The Philippines

THE PHILIPPINES

The powerful nations of Europe undertook a global project of imperialism and colonization in the late fifteenth century. Spain and Portugal, followed by other European states, used religion as a motivating force for economic expansion. As a result of Europe's conquests and attempted conquests, the Americas and large segments of Asia were eventually subjugated and annexed as European possessions or outposts. Following Columbus's expeditions to America, Cortés's conquest of Mexico in 1519, and Magellan's "discovery" of the Philippines in 1521, a series of unsuccessful Spanish attempts to colonize the Philippine archipelago took place. It was not until 1565 that the first permanent Spanish settlement succeeded under Miguel López de Legazpi, a minor Spanish official in Mexico. It remained part of the Spanish empire until 1898.

On 13 February 1565, an expedition set out from New Spain (Mexico), reaching Gamay Bay off Samar Island, then proceeding to touch at Leyte, Camiguin, Bohol, and finally Cebu on 27 April. In May 1571 the group of settlers moved to Manila. Thereupon, Juan de Salcedo conducted an expedition of conquest around Laguna de Bay and down the Cagayan River. Martín de Goiti and one hundred soldiers penetrated the center of the island of Luzon. After 1571, Manila became the center of Spanish colonization. The original Spanish incentives to occupy the Philippines were control of the spice trade and control of Pacific trade routes. However, the Philippines were too far from the spice routes, and other European powers never acknowledged Spanish hegemony in the Pacific Ocean.

The Spanish home government set up a jurisdiction that placed the Philippines under the rule of the viceroy of Mexico. Like the Americas, the archipelago had a governor-general, an audiencia ('advisors and court'), and a cabildo ('town council') for the city of Manila. In the areas outside of Manila, alcaldías ('provinces') were organized, with an alcalde mayor ('provincial governor') as head.

What proved to be the major cultural force in the archipelago were the religious orders. Augustinians, Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans were the frontline representatives of Western culture who indoctrinated and converted local peoples. They were followed by the secular clergy, who gradually took over the task of ensuring that the new converts to Christianity did not "relapse." Although the archipelago consists of almost seven thousand islands, not all were inhabited or came under Spanish rule. The southernmost parts of the archipelago were Muslim and remained so throughout Spanish occupation. As Christianity was extended throughout the islands, the Western value system it represented was incorporated into the native Malay society.

Local income from the tribute taxes imposed by the Spaniards was so low that it soon became clear that the maintenance of the Philippine archipelago as a colony in the Pacific was a financial drain on the Spanish Empire, and retaining the colony as the only Christian outpost in Asia became the new motivating force. The economy of the islands was in the hands of the "Manila Galleon," merchants who loaded a large ship with Asian luxury items each year and sold them in Acapulco, Mexico. On its return the Manila Galleon carried silver pesos.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century, a concentrated effort was made to develop agriculture and mining under the Bourbon dynasty. In the nineteenth century the external trade of the islands grew considerably, sparked by capital growth, large-scale imports of raw materials, and a rising population. English and American vessels unloaded wines, copper, nails, oil, and other manufactured goods, and in return carried away hemp, sugar, tobacco, and rice.

Spain's long colonial rule produced deep-rooted changes in Philippine society. Christianity, foreign commerce, and new political and economic relations, as well as new concepts of land use and land distribution, affected native society profoundly.

See also Colonialism ; Dutch Colonies: The East Indies ; Magellan, Ferdinand ; Manila ; Pacific Ocean .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cushner, Nicholas P. Spain in the Philippines: From Conquest to Revolution. Quezon City, Philippines, and Rutland, Vt., 1971.

Lyon, Eugene. "The Manila Galleon." National Geographic (January 1998).

Phelan, John Leddy. The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1565–1700. Madison, Wis., 1959.

Wickberg, Edgar. The Chinese in Philippine Life, 1850–1898. Manila, Philippines, 2000.

Nicholas P. Cushner