The History of The Philippines Under The Spanish Empire (1521 – 1899)

Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:

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After the challenging experience of Magellan in the Philippines, the Spanish did not attempt to colonize again until 1542. This expedition was led by Ruy López de Villalobos, who set out from Mexico with six ships and around 400 people. Ignoring his navigator’s advice, he landed in Mindanao, but far from the Chinese or Malay traders they had hoped to encounter. Isolated, they made repairs on their ships but were hindered from returning to sea due to poor weather. Lacking supplies, they resorted to foraging, much of which made them ill. The survivors eventually left and landed on Sarangani, claiming the territory for Spain and naming it after Charles V’s son, Crown Prince Philip.

Shortly after, they encountered a Portuguese ship with a letter from the government of the Moluccas in Indonesia, questioning why the Spanish were in Portuguese territory. This initiated a brief correspondence, with the Portuguese requesting the Spanish to leave and the Spanish referencing treaties that permitted their colonization in the region. The Villalobos expedition attempted to return to Mexico but faced severe shortages of supplies. They were captured by the Portuguese, who imprisoned Villalobos and sent the remaining Spaniards back to Lisbon to be returned to Spain.

In November 1564, an expedition under Miguel López de Legazpi departed from Mexico, reaching the Philippines in February of the following year. They arrived at Cebu in the central part of the archipelago, conquering it despite local resistance. This marked the establishment of the first Spanish colony in the islands and the beginning of a colonial presence that would last until the late nineteenth century. They expanded to the island of Panay in 1568 and encountered conflict with Muslim pirates who attacked the settlement. Legazpi sent conquistador Martin de Goiti to conquer Maynila and Tondo; Tondo surrendered to the overwhelming naval force. Maynila was captured and renamed Nueva Castilla, becoming the capital of the Spanish East Indies, which included the Philippines and all Pacific Spanish territories. Despite the official name change, it has remained known as Maynila, albeit with various spellings, to this day.

The Spanish gradually took control of the barangays, employing both force and cultural influence. The colonies expanded rapidly through settlement from Spain and the Americas. Similar to Britain, Spain used its colonies as destinations for undesirables, with many immigrants being criminals or debtors. A significant portion of the population also came from New Spain, leading to the development of a Mexican-Filipino subculture. Catholic missionaries played a crucial role in this process, establishing schools and hospitals alongside their churches. The Spanish also constructed presidios, or fortresses, which proved valuable to the locals during outside attacks.

Resistance from the islanders was evident. In 1587, a group of local Datus conspired to overthrow the Spanish, seeking support from nearby Brunei and Borneo, leveraging the conflict between their Muslim population and the Catholic Spaniards. They also had promises from the Japanese, but these did not materialize. The plan was ultimately revealed to the Spanish through a spy. The Datus faced execution, and their heads were displayed as a warning; others involved were fined, imprisoned, or exiled.

External forces also opposed the Spanish. The Portuguese were a significant source of conflict until the 1580 Iberian Union, which united the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal under the same government for several decades. Chinese pirates posed a constant nuisance but were not a serious threat. Occasionally, the Japanese claimed prior control over the territory and sought tribute, but this ended with the normalization of trade relations between Japan and Spain in the early seventeenth century. Nearby Muslim states regularly attacked Philippine islands, motivated by a desire to expel the Catholic Spanish and reclaim territory that had been contested long before the Spanish arrival.

The most significant external threat was the Dutch. This conflict was not solely about colonial territory, as the Dutch and Spanish had longstanding disputes in Europe. The Hapsburgs, who ruled Spain, also gained control of the Netherlands in the early sixteenth century. The main conflict between the Dutch and their Hapsburg rulers was religious: Spain and the Hapsburgs were Catholic and sought to enforce Catholicism in their territories, while many Dutch were part of emerging Protestant sects. This ongoing conflict, known as the Eighty Years’ War, extended into Southeast Asia and the Pacific, where the Dutch controlled Indonesia and the Spanish held the Philippines. Three battles were fought between the Spanish and Dutch fleets, all of which were indecisive. Ultimately, the conflict between Spain and the Netherlands was integrated into the Thirty Years’ War and resolved within that context.

In 1599, King Philip ordered a referendum in the Philippines to approve Spanish rule; unsurprisingly, it passed. This allowed Spain to claim legitimacy over the archipelago in the eyes of its inhabitants. Spain exploited the Philippines as it did its other colonies, utilizing natural resources for the Empire’s benefit, alleviating population pressure at home, and positioning it within the broader colonial rivalry of the era. This required consistent governance across the Spanish-held territories, which was established relatively quickly. The Philippines were integrated into the Viceroyalty of New Spain, overseeing all Spanish colonies in the Americas and the Pacific. However, unlike their American colonies, the Philippines did not generate significant wealth for the Crown and often cost more to maintain than they contributed. This loss was deemed acceptable due to their strategic value, although it resulted in inconsistent maintenance, particularly of military fortifications.

