19th Century Events That Shaped the Philippines

The 19th Century events that shaped the Philippines, during this period of time the

only sovereign entity ruling in this particular archipelago was the Spain, as the colonial

government in the Philippines. Due to the inhumane treatment of the colonials towards the

native people in the island many spark a revolt and brawled with the Spanish colonial

government. In 1805 the Nueva Vizcaya Revolt, the Ambaritso Revolt in 1807, and many

other notable revolts executed by the Filipinos during those hard times. 1861, the national

hero of the Philippines Dr. Jose Rizal was born. Fast forward, in the year 1872 where two

historic events had happened. First was the mutiny staged by more or less 200 Filipino

soldiers who was said to attack the Spanish officers causing the what is now called Cavite

Mutiny. As a result of the mutiny, a martyrdom of the three priest namely Mariano Gomez,

Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, later perpetuated as the GOMBURZA.

18th Century, a time of political and economic changes began in Spain and in the

Philippines. Trading was the moderate elimination of the monopoly enjoyed by the galleon to

Acapulco, Mexico. The Galleon arrived in Manila, Philippines in 1815, and during 1830s,

Foreign tradesman were open to Manila almost without limitations. The demand of abaca and

sugar grew rapidly in the Philippines, and in 1869, the capacity of product exports to Europe

expanded more after the completion of the Suez Canal.

The commercial agriculture grew as a result in the appearance of a new class. Apace

with the rice estates and the landed properties of the church, the pre-Spanish nobility arose

their haciendas of coffee, hemp, and sugar. Some of the families have carried on playing an

important role in the Philippine politics and economics that prominence attained prominence

in the 19th century.

 Not until 1863, government funded schooling or public school begun in the

Philippines, and during this time, the church controlled the curriculum. Among all students

who went to school, less than one-fifth of the students could read and write. People with

limited higher education are the sons of the wealthy who were sent to Europe to study during

1880s. The “enlightened ones” preferred as the Illustrados as they say, where the ones who

created an organization of the Filipino educated class but mostly based outside the

archipelago. Because of talented groups of Filipinos overseas, arose what came to be known

as the Propaganda Movement. (Propaganda Movement was to build reforms in the

Philippines, and that students who created the movement wanted the Philippines to be

recognized as a province of Spain and be represented in the Spanish Cortes.) Poetry,

magazines, and pamphleteering flourished. José Rizal produced two political novels. These

are – Noli me tangere (1887; Touch Me Not) in which he wrote in Madrid, set for the

Philippines and El filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of Greed) – which created a wide impact

in the Philippines and is considered to the movement’s most brilliant figure. Rizal returned

home in 1892 and formed Liga Filipina. A society of modest reform-minded community.

Rizal was soon arrested by the excessively frightened Spanish, exiled and deported in the

South to a remote island on what is now known as Dapitan City, and eventually executed in

December 30, 1896.

For the moment, the Philippines developed a strong commitment of independence to

the less privileged class. Due to the arrest of Rizal in 1892, people were shocked. This time,

where many speculated as the beginning of the revolution and the expansion of the secret

society, the activists of rapidly formed Katipunan under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio

who is a self-educated warehouseman. The Katipunan was committed to the dismissal of

Spanish in the islands. The secret society made countless acts for the revolution towards the

movement to freedom, independence, and sovereignty such as the Cry of Rebellion which
starts the supposedly dubbed as the Philippine Revolution and their struggle to warfare

towards the Spaniards. There were countless Filipino rebels in the history of the Spanish

rule. The nationalist ambitions have inspired them and took over the education desired to

create a possible success.

Later on, the Tejeros Republic was presented in which Emilio Aguinaldo was elected

as president of the supposed revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention. This

controversy at their time led the execution of Andres Bonifacio in 1897 by his own comrades

and race the Filipino soldiers. Aguinaldo then founded the Republic of Biak na Bato, this

established republic was closedown by the Pact of the Biak na Bato that caused to stop the

insurgency acted by Emilio Aguinaldo and other leaders of different factions, due to their

overseas exile. From this time on when Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines in the year

1898, he claimed to assume the governmental power as a dictatorial government. Then, they

passed a decree to formally legitimize the dictatorial government as official. June 12, 1898

the Independence day was proclaimed in Kawit. In June 23, 1898, Aguinaldo processed a

decree that give off a replacement from the Dictatorial government into a Revolutionary

government, headed by Emilio Aguinaldo himself.

When the Americans acquired the Philippines because the Spain give the control of the

archipelago to the Americans, arms grapple was paused from the Filipino forces. The

Malolos Constitution write down by the congress was announced on January 22, 1899,

creating what is known today as the First Philippine Republic, with Aguinaldo as its

president. The constitution was accept by delegates to the Malolos Congress on January 20,

1899, and allow by Aguinaldo the next day. It organize a democratic, republication

government with three branches – the Executive, Legislative and the Judicial branches. It

called for the partition of church and state. The executive powers were to be exercise by the

president of the republic with the help of his cabinet.