Lesson 2 Streams and ripples

• 19th century Philippine society

  • Political climate
  • Educational system
  • Significant events in world history
• Social stratification


  Division and diversity of the peoples on the different tiers and classes of the society
• Political climate during Spanish occupation


  • How political power was used and abused
  • Roots of administrative abuse and its truths
• Education system


  Strengths and flaws
• A lot of good arose from the educational system, contrary to the popular propaganda that Spain was up to no good
• What pushed Rizal and the other illustrados to hope for change and progress for the nation will be gauged
• This chapter


  • Contextualizing the heroes' nationalism and patriotism
  • Perspective on how massive the change and development were, in today's generation in contrast to the 19th century
• 19th century


  Refers to the years 1801 to 1900
• Historians have differing ways of plotting historical timelines, with the most common basis being the accurate time period from year 1 to 99
• The British historian Eric Hobsbawm believed the 19th century started in 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, and ended in 1914
• The 19th century paved the way to Filipino nationalism, with numerous uprisings even before Fr. Burgos continued what Padre Pelaez had started, on the plight of the rights of the natives and common dwellers of the Philippines
• Most of the earliest uprisings fought only for the rights of the few, and not of the entire Filipino
• The 19th century bore witness to the first and only Philippine Revolution, based upon Filipino nationalism
• Before the time of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, and their compatriots, there were numerous rebellions against the colonial government of Spain, but most of them were only rooted upon personal issues
• The nationalist sentiment which sparked the 1896 Philippine Revolution, started not from the struggle for independence, but from the anticipation for a much better life of all those who live in the Philippines
• Philippine nationalism was not rooted from the hope for liberation, but for the hope that each country dweller shall experience the same benefit of the Filipinos who are in Europe
• More than 236 years have passed since Legazpi instituted the first Spanish community in 1565 at Cebu
• Spain ruled the Philippines, besides the 2 years that the archipelago was colonized by the British
• People longed for progress, especially that Spain was one of the most prolific nations, if not the most, during that era
• What happened was quite the contrary
• Ever since Legazpi brought the West into the country, the Philippines was coined Medieval Europe
• When Europe became modernized, the Philippines remained Medieval
• The root cause of the non-progress in the Philippines was the feudal system brought by the European conquistadores
• Feudal system


  Initially for the common good, drafted after the manorial system of the Romans
• Manorial system


  • Those who dwell within the manors or large territories have rights to rule, in line with the protection they enjoy
• Fief


  The share of the land granted to a person called the agalon or seigneur, by the vassal
• Vassal


  Gives service to the seigneur in the form of, mostly, military protection especially in times of war and conflict
• Tenant vassal


  Confers services to the vassal, usually through military service or a portion of the property
• Serf


  Commoner who cultivates the land in exchange for food or shelter
• Seigneur asks for too much payment from the vassal


  Vassal in turn would ask for too much payment from the tenant vassal
• Tenant vassal asks for too much payment from the serf


  Serf ends up in hunger or being the first to suffer and die in battle
• What used to be a fair and just system ended up becoming abusive
• The French Revolution began


  August 4, 1789
• The National Assembly of France eradicated the feudal system during the French Revolution</b>
• Fair tax collection


  One of the reforms during the French Revolution
• Before the Revolution, the nobles, including the clerics, had tax exemptions
• Tax collection was highly essential, so those at the lowest tier of the society bore most of the financial burden
• Fair retribution


  Another reform during the French Revolution
• Before the Revolution, punishment, including the gravity of the punishment, was only based upon the preference of the one who gave the punishment
• The Fundamental Principles of Policing and Justice of the French Revolution stated that the gravity of the punishment be based upon the law and not on the preference of the powerful