Background of the Spanish Colonization Of the Philippines

What was the political, social, and/or economic position of the country before colonization?
Social: Before Ferdinand Magellans arrival in the Philippines, there were many sultanates, but the main sultanate established was the Sultanate of Sulu. The Sultanate of Sulu was a Muslim state that ruled over many of the islands of the Sulu sea, in the southern Philippines. In the 1300s, much trade was conducted with Indonesia, India, China and Japan. As a result, Arab traders from Indonesia brought Islam to the Philippines. By 1500 Islam was established in the Sulu Archipelago and spread from there to Mindanao; and it had reached the Manila area by 1565. However, when the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, the majority of the estimated 500,000 people in the islands still lived in barangay settlements. (1) Political: Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Filipinos basically relied upon many small communities, and when the Spanish arrived, that was when the government became much more centralized. The social and political organization of the population in the widely scattered islands was very decentralized. Only the permanent-field rice farmers of northern Luzon had any concept of private property. The primary type of settlement was the barangay (independent village , district ,barrio as Spanish called it)originally a kinship group led by a datu (chief). Within the barangay, social divisions included nobles, including the datu, freemen, and a group called the dependents. Dependents included people of many occupations: landless agricultural workers, those who had lost freeman status because of indebtedness or punishment for crime; and slaves.(2) Economical: When the Spanish arrived, the Filipinos were already working mines of gold, silver, copper and iron, brass, and tin. The iron work in particular was said to be of extremely high quality in some cases, and occasionally in some areas, even better than that found in Europe. When the Spanish arrived, the Philippines were filled to the brim with gold. Filipinos were also very into fishing, and they were very advanced with their barangays. Their ancient sailing sand navigational techniques were extremely impressive to the Spanish. The Philippines had a great abundance of rice, cotton, fowls, and wine, as well as many buffalo, deer, wild boar and goats. Due to all of their rich natural resources, they were able to trade with many countries, and many of their products were appealing.(3)

Which Western power colonized the country? What were the colonizing powers motives? Did the colony serve any strategic purpose? How and when did that Western power actually take over?
In 1521, after losing favor for his plan of reaching the Spice Islands by sailing westward from King Manuel I of Portugal, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan offered to serve the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of Spain. He reached the Philippine Islands on March 16, 1521. Ferdinand Magellan named the is lands in 1521 the Archipelago of San Lazar, where he

erected a Roman Catholic cross, and claimed the lands for Spain. However, later, forty-four years after Magellan first arrived in Cebu, Spanish conquistadors led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi sailing from the western coast of Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico arrived in 1565, and established a colony. TO GET RESOURCES! The SPANIARDS established settlements, trade grew, and the Spanish renamed the island to Villa del Sants simo Nombre de Jess or (Town of the Most Holy Name of Jesus). Cebu became the first European settlement established by the in the Philippine Islands.(4) SPANISH MOTIVES FOR COLONIZATION: 1.The primary motive of the Spanish in colonizing the Philippines was connected with their fervent desire to facilitate WIDESPREAD CONVERSION OF POPULATION TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM and the creation of a nobility. Despite the direct order of Philip II that the conversion of the Philippines to Christianity was not to be achieved forcefully, the monastic orders of the Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Recollects and Jesuits were extremely purposeful in their duties. The missionaries spread through the colony to establish their parishes and estates in the barangay. 2.The Spanish were driven by economic wealth: This rose from their desire to acquire control of the spice trade. They were competing with the Portuguese who also desired control of East Asian Trade. Manila also had a fine natural harbor and rich lands surrounding to help supply the Spanish with products. The Spanish desired to enhance their imperial authority through making Manila a huge commercial center and a way in which to reach and control East Asian Trade.

How did the imperial western power rule its colony? Direclty or Indirectly?
The Philippines were a colony of Spain for 333 years. Until 1821 when the Mexicans rebelled and gained independence from Spain, the Philippines were administered as a province of Mexico, being administered by the viceroy in the name of the king. Therefore, considering this, it is safe to say that until 1821, the Philippines were ruled indirectly through Mexico, but from 1821 to 1898, the country was a distinct government unit under the direct control of the home government in Madrid. The king hired a governor, a member of the royal audiencia and other high officials. The governor-general represented the king of Spain, and he exercised great powers; executive, military, judicial and religious. He was president of the royal audiencia, which was created to protect the people from the abuse of officials. (5) The officials of the LOCAL administration preferred to stay in Manila and govern indirectly through the traditional barangay with the datu, or village chief. However, the Spanish governors brought with them their feudal notions of land tenure with encomenderos and subordinate vassals. The traditional village chiefs became a class of landed nobility possessing considerable local authority. The creation of a privileged land-holding elite upon whom most of the rural population was dependent as landless tenants introduced a class division, in addition to the prominence of the priest created in Philippine society that has been the main source of social

