Lecture 11: 18th to 19th Century Economic Transformations

Socio-Economic Transformations in the 18th to 19th Centuries

• Mestizos profited from monopoly stores (rentas estancadas) and usury

• Indios lost land due to inability to pay loans (sanlangbili)

• Some land holdings eventually became part of expanded friar estates

• Estancias (agricultural estates) near Manila and the Religious Orders which eventually acquired them

How the Friar Lands Expanded

• Estancias were granted to the various friar orders (particularly the Augustinians, Dominicans, and Jesuits) to support their evangelization missions.

• Their land holdings expanded using donations (from mestizos and principalia), purchases, or by simply claiming agricultural lands surrounding their pueblos.

• The usurpation of common lands led to the Tagalog revolts of 1745.

• Property rights of the indio were protected by colonial law (1755).

  • However, the law is poorly enforced, and friar lands continue to expand

Suppression of the Tagalog Revolt of 1745

• Pedro Calderon y Enriquez, oidor (judge of the aidiencia) since 1737 sided with the locals and upheld their property rights as per colonial law

• Their rights pertaining to communal lands were strengthened in 1755 by Gov. Gen. Pedro Manuel de Arandia

• Still, friar lands continue to expand due to poor enforcement of colonial law

  

Mid-18th Century Economic Realities

• The colonial economy was stagnant with no opportunity for growth

  • Pueblos remained backward; friar lands were idle

  • About 200 years later, the galleon trade was already languishing due to direct European trade in Canton

• In the meantime, the Industrial Revolution was taking place in Europe, and British trade was expanding in Asia through its colonies

The British Empire

• Unlike Spain, the British empire had no silver as its source of wealth, but how did they become commercially successful?

  • In the American colonies, they had a lot of cotton. This was used to fuel England’s industrial revolution. One of first product manufactured was cotton fabric.

  • The American colonies needed labor which they got from Africa. The slaves were captured by African warlords themselves and sold. But British didn’t have any money to pay for those, so instead they paid them with firearms

  • This type of trade extended to the Britain’s Indian colonies. India also became a source of cotton.

  • Now, they were also interested in China trade, particularly for tea. Since they still don’t have currency to pay for that, they paid them opium which was from India

• The British (through the British East India Co.) established a presence in Asia for access to spices and silks; they later discovered tea

• What does British have to do with the Philippine history?

  • France and England went to war over their American colonies from 1756-63 (part of 17 years war). Since Spain was an ally of France…

The British Conquest of Manila (October 06, 1762)

• While Spain was preoccupied with wars in Europe, British forces led by William Draper captured Manila and established a military government in the city for 2 years (they left in 1764)

• British occupation did not extend beyond Manila

• Pampangos helped defend Manila but unable to do so

• Revolts by Diego Silang and Juan de la Cruz Palaris took place shortly thereafter

Diego / Gabriela Silang (Ilocos — 1763-1764)

• Diego Silang was an Ilocano who allied with the British and staged a revolt against Spanish colonial rule in the Ilocos region

• After he was assassinated by an ally, his wife Gabriel took command until she too was captured and executed.

The Impact of the Seven Years War in the Philippines

• The British occupied Manila from 1762-1764

• But this awakened consciousness not only among some of the local elites that decided to lead the revolts. It also affected the manner in which Spain would now be managing the Philippines as a colony

• Local revolts took place (Silang, Palaris)

• The British occupation exposed the economic weakness of the Philippines and poor governance by Spanish colonial officials

• Spain realizes the need for change in the Philippines—the new Bourbon monarchy sends a liberal governor general to the colony

The Basco Reforms

• Gov. General Jose de Basco y Vergas (1778-1787) diversified the economy and established the Real Compania which established direct shipping to Spain. He encouraged the export of products

• His efforts were resisted by the Manila Spaniards who had been engaged in the galleon trade

• Crops that Basco tried to encourage:

  • Cinnamon

  • Indigo for making dyes

  • Mulberry leaves - eaten by silk herbs to make silk

• He resigned, citing the laziness of his fellow Spaniards

• One of his projects was well-received due to its potential for graft and corruption…

The Tobacco Monopoly (1782-1881)

• There were opportunities for fraud and corruption at all stages but provided the colonial government with much needed revenue

• It was created to generate revenues for the government and led to the growth of tobacco regions in the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley.

• The product was both exported and sold locally

• The government controlled all aspects of the industry from farming to distribution

• They needed factories in Manila which is why Binondo became an industrial center

• Mestizos engaged in tobacco arming and facilitated the sale to colonial officials and merchants

• Their gains from the economy enhanced their political influence

• There were opportunities for fraud and corruption at all stages

• The establishment of tobacco factories in Binondo attracted migrants from rural areas, resulting in population growth, urbanization, and enhanced infrastructure

Political reforms in the early 19th century

The Cadiz Constitution of 1812

• Was created during the Spanish War of Independence against the forces of Napoleon

• Among the reforms it introduced was the reduction of the power of the monarchy and the Church, civil rights, and the abolition of feudal institutions.

