1863-1898







The Philippines, 1821-1863


Until 1821, the Philippines were administrated from MEXICO; in 1821 the latter declared independence. The Philippines remained Spanish and now were administrated from Madrid.
The Philippines hitherto had been a remote sideland of Mexico, its main economic purpose having been to facilitate the Spanish- Mexican China trade; Manila was an important entrepot for Spanish ships sailing to Canton (China). Now a new administration had to be established for the Philippines, more elaborate than the previous one, and Spain was faced with the question of how to cover its costs.
From 1831 onward Spain gave up the policy of forbidding foreign ships to enter Filipino ports and opened the ports of ZAMBOANGA (1831), MANILA (1834), YOLILO (1855) and CEBU (1863) to international trade. This step came in recognition, that illegal trade with foreign merchants was widespread and the legal Spanish trade sluggish. In 1844 foreigners were prohibited to enter the interior.
Filipino landowners were induced by a free market to change from their traditional subsistence farming to production for the market, for export, the main products being tobacco, sugar cane, abaca (Filipino hemp). In 1839 the government granted freedom of occupation and residence to ethnic Chinese; Chinese immigrants, mainly from Fujian, soon dominated the trade in major cities such as Manila. The SPANISH-FILIPINO BANK was established in 1856, the MANILA MINT in 1857. The population of the Philippines numbered c. 2.675 million in 1840, c. 3.816 million in 1850.
Filipino society for a long time had been dominated by monks, Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans (the Jesuits had been expelled in 1768 and only were allowed to return in 1859), to an extent that historians have coined the expression FRIAROCRACY. Filipinos were barred from entering religious orders; all educational institutions were run by the church; the natives were kept in ignorance of foreign languages (except Spanish), of sciences and engineering, in order to perpetuate the rule of the Spanish.
In 1841 the continued exclusion of Filipinos from priesthood and religious orders caused a revolt, lead by a monk, Apolinario de la Cruz. It was suppressed. Other rebellions had occurred in 1823, 1835 and 1854.
The first newspaper in Manila was published in 1822. In 1860 the country's first MASONIC LODGE was founded. In 1863, Manila suffered severe destruction from a major EARTHQUAKE.
In the south, MORO RESISTANCE continued. In 1851 the Spanish occupied JOLO, the main island of the SULTANATE OF SULU, and fortified the town of Jolo. From 1860 onward, the Spanish authorities employed shallow-draught steel gunboats, which facilitated them to fight Moro piracy in the waters of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago more efficiently.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Spanish Colony 1565 - 1898, Nationalist Movement and Katipunan Rebellion 1834 - 1897, from A Centennial History of Philippine Independence, 1898-1998 by Fraser Weir
Article Philippine Islands, from Catholic Encyclopedia 1911 edition; from EB 1911
Timeline Philippine History in the 19th Century, from APSIS
DOCUMENTS 1851 map of Manila, from Perry Castaneda Library, UTexas, in Spanish
World Statesmen : The Philippines, by Ben Cahoon
The Philippines : Historical Population Statistics, from Population Statistics at Univ. Utrecht
Sinibaldo de Mas on the character and influence of the clergy in the Philippines, 1843, from The Philippine History Net
Buzeta and Bravo on the ecclesiastical estate of the Philippines, 1850, from The philippine History Net
REFERENCE


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 11th 2002, last revised on November 4th 2004

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