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MODULE II
THE CONDITIONS OF EUROPE, AMERICA, AND SPAIN

Rizal’s Century: The 19th Century

The 19th century was a century of change. During the last two decades of the previous
century, the age of enlightenment reached its zenith in France, culminating in the French
Revolution of 1789. In this age, ideas of freedom, liberty and equality, and the belief in the
sovereignty of the people in determining government thundered all across Europe. The
French Revolution resulted in the toppling of the monarchy of King Louis XVI and the
ushering in of the French Republic. Though France was to slide back to monarchy following
the establishment of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire and the restored Bourbon
Dynasty, the ideas of philosopher such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, Francois-
Marie Arouet (Voltaire), and Englishman John Locke spread around the world like a
conflagration. The world was never the same again.
The struggle of equal rights has spread over the world. Europe went up in revolution
from 1848, with the regimes of the absolute monarchs in France and Austria being toppled by
people seeking more responsible governments. In 1861, the year of Rizal’s birth, Tsar
Alexander II emancipated Russian serfs. That year, the Italians, under Giuseppe Garibaldi,
threw out the Austrians and took over the papal lands. Italian nationalism ended the
domination of the church and united various Italian states as one country. Germany, on the
other hand, was in the process of unification which lasted until 1871. In the United States,
President Abraham Lincoln emancipated the black slaves but also triggered American Civil
War which lasted from 1861 to 1865. At the south of the U.S. border, Mexican troops dealt a
humiliating defeat on the French-supported regime of Archduke Maximillian. In France, the
regime of Napoleon III was crumbling after the debacle in Mexico. Later French overthrew
the monarchists and established a republic. At this time, however, most of Spain’s colonies
such as those in South and Central America, such as Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela,
Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and others have won their
independence from Spain through revolution. The Philippines was one of Spain’s remaining
colonies along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish Sahara.
The Need for Reforms: Representation
During Napoleon’s time, Spain was part of France’s alliance against Great Britain in
the Continental System. When this alliance faltered, Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808 and
installed his brother Joseph as king. The Spaniards registered the French, and Spanish patriots
declared allegiance to their crown prince Ferdinand and gathered in the city of Cadiz where
they crafted a constitution. The Constitution of Cadiz had a novel feature of allowing
colonies to be represented in the Spanish parliament called the Cortes. The Philippines
therefore was given representation for the first time, and Ventura de los Reyes, a Spaniard
born in the Philippines, was selected to represent the colony. However, after Napoleon was
defeated, Ferdinand, who had become King Ferdinand VII, abolished the Cortes, saying that
the body encroached on powers he believed belonged solely to him. The decision was
unpopular as Spain’s American colonies began to revolt and sought independence.
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In 1820, the Spanish people rose up and held the king hostage. They forced him to
reconvene the Cortes and restore representation of the colonies. The restoration of the Cortes
was short-lived as France, under the Bourbons, sent an army which restored Ferdinand to
absolute rule and caused the abolition of Cortes. In 1833, Ferdinand VII died and the Cortes
was again restored. However, at this time, the body held a secret session in which it was
decided that the Philippines should not be accorded representation. From the time on, the
Philippines had no representation in the Cortes. Representation in this body was one of the
reforms demanded by reformists like Rizal. It would have given the Filipinos the right to be
heard in the body and equal rights with the Spaniards. After Ferdinand VII died, the country
was ruled by his daughter, Queen Isabela II, whose rule was characterized by decadence and
mismanagement. Other European power such as Great Britain and France became leading
powers in the continent.
Condition in Asia in the 19th Century
In Asia, there were renewed efforts of the European penetration with the weakening
of Spain and Portugal and the rise of Great Britain and France. The British gained its colony
in Hongkong and forced China to open five ports to its traders following China’s defeat in the
Opium War of 1839-1842. China was humiliated with another defeat in the Arrow war of
1856-1858 when the British, now joined by the French, forced China to open the whole
country to foreigners. Furthermore, Great Britain enlarged its colony in Hongkong by taking
over Kowloon, and Japan was forced to open by the Americans under Commodore Matthew
Perry in 1854.Unlike the Chinese, however, the Japanese were able to parry western requests
to make Yokohama a treaty port .India became a crown of colony of Great Britain in 1858
following the suppression of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. Burma became a colony of Great
Britain after three Burmese Wars in 1824-1826, 1862-1863, 1885-1886. Near the Philippines,
Indo-China became a protectorate of France following the suppression of the kingdoms of
Annam and Cochin-China. Filipino troops sent from Manila played a role in the conquest of
Indo- China for France. Malaysia became a protectorate and eventually a colony of Great
Britain while Indonesia was conquered by the Dutch of Netherlands.