• Because of all of these changes in Spain, independence movements started taking root in their American colonies (Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina)

  • There were many peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain) that is involved here which developed their own nationalist ideas as being separate to the Spain itself

• One of the signatories was Pedro Perez de Tagle, representing the Philippines

  • The first man to call himself Filipino is Luis Rodriguez-Varela, also known as El conde Filipino

  • Also developed the thought that the Philippines can be separated to Spain

• It failed to achieve its objectives due to the weakness of the Spanish Cortes, limited appeal to the masses, loyalty to the monarchy, and resistance by the Church

• It was abolished when Ferdinand VII was restored as king in 1814

• But it had irreversible changes happened in Spain’s colonies…

Effects of the Cadiz Constitution in the Spanish Colonies

• Independence revolutions took place throughout Spain’s colonies and only 3 were left by 1833— Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Spanish East Indies

• 1813 - Departure of the last galleon from Manila

• The Philippines was placed under the direct control of Spain after Mexico became independent in 1821

Changes in the Philippines after 1812

Luis Rodrigues Varela - The First Filipino

• A Spaniard born in the Philippines (insulares), he was also nown as El Conde Filipino

• He defended the Cadiz Constitution when he published Glories of Spain and the Philippines in 1813.

• He was imprisoned in 1820 after being accused of posting pamphlets critical of the church and colonial government in the Church of Santa Cruz

• He was deported to Spain in 1823 for opposing Spanish officials from Spain (peninsulares) and advocating radical reforms as part of a group of Creoles who called themselves “Children of the Fatherland”.

After the last galleon departed from Manila in 1813… (by Legarda, 1999)

• 1834 - Chinese were allowed to settle anywhere—they engage in wholesale / retail

• 1844 - alcaldes were no longer allowed to engage in business

• 1834 - the Real Compania was abolished

• 1835 - Manila officially opens to world trade.

• New opportunities for mestizo landowners

• World Market for Export Crops: abaca, sugar and tobacco

• In order for these to be exported, the foreign buyers established merchant houses mostly in Manila and a few in Cebu (owned by British and Americans mostly)

• These foreign buyers would also engage in business with mestizo plantation owners. Since they are not the ones to cultivate the plants directly, they needed tenants called inquilinos (could be Chinese or indios)

  

• Friars acquire more wealth by selling land to mestizos or renting out to inquilinos

• Kasama work for the inquilinos

• Prominent mestizo families become hacienderos

The Philippine Export Economy

• Nicholas Loney helped develop the Iloilo / Negros sugar economy

• Prominent mestizo families become hacienderos

• There was a high demand for abaca in the United States for making ropes

• Batangas thrived during the 1880s due to the demand for coffee

The Arrival of Modern Banking

• Banks eventually replaced merchant houses as main financiers for the export economy. Some of them still exist to this day including two British banks

  • The Chartered Bank of India, China and Australia

  • The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

• El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II is established by wealthy Filipino businessmen; started operations in 1852.

  • now known as Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)

  • Don Jose Maria Tuason and Antonio de Ayala

• 1883 - Eventually the Tobacco monopoly ended, but the private corporation took up the tobacco trade and employed up to 30,000 workers in its Binondo factory. The company still exists up to now known as Tabacalera

• 1890 - The birth of the largest Philippine corporation

  • The Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel was founded in 1890 by Enrique Barretto. Among his partners were Domingo Roxas and Gonzolo Tuason.

  • now known as the San Miguel Corporation

Other Developments in the Late 19th Century

• The Compania de los Tranvias Filipinas was established in 1885 by Jacobo Zobel (horse)

• The services of Ferrocarrill de Manila (initiated by Don Francisco de Alejandrino) extended all the way up to Dagupan (train)

• The first streetlights in Manila were switched on on January 7, 1895

• El Deposito

  • This reservoir was built in San Juan in 1880 and had a capacity of 15 million gallons. It drew water from the Marikina RIver.

• Carriedo Waterworks / Renacimiento Manila

  • Clean water from El Deposito was distributed to Manila through a pipe system and became available to the public through hydrants and fountains such as the Carriedo Fountain

• Mestizo families prospered during the 19th century and developed a taste for European lifestyles.

More Late 19th Century Reforms

• The Educational Decree of 1863 required the establishment of free primary schools in pueblos (one each for boys and girls).

• It mandated the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic

• Its objective was the creation of a liberal educational system available to the masses

• Its implementation was inconsistent due to resistance by the friars, who preferred to continue operating religious schools

• It may have led to the demand for higher education

• Several universities has been established since the 17th century, but they mainly catered to the Spanish elite

• Ateneo de Manila was established when the Jesuits returned in 1859

• Some mestizo males studied in Europe and became exposed to liberal education. They became known as ilustrados