discontent and political strife ever since. The friarocracy of the religious orders and the oligarchy of the landowners were the authority figures of colonial society whose main interests were in keeping their positions of authority and privilege.(6) The encomenderos took care of the economy and religion for the natives, like being taught the Christian religion and protected from harm both in their person and property. The laws of the Indies were in fact the basis of the administration of the encmonienda. But many abused the fairly created laws. The people became very unhappy with the encomenderos. By 1674 the encomienda system was abolished in the Philippines as well as in other colonies. MUSLIMS: The interactions of the Spanish with the Muslims were radically different. The primarily Muslim southwest and south-central regions of Mindanao remained a site of rebellion and violence. These regions were self isolated from the modernizing influences of Spanish rule, and they denied education and economic development to their people. Because of this they remained highly underdeveloped .Church and state were inextricably linked in Spanish policy, which the Muslims of course did not like. (7)

How did the imperial Western power exploit its colony?

Until 1884, the Filipinos paid tribute, a kind of head tax, to Spain. The natives detested the way in which the collector collected the tribute. The encomenderos made great profits and became rich through the collection of tribute. Additionally, there existed forced labor called polo. This was mandatory for all natives from 16 to 60 years of age. The natives worked in the building and repaired roads and bridges, cut timber, and worked in foundries and shipyards. Those who were forced to work were called polistas. The Filipinos were greatly humiliated because they were never paid for hard work, and they were even robbed of their rice rations by the officials. Another burden imposed by colonial authorities was the bandala the mandatory sale by native farmers of their farm product to the government. Often the goods were not paid for. The galleon trade was the early trade between Manila and Acapulco in Mexico, a Spanish colony in America. Asian countries like China, Japan, and India brought their goods to Manila. Spanish traders in Manila would export these products to Mexico where they were sold at high profit. These products were sent to Mexico on trade ships called galleons. On the return trip, the galleons would carry silver coins or silver bullion that the Asian traders wanted to trade with. For internal government, the country was divided into provinces and districts according to the dialects spoken by the inhabitants. These provinces were called alcadias and the chief executives were called alcaldes, or mayors. The districts were known as corregimientos under military officers caller corregidors.(8)

What was daily life like under imperial rule? For the colonizers? For th ose being colonized?
Later on in their rule over the Philippines, the Spanish began to implement reforms. First of all, the Spanish encouraged the development of agriculture, and Gov.Basco in the 18thcentury made the colony produce export goods needed in Europe and America. Silks, cotton

textile, cinnamon, and indigo were also produced.The Philippines became a center for military, commercial, political activity. Philippines became very important as they carried on trade with China, India, and East Indies. The Philippines provided Spain with gold and through the galleon trade many goods were brought to Manila. In this process of trade, Spanish traders in Manila would export products brought to Manila by China, Japan, India to Mexico where the products were sold at high profit. On the return from Mexico, the galleons would be carrying silver coins or bullion that the Asian traders wanted. (9). Some of the economic programs undertaken from the middle of the 18th century until the end of Spanish rule in 1898 were the following: The royal company of the Philippines was established by a Spanish decree in march 1785 in order to develop and promote direct trade between colony and Spain and to develop the natural resources of the country. The company was required to set aside four percent of its profit for agriculture in the colony . Exclusive control of the trade between the Philippines and Spain was given to the company. Goods from the Philippines were exported to Spain tax-free. Although the Royal Company was eventually a failure, it helped to further the development of agriculture in the Philippines particularly the production of Colonial exports like indigo, sugar and spices. (10) Spain also adopted this doctrine and opened Manila to foreign trade in 1789. Governor general Felix Berenguer de Marquina encouraged foreign merchants to come and invest in the Philippines. As a result trade and commerce increased greatly and the Philippines began to experience a period of economic prosperity. To support the growing trade, the improvements of transportation and communication, international telegraph communication systems were established.(11)

How, when and why did colonialism of the Spanish end in the country?
Spanish rule on the Philippines was briefly interrupted in 1762, when British troops invaded and occupied the islands as a result of Spains entry into the Seven Years War. The British left in 1764, however, the brief British occupation weakened Spains grip on power and sparked rebellions and demands for independence. Later, the Treaty of Paris caused the Spanish to lose the Philippines to the Americans. (12)
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