Activity:
1. List down the events that happened in the 19th century.
2. Get five to 10 sheets of long bond paper. Place the bond papers side by side in a
landscape orientation. Put the tape on the back of each paper so that a long paper
would result. Write on the clean side.
3. On landscape orientation, make a timeline by starting on the top part of the long
paper. Use pictures, drawings, cutouts, and other artistic means to represent the time
period.
4. On the top part, make a timeline of European history, on the middle part, make a
timeline of American history, toward the bottom part, make a timeline of Asian
history.
5. Each group will state a trend that they have noticed during 19th century.
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Lesson 2: Conditions in the Philippines in the 19th Century

Liberal stirrings from Europe reached the Philippines. In the Ilocos, leading citizens
there, called Kailanes, refused to believe that the Cadiz Constitution was abolished by King
Ferdinand and rose up in revolt. They were crushed by troops from the other provinces. In
1826, Mexican soldiers led by Lt. Andres Novales mutinied. They complained of
discrimination and unfair treatment from peninsular officials following the independence of
Mexico from Spain. The mutineers tried to rally the Filipinos to their support and promised to
fight for the independence of the Philippines. The mutiny, however, was crushed and rebels
were executed.
The last of the series of revolts took place in 1841-1842 when Apolinario de la Cruz
refused to disband his religious organization, the Cofradia de San Jose. De la Cruz aspired to
be a priest but was refused by the Spaniards because of his race. Instead, he founded the
Cofradia which gained popularity among ordinary people and was seen as a threat by the
Catholic Church. After his execution and the suppression of the Cofradia, members of the
Tayabas Regiment of the Spanish army, who turned out to be province-mates of de la Cruz,
mutinied and almost took over Manila. The arrival of native reinforcements saved the
Spanish colonizers from certain defeat.
The defeats of native revolts demonstrated that the Philippines was disunited because
of lack of a national identity. The Spaniards used this disunity to divide and rule the country.
Demographically, the Spaniards were a minority of the Philippines. Peninsular officials born
in Spain were very few, consisting of the governor- general and, a few subalterns and the top
church officials, and the insular officials, the Spaniards born in the Philippines who were also
few in comparison to the native population which numbered around six million. In large
towns, the Spanish officials were only the parish priest and the head of the local police. The
colonial order was maintained largely by native officials. Local officials such as
gobernadorcillos, the councilmen, and others were natives. The policemen were also natives,
and even the composition of the local Spanish army and civil guards was largely natives.
Only the officials down to the rank of sergeants were Spaniards. The Spaniards, despite their
inferior number, managed to retain the loyalty of the native officials by giving them certain
privileges that kept them separate from the rest of the population. The gobernadorcillos were
afforded the titles of capitan municipal, teniente, and cabeza. Though their positions did not
pay much, the titles gave them an exalted position in native society and were called
principaies or leading citizens. There were also some material reward in serving the
Spaniards. A number of principals descended from the loyal datus who pledged their loyalty
to the colonizers. They were exempt from taxation and community labor or prestacion
personal. They were also entitled to receive a portion of their collection from the people.
After serving their terms of office, former officials were still eligible for reelection. It was
possible for former officials to be reinstated into their former offices several times. This
explains why Spain controlled the Philippines for more than 300 years. Spain controlled the
natives through the native leaders.
Changes in the 19 th century had profound effects to the Philippines. Even during the
previous century when it was forbidden for the Philippines to trade with other countries
because of Spain’s monopolistic policy, colonial officials, ignored this instruction and traded
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with other nations anyway because it promised income for the Philippines. By 1834, this
mercantilist policy of not allowing the Philippines to trade with other countries was scrapped
with the opening of Manila to world trade. Other ports in the colony like Iloilo and
Zamboanga later followed. There was brisk demand for Philippine products such as sugar,
coffee, abaca, tobacco, dyestuff, and rice. This created economic opportunities as many
families began trading these products for the international market. These families were
mostly mestizos consisting of Spanish and Chinese families. They intermarried with natives
who were farmers that became traders. In the process, they became more affluent and formed
the nucleus of the middle class. The increased wealth allowed middle -class families to have
better homes and send children to colleges and universities for higher education. During the
early 19th century, the education of choice was priesthood and many middle-class families
sent their sons to seminaries in Manila. They obtained higher education degrees which made
them equal with the Spaniards. Eventually they became concerned with issues of equality
including secularization. By the time of Rizal’s birth in 1861, the quest for equality was the
cry of the times. It influenced Rizal throughout his life and it became his lifelong quest.