Spanish agricultural systems were imposed on the native Filipinos, centered around the encomienda, or collective farm. In this system, all land belonged to the king, and the people worked it for both themselves and the Crown, owing a portion of their harvest to the Crown. Many focused on cash crops such as tobacco, coffee, indigo, and sugar, while also growing rice for personal consumption and trade. Trade of goods from the Philippines was restricted to Spain and its holdings.

In the eighteenth century, the Spanish Philippines became involved in European conflicts, including the Seven Years’ War. Britain seized the opportunity presented by their opposing sides to attempt to capture Manila, aiming to control a vital trade city in Asia. A British fleet entered Manila Bay on 24 September 1762. Over the next twelve days, they bombarded the city’s defenses, took control of surrounding areas, and assessed the Spanish ability to defend their capital, finding it lacking. On the morning of 6 October, they entered the city with little resistance. The Spanish forces at the Royal Gate refused to surrender, resulting in the deaths of 180 soldiers. Manuel Rojo del Rio y Viero, the Archbishop and temporary governor of Manila, agreed to surrender to prevent further violence. He described the aftermath as a day-long pillage, noting that both British soldiers and locals took advantage of the chaos. The conflict concluded with an agreement to pay a ransom of four million dollars, which was only partially fulfilled. The agreement between Rojo and British Lt. General William Draper ensured that the Catholic Church’s activities would remain undisturbed, that the property of Spanish citizens would be respected, and that they would enjoy the same freedoms of travel and trade as the British.

Meanwhile, members of the Spanish colonial administration fled the city and established a government in exile in Pampanga under Simon de Anda y Salazar, the head judge of the Royal Audiencia of Manila. Anda informed Archbishop Rojo that he had assumed the role of governor-general, a claim the Archbishop refused to accept. This hindered any potential negotiations between Anda and the British, as Anda insisted on being recognized as governor-general, while the British continued to work with Rojo. Nevertheless, the Audiencia assembled an army of 10,000 to prevent the British from advancing beyond Manila Bay. Fighting persisted into early 1763, even after the official conclusion of the Seven Years’ War, as neither the European governments nor the people in the Philippines were aware of Manila’s capture or the war’s end. However, following Archbishop Rojo’s death in January 1764, the British and Governor-General Anda reached an armistice, which took effect just as the British received word that the war was over. The occupation concluded in early April 1764.

The transition to industrialism worldwide at the turn of the nineteenth century made Filipino trade in raw materials too valuable to restrict to Spain alone. In 1834, Spain opened its ports to global trade. Concurrently, advancements in communication and transportation facilitated greater involvement in this burgeoning mercantilism. The communal state-owned encomienda system was privatized, leading to the establishment of private businesses to capitalize on new trade opportunities. A Filipino middle class emerged, along with a wealthy elite. Those who could afford to send their sons to European and American universities returned home with ideas of freedom and liberty. This coincided with independence movements in Spanish colonies in the Americas, where some Filipinos participated in the struggles, bringing back new ideas similar to those of the French who fought in the American Revolution. A Filipino national identity began to form, encompassing both descendants of Spanish colonists and local indigenous peoples, which contrasted with recent Spanish immigrants who occupied governmental roles and sought to maintain the Filipinos’ second-class status. This tension led to a brief revolt in Manila in 1823.

By mid-century, calls for independence became common, culminating in the Propaganda Movement. Leaders of this movement sought basic civil rights and equal status under the law for both Spanish and Filipino individuals, including representation for the Philippines in the Spanish Parliament and provincial status. They aimed to abolish forced labor and eliminate restrictions on selling certain goods exclusively to the government. Additionally, they sought secular control over the priesthoods. The Propaganda Movement concluded with the arrest and deportation of one of its leaders, José Rizal. A revolutionary movement known as the Katipunan emerged in its place. The Philippine Revolution began in August 1898, aiming for the Philippines to become an independent nation. The rebels achieved some success in rural areas but struggled to capture Manila. This conflict between Spain and its colony coincided with another war involving Spain and Cuba, which drew in the United States and shifted the balance of power. The Americans seized the opportunity to establish a presence in the Western Pacific. The Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898 effectively determined the outcome of the conflict between Spain and the Philippines in favor of the United States. This battle marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in the archipelago. The Philippine Revolutionaries, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, established a temporary government in June 1898, overseeing the drafting of a constitution and elections. The First Philippine Republic was proclaimed on 21 January 1899, with Aguinaldo as President. However, the United States refused to recognize the new state, leading to a brief war in which the U.S. emerged victorious. The Philippines became an unofficial territory of the United States, a status it maintained until 1946.

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This version maintains the essential historical details while ensuring a more neutral tone and removing any potentially sensitive language.