1821-1863 1898-1916







The Philippines, 1863-1898


The year 1863 marks a turning point in Filipino history, not only because the earthquake of 1863 destroyed Manila Cathedral. An EDUCATIONAL REFORM was implemented, which opened the system of higher education to Filipinos and modernized the curriculum.
Offers by King Leopold I. of Belgium to purchase the Philipines (1869-1875) were unsuccessful.
When liberal revolutionaries deposed Queen Isabel II. in Spain, a liberal governor, General CARLOS MARIA DE LA TORRE, was appointed for the Philippines. He abolished censorship, introduced the right for free speech and free assembly. However, de la Torre was succeeded by a reactionary, Rafael de Izquierdo, who cancelled his predecessor's liberal reforms. In 1872 a rebellion broke out on Cavite island. In 1876 the SULTANATE OF SULU was formally annexed.
Filipino intellectuals (some of them having studied in Spain) began agitating for Filipino sef-government or independence. In 1889, the newspaper 'LA SOLIDARIDAD' (solidarity) was first published. In two novels published in 1886 and 1891, JOSE RIZAL criticized the brutality of the Spanish colonial regime. In 1892, after returning to the Philippines from Spain, he founded the organization LA LIGA FILIPINA (the Filipino League); he was arrested the same year; in 1896 he was tried for treason and executed. A secret resistance organization, KATIPUNAN, founded in 1892, in 1896 launched an armed insurrection; the rebels controlled part of the Philippines, the Spanish another part. Rebel leader AGUINALDO proclaimed the REPUBLIC OF BIAK-NA-BATO, but in negotiations agreed to take a large sum of money and leave the country.

The opening of the SUEZ CANAL in 1869, in connection with the new steam ship technology, facilitated much improved connections between the Philippines and motherland Spain; the Philippine FRIAROCRACY was no longer isolated. A first census was held in 1878, further censi followed in 1887 and in 1898, the latter uncompleted. In 1880 Manila was connected with Hong Kong by sea cable. The first Filipino railway line was opened in 1891.
In 1887, a PHILIPPINE EXPOSITION was held in Madrid. The Philippine population in the late 19th century was around 5-6 million and grew; figures however are contradictory.






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
On the colonial ambitions of King Leopold I. of Belgium, by Elke Schellekens; in Dutch
History of the Philippine Statistical System, by Katsumi Nozawa
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Philippines, by Ben Cahoon
Historical Population Statistics : The Philippines, from Population Statistics (Jan Lahmeyer)
Ethnographic map of the Philippines, by F. Blumentritt 1890, from APSIS
Feodor Jagor on the character and influence of the clergy in the Philippines, 1873, from The Philippine History Net
News from the Philippines, from "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it" Vol.1 No.21, April 1897, Vol.1 No.22, April 1897, Vol.1 No.33, June 1897, Vol.1 No.36, July 1897, Vol.1 No.46, September 1897, Vol.1 No.50, October 1897, Vol.1 No.53, November 1897, Vol.2 No.11, March 1898, Vol.2 No.23, June 1898, Vol.2 No.24, June 1898, posted by Gutenberg Library Online
REFERENCE Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, True Version of the Philippine Revolution, 1899, online book posted by authorama
Fedor Jagol e.a., The Former Philippines through Foreign Eyes Pt. II, 1916, online book posted by authorama
Jose Rizal, The Indolence of the Filipino (1890), posted by Gutenberg Library Online
Article : Spain - Philippines, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 pp.961-962 (on events of 1894) [G]
Article : Spain - Philippines, in : Statesman's Year Book 1898 pp.961-962 (on events of 1897) [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 11th 2002, last revised on October 23rd 2007

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