Activity 3:

Name:______________________________Course & Section: _________ Date:______-

___
1. Using the reading on the Philippines in the 19th century. Make three columns
and label the headings as “Political Aspect”, “Economic Aspect,” and
“Sociocultural Aspect”.
2. In each column, list down the changes that occurred in the Philippines.
3. Present the work to online class. Analyze if the items listed down were in the
correct column.
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MODULE III
THE RELIGIOUS FRONT SECULARIZATION
Aside from the need to secure political and social reforms, there was also the
persisting issue of the secularization of the Philippine Church. This was basically a matter
involving the Catholic clergy in the Philippines. As early as the 16 th century, it was the wish
of the King of Spain and of the Pope to turn over the country’s parishes to the secular priests.
At the beginning of the Spanish colonization, the task of establishing and administering the
country’s parishes was done by the regular priests who belong to different religious orders.
These were the Augustinians, Recollects, Jesuit, Franciscans, and Dominicans. Originally,
they came as missionaries to the Philippines. During the course of Spanish rule, there were
demands by the seculars to implement the royal and papal orders. For a time, this was
actually implemented but turned out to be wanting and deemed to be unready to head the
parishes. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 created some opportunities for secular to
occupy some parishes. However, when the Jesuits were allowed return in 1858, parishes held
by seculars were given back to the regulars once the secular priests holding the post died.
What happened was a reverse secularization of the churches the parishes held by the seculars
were reverted to the regulars. Since the issue pitted Filipino seculars against the Spanish
regular clergy, the secularization issue has become a race issue. During the Spanish
colonization, the Spaniards born in the Philippines were called Filipinos. This issue was
between the Spanish regulars versus the Filipino seculars. In the forefront of this struggle
were Filipino priests like Fathers Pedro Pablo, Jacinto Zamora, Mariano Gomez, and Jose
Burgos who championed the cause of equal rights with Spaniards and reduction of the
influence of the Church in politics. Also, among the suspects were the leaders of the Filipino
secular clergy who fought for secularization of the Philippine Catholic Church. The King of
Spain and the Pope himself gave instructions for the secularization of the country’s parishes,
but this was resisted by the orders of friars who contended that the Filipino seculars were
never ready to take over. During the previous administration of the liberal Governor-General
Carlos Ma. de la Torre, these Filipino liberals and secular were allowed to voice their
grievances. Under Governor-General Izquierdo’s regime, this right was suppressed. The
Filipinos, on the other hand, struggled to defend their gains under the old regime. They were
already identified by the conservative Spaniards for elimination. The Cavite Mutiny provided
the pretext for the conservatives to eliminate the Filipino liberals. The Spanish forces arrested
several known liberals, among them were Jose Ma. Basa, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Balbino
Mauricio, Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, and Filipino secular priests like Pedro Dandan and
Toribio H. del Pilar, the brother of propagandist Marcelo H. del Pilar.
Father Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora were identified by a false witness named
Francisco Zaldua, who pointed out that the three priests were indeed out to lead a government
that would overthrow the Spaniards and install Father Burgos as the future leader of the
Philippines. Despite the protests and insufficient evidence, the three priests were garroted at
Bagumbayan on February 17, 1872. The others were identified as sympathizers of the
secularization issue also underwent trial and were found guilty. They were sentenced with
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deportation to Guam in the Marianas and were never allowed to return as long as Spain ruled
the Philippines.
Reinforcing Spanish domination in the country were Spanish clergymen. At the
beginning of Spanish rule, they helped establish the country’s parishes and even several
towns in the course of their evangelization. Through centuries of Spanish rule, they
performed an important role not only as spreaders of the Christian faith but also as
representatives of the colonial government. Very often, the Spanish religious officials acted
as the eyes and ears of the colonial government, and in many cases, they served or held
positions in the government. They also controlled education in the country’s educational
institutions were controlled by the religious orders. On the local level, the Church operated
parish schools which were the primary schools until the enactment of religious reforms.
Religious officials were also guardians of public morals as they sat on bodies such as those
concerning censorship. In the local level, the parish priest often endorsed candidates for
political positions. This gave him a political role in addition to a religious role. In the national
level, religious officials acted as advisers to the governor-general. Many of these officials
belong to the regular orders such as the friar orders. More often not, religious officials serve
longer than the governor-general whose average term lasted around three years. Given this
condition, the religious officials were deeply entrenched and it was difficult for a new
governor-general to enforce sweeping reforms especially those that threaten the supremacy of
the religious officials. With the cries for reform, especially those concerning secularization,
the religious orders strongly opposed the effort.

Activity 4:

Name:______________________________Course & Section: _________ Date:______-

___
1. Emphasize the definition of the words “Filipino”, “regular priests,” and
“secularization issue”.
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2. Discuss the arguments of the pro-secularization group and the anti-secularization
group.
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3. If the word “propaganda” means to give out information, analyze why the
secularization issue became a crucial point in the Propaganda Period of Philippine
history.
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