The Philippines during Pre-Spanish and Spanish Colonisation

in #philippines5 years ago

Pre-Spanish Colonisation


Tabon Caves, Palawan, Philippines
[Image Source]
[Image labelled for reuse]


According to the archaeological research studies, the Tabon man first lived in the Philippines. Dr. Robert Fox, an American anthropologist, discovered the skull and jaw bones of three individual Homo Sapiens in Palawan caves in 1962. It was believed that the Tabon man lived in the "Stone Age", and the first people in the country made and used stone tools and they also had knowledge of fire.

The Tabon people were hunters and gatherers, which means that they still had no knowledge of domesticating plants and animals for food, but instead they obtained their food from the wild.

Contrary to what was taught in the primary schools up to the early 90's, it was not the Negritos who were the first settlers in the country. The skeletal remains indicated that the Tabon Man was not a Negrito, but of a pre-Mongoloid race. Some experts believe that the Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, and Pacific peoples are descendants of the Mongoloid race.

Spanish Colonisation


By the time the Spaniards arrived in 1521, the ancestors were living in big settlements (known as "baranggay") clustered along bays, mouths of big rivers, and along coastal areas. There were already many important trade centres in many islands frequented by the Indian, Arab, Chinese, Japanese, and Siamese (Thai) merchants, missionaries, and adventurers.

The Monument of Lapu-Lapu
Image Source


Because Portugal and Spain competed in acquiring new territories as well as in search of valuable spices used for cooking and to claim the riches of the Orient, the islands had become well-known to the West. At that time, a Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was in service of the Spanish King. In his voyage to seek a western route to the Moluccas or the "Spice Islands", Magellan came upon "by chance" the islands on 16th March 1521. He then claimed the islands for Spain. The "Datu", or the Chieftain, Lapu-lapu waged war against the invaders and killed Magellan in battle.

However, it was during the expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos to the islands in 1542 that the name Las Islas Filipinas was given to the islands of Leyte and Samar in honour of Prince Philip of Asturias at that time, who later became King Philip II of Spain. "Las Islas Filipinas" later came to apply to the whole archipelago. And much later, the Americans rendered it into English, and named our land "Philippines".

The Spaniards colonised the country for 333 years. Even though the Filipino people had adopted the Spanish culture, education, and civilisation during that time, they had to endure abuses of the colonial system such as heavy taxation, forced labour, and even government and church abuse. The Filipinos rose up in arms and they repeatedly protested to voice their grievances of the Spanish colonial oppression and the loss of their freedoms.

Revolutionary Phase


There were those that sought political and social reforms through peaceful means. Through their writings, the educated middle class or the ilustrados exposed the evils and abuses of Spain in general. The Spaniards charged Jose Rizal, our national hero, of sedition, rebellion, and conspiracy, and put him to death after the latter was convicted of all those charges against him and for his leading role in the campaign for reforms.

And then there were those that sought reforms and ultimately independence from Spain through revolutionary means. One of the great leaders of the revolution was Andres Bonifacio. He realised that Spain would never grant the Filipino people the independence that they longed for, and so he organised a secret revolutionary society called the "Katipunan" (or "society", literally). On the 26th of August 1896, the Cry of Balintawak signalled the start of the Philippine Revolution. It was the first major revolutionary war against colonialists waged in Asia.

Emilio Aguinaldo
Image labelled for reuse

The Katipunan was split into two groups: Magdiwang led by Andrés Bonifacio and Magdalo led by Emilio Aguinaldo. Ever since Katipunan was established, there had always been conflicts between these two revolutionary leaders. It only ended when Andres Bonifacio and his brother were ordered to be executed by Emilio Aguinaldo (who at that time had already assumed the presidency in 1897 after he won the election between him and Bonifacio), after being found guilty of sedition and treason. After the death of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo agreed to a treaty with the Pact of Biak-na- Bato, and Aguinaldo and his fellow revolutionaries were exiled to Hong Kong.

Towards the Philippine Independence... (or not!)


Emilio Aguinaldo achieved considerable success before a peace was patched up with Spain. The peace did not last long though, because neither Spain nor the Philippines honored the agreements stipulated in their peace treaty. Protests and revolutions in the city and the provinces still continued to break out even after Aguinaldo's exile, then a new revolution was made when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898.

The Spanish-American war started in 1898 after the USS Maine, sent to Cuba in connection with an attempt to arrange a peaceful resolution between Cuban independence ambitions and Spanish colonialism, was sunk in Havana harbor. After the U.S. naval victory led by Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish squadron at Manila Bay on 1st of May, 1898, the U.S. invited Aguinaldo to return to the Philippines, which he did on 19th of May, 1898, in the hope he would rally Filipinos against the Spanish colonial government. By the time U.S. land forces had arrived, the Filipinos had taken control of the entire island of Luzon, except for the walled city of Intramuros Manila, which they were besieging.

On the 12th of June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo declared the independence of the Philippines in Kawit, Cavite, which established the First Philippine Republic and Asia's first democratic constitution. However, the Filipino people's dreams of independence were crushed when the Philippines were transferred from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which closed the Spanish-American War but started the Filipino-American War from 1898-1907. Filipinos fought a fierce guerilla war but the Americans prevailed.

References:

A Learning Family (2017). Tabon Man: First Human in the Philippines. Retrieved from http://www.alearningfamily.com/main/tabon-man-first-human-philippines/.

Filipinas Nostalgia (2018). Las Islas Filipinas. Retrieved from http://filipinasnostalgia.com/index.php/las-islas-filipinas/.

Philippine Country (2006). Philippine History - Spanish Colonization. Retrieved from http://www.philippinecountry.com/philippine_history/spanish_colonization.html

rsz_transparent.png

My recommended witnesses:

@pharesim, @curie, @cloh76.witness, @jackmiller, @steemgigs, @yabapmatt, @quochuy, @reggaemuffin, @blocktrades, @qurator, @hr1, @aggroed, @utopian-io, @ocd-witness, @themarkymark, @arcange, @scottcbusiness, @yehey, @steemitboard, @ausbitbank.

You can vote up to 30 witnesses by clicking this link:

https://steemit.com/~witnesses

Click each banner to join the Discord servers!!!

rsz_11rsz_steembulls.jpg

SteemBulls
dynamicsteemiansGIF.gif

All photos are properly cited as labelled for reuse or sourced from Pixabay. Discord banners are provided by @baa.steemit and @steembulls, #ulogger GIF by @phantum04 and footer image by @bearone of @teamaustralia.

evlachsblogta.png

Sort:  

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by evlachsblog from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.

I love history, thank you for sharing this bit of history.

Posted using Partiko Android

This is the part of the history of the Philippines that I particularly liked despite the so-called abuses by the Spaniards towards our ancestors. Because even though there were abuses, the Filipinos were treated as 'people' and were given the opportunity to be educated. The patriotism of all our national heroes was admirable and worthy of respect.

I am learning Australian history as well and I am astounded by what I have been reading so far. I feel mostly grief.

Yes history can be heart breaking, when you think about how people treated other people based on feeling of superiority. But there are also many wonderful example of people overcoming adversity. Hopefully we learn from the mistakes of the past and realize that every culture and heritage has something to offer.

Posted using Partiko Android

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70601.40
ETH 3576.96
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.75