The Galleon Trade was a government monopoly.

Only two galleons were used: One sailed from

Acapulco to Manila with some 500,000 pesos worth of goods, spending 120 days at sea; the other sailed
from Manila to Acapulco with some 250,000 pesos worth of goods spending 90 days at sea.

Pueblo is the Spanish word for "village" or "town."

In the Southwest, a pueblo is a settlement that has houses made of stone, adobe, and wood. The
houses have flat roofs and can be one or more stories tall.

Pueblo people have lived in this style of building for more than 1,000 years.

a communal village, built by certain indigenous peoples of the southwestern US and parts of Latin
America, consisting of one or more flat-roofed stone or adobe houses. (in Spanish America) a village or
town. 3. (in the Philippines) a town or township.

Origins of the Hacienda System

A hacienda refers to a form of large landed estate systems which originated in Spanish America
during the colonial period, and acted as a traditional institution of rural life. Haciendas were
originally profit-making enterprises owned by hacendados. The Spanish crown first started
granting land in the form of haciendas to the Spanish conquistadors (those soldiers or explorers
of Spain responsible for colonizing new lands in the name of the Spanish Crown). Hernán
Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, was one of the first hacendados to be granted land in 1529 in
what is today part of present day Mexico. Soon, many other conquistadors were granted land by
the crown. In later years, many ordinary Spaniards of more modest means and stations also
applied to the crown for such land ownership rights. The encomenderos (Spanish people
assigned the task of protecting a specific group of Native Americans in exchange of free service
from the natives) would also often acquire lands or enterprises for themselves, and the practice of
exploiting these indigenous peoples for forced labor on such lands for reaping economic benefits
became common. These encomenderos thus also became hacendados and, even after the
elimination of the encomienda system by the crown, the hacendados continued to recruit free
labor to work on their estates, where crops like sugar, wheat, fruits, and vegetables were grown.
At times, the term hacienda was more broadly used to refer to those ranch lands granted unto
people in Latin America where animal agriculture was practiced and, even less frequently, those
granted estates where manufacturing, mineral extraction, and other non-agricultural endeavors
were engaged in.

The Spanish Influences in Philippine Cultures

The Philippines has successfully established its own legitimacy to be declared and recognized by
the United Nations as a State. It has people who recognize its State policies and constitution and
adhere to them wholeheartedly. On its economic aspect, the country is engaging in international
economic activities such as participating in a free trade market system by being a member of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the newly established Chinese
development institution called the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
When it comes to culture, the Philippines is an outstanding one. Its cultures and traditions are
widely practiced and even patronized by non-Filipinos. The Filipinos speak many local
languages and dialects. They also have their own clothing, forms of amusement, eating
techniques and many more that are distinct only to the Filipinos. However, these possessions are
not original to the Filipinos. There are some which are totally Filipino in origin but contain
foreign elements or a mix between or among cultures.

Almost all of the Philippine cultures including the Filipinos' ways of thinking are the influences
of the Spanish cultures. The Spaniards brought the Philippines into the attachment of the
Western culture. Particularly, the Spaniards introduced their own Philosophy of life to the
Filipinos as well as their habits, language, clothing, ways of amusement including games,
religion, arts, and even cooking.

Filipino ethnic cultures were then mixed with Spanish cultural elements. They borrowed almost
of what the Spaniards did have. As time passed by, these were no longer Spanish but retained the
characteristics of both Filipino and Spanish cultures. These modern cultures, which were Spanish
and Filipino in origin, today have been recognized as Filipino yet colonial in function and
impact.

Filipinos' Surnames and Change of Native Names

Before the Spanish invasion to the Philippines, the Filipinos had no surnames. The native
Filipino parents were acquainted in naming their sons and daughters according to their physical
characteristics, qualities, or to some coincidental events. For instance, if a baby girl was born
with a tan skin then the name to be made for her was nearly the same with that skin color.
Additionally, if a newly born male baby was looking strong, that baby would be named Si
Malakas. The lack of surnames confused the Spaniards especially those names that are the same.
As a result, they prepared a long list of surnames for the Filipinos to choose from.

Changes of name of the native Filipinos also happened when the Spaniards replace their names
into the names of Saints such as Santo Tomas, San Jose, San Carlos and many more. While there
were still native Filipino names that were retained, the Spaniards, however, changed their
spelling to fit in to the Spanish standard.

Spanish Language Influence

The Filipino language, derived from the Tagalog language, which is the national language today,
was even a Spanish influence. The Filipino vocabulary came from the Spanish language and was
only changed in spelling over time. Among other Filipino languages influenced by the Spaniards
are Ilocano, Bicolano, Sugbuhanon, Hiligaynon, Visaya and many other dialects existent within
the country.

Learning the Spanish language as much as Spanish education as a whole was not really made
public to the Filipinos. However, Some natives, who had direct contacts with the Spaniards,
learned the language. Such attachment led the Filipino natives to adopt some of the Spanish
vocabulary and mixed them to the Filipino languages. Also, the Spaniards inevitably talked to
the natives in a Spanish language during the trading and other dealings with them in the market
and also in churches. This made the Filipino to learn the foreign language slowly.

Catholicism and its Patriarchal Politics and Cultures

The Spaniards brought with them the Catholic religion to the Philippine. They introduced it to
the Filipinos which led to some uprisings of the natives who did not want the new belief system.
Luckily for the Spaniards, the indoctrination of Catholic faith to the Filipinos happened. Along
with the building of the churches, the political life of the country was also revolutionized with
religious teachings.

There was a union between the Church and the State during the Spanish era, so the constitution
or the body of law of the colony was mainly Catholic in orientation. The Philippine government,
aside from being ruled by the friars and the governor-general from Spain, was dominated by
male servants. This patriarchy has continued to exist nowadays even though women are already
allowed to have a government seat but to sum up all the positions in the government, women are
only less in number.

The Philippine constitution today still contains Spanish elements. One example is the prohibition
of the same-sex marriage. The Philippine laws lie deeply on the religious set-ups which is rooted
during the Spanish time. One can hardly erase it totally from the present state. On the other hand,
today's cultural orientations in the Philippines is still patriarchal. Men are portrayed as stronger
than women as if the women can never exceed the capacity of men. This idea can also be noticed
in the current ways of enculturation of the young Filipinos.

Fiesta Culture
The social lives of the native Filipinos during the colonization of the Spaniards only revolved
around the church since the priest or friars was the so called over-all manager of the whole
community. The fiesta was one of the religious events of the Catholic church. All Filipinos must
attend to it or else, they would be labelled as rebels or traitor. The fiesta was always the honoring
of the town patron saints respectively held in different barrios or towns. This has given birth to
other occasions done together in fiesta such as food gathering and street parades. More
contribution of the Spanish people to the Filipinos are noticeable in the current educational
system, arts and poetry, clothing, dances, houses and others.

The overall impact of the cultural changes brought by the Spaniards in the Philippines could be
both beneficial and destructive. On the positive side, the Filipino people have merged into one
nation as the three islands, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao became one in name -- the
Philippines. Spanish cultures have served as their framework for further developments.

Furthermore, different uprising of the native Filipinos have strengthened their motivation to
defend the land and plans for progress without fear against the colonizers including the later sets
of invaders --the Americans and Japanese. On the negative side, these cultures have given ways
for exploitation, monopoly of power, patriarchy, negative positioning of women in the society,
and the feeling of inferiority over other people.

No matter how good or bad the Philippine history is with the Spaniards, the important thing is
that the Filipinos were able to progress themselves and have reached to what they are today.