General
Jose Malvar Account,
Miguel’s Grandson
“General Malvar did not
surrender. He entered into a
peace agreement.”
Simeon Ola
Date surrendered:
September 25, 1903
(Labanan, 2016)
Title: Leader of the band of
the Insurrectos/ Bandit
Leader and not a military
general (The Minneapolis
Journal Report)
Pio Arsenio Labanan, Local
Historian
“Ola surrendered on the
condition that they be granted
amnesty.”
Macario Sakay
Date surrendered: June 16,
1906
(Macario Sakay picture at the
Malacańang Palace)
Title: General and not a Bandit
(Office of the President)
It was betrayal, treachery, and
deception that made Sakay
surrender. An American officer
Col. Harry H. Bandholtz was
quoted as saying that a plan
should be conceived by
“playing upon the emotional
and sentimental part of the
Filipino character.”
 Last Filipino
General to
Surrender to the
Americans
Reading in Philippine History
By: Cittle Joy P. Sobrevega