19th Century

Philippines as
Rizal’s Context
 Introduction

Nineteenth century is commonly depicted as

the birth of modern life and this was the e r a
that Dr. Jose Rizal thrived in. 19th century as
a period of change. In this lesson we will
discuss the social, economic, and political
structures of the 19th century Philippines.
Political Context
 Political Structure during the Spanish
colonial period
Conservatism vs. Liberal ism – in Spain
there was the split among the
intellectuals into the irreconcilable
camps, the Conservative and the
Liberals, neither of which advantage
adequate practical solutions to end
all strives.
 Political
Structure
during the
Spanish
colonial period
Political Structure during the
Spanish colonial period
 Economic Structure during the Spanish
colonial period
Industrialization – this
generally applied to
the extra-ordinary
transformation in the
method of:
production,
transportation, and
communication through
the substitution of the
manual labor to machine.
 Economic Structure during the Spanish
Encomiend a to haciencdoalo– nial period
The encomienda and
hacienda systems. Labor
systems developed by Spain
granting large amount of land
to settlers in the Americas and
claiming ownership of all of
the resources and of the
natives. The encomienda and
hacienda systems developed an
exchange among the natives
for work in r etur n of protection
and education
 Economic Structure during the Spanish
colonial period

Indulto de comercio –
privilege of provincial
governors to engage
in and monopolize
trade.
 Economic Structure during the Spanish
colonial period
Forced L ab or (Polo y
servicio) - Is the
forced labor for 40
days of men ranging
from 16-60 years of
age who were
obligated to give
personal services to
community projects. In
1884, labor was
 Economic Structure during the Spanish
colonial period
Forced L ab or (Polo y
servicio) – same with
repartimiento; a g ia nt
of forced labor (as for
use in agriculture, in
mining, o r in
construction) imposed
on indigenous
inhabitants
 Economic Structure during the Spanish
colonial period
Taxation – to support the colony, several forms of
taxes and monopolies were imposed. The tithe is the
payment of the 10% of an individual’s annual income to
the government. The sanctorum is the tax being paid
as support to the church, the tribute (buwis) is the tax
o r rent given to the landlord a resident is under. It
may be in cash o r in kind (tobacco, chickens, produce,
o r gold).
 Social Structure
during the Spanish
colonial period
 Social Structure during the Spanish
colonial period
 Peninsulares = Spaniards who grew up in Spain
 Insulares = Spaniards who grew up in the Philippines
 Spanish Mestizos = half-Spaniards
 Principalia = former Filipino tribe leaders before the
invasion of Spain (datus, rajahs, maharlikas and
others)
 Chinese Mestizos = half-Chinese
 Chinese = Chinese living in the Philippines
 ‘Indios’ = what the Spaniards derogatorily call the
Filipinos
Educational system during the Spanish colonial
period
Educational system during the Spanish colonial
period
Socio-cultural structure during the Spanish
colonial period
 The Philippines of Rizal’s time
The decay of Spain cast an ominous
shadow over the Philippines during
Rizal's time. The Filipino suffered under
the weight of Spanish misrule because
they were the unfortunate targets of
an oppressive, prejudiced, and
collapsing colonial authority. These
evils included, among others:
 Power – instability of colonial
administration C o rr u pt
Officialdom
 No Philippine representation in
the Spain Cortes
 Human Rights Denied to
Filipinos
 No Equality Before the Law
 Maladministration of Justice
 Racial Discrimination
 Frailocracy
 Forced Labor o r ‘Polo Y
Servicios’
 Haciendas Owned by the
Thank you for listening!!!

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