In the year 1800, Spain, while still a proud nation, was no longer a powerful one. In earlier centuries she had led the world in commerce, in the arts, and in science. She had known wise and far-sighted rulers, and her scholars had been among the greatest in the world. Europe, when any new enterprise was talked of, waited for Spain to take the lead in action regarding it.

But, little by little, Spain fell behind other countries in the march of progress. Other nations improved their navies and their merchant ships, while Spain still clung to the old galleons of hundreds of years ago. She made no progress in her merchant service, nor much in her naval strength. Other nations were seeking trade and new chances for prosperity; Spain still kept her markets closed to the outside world. In the year 1800 she even passed a law forbidding foreigners to live in the Philippine Islands. Such a law could not be fully enforced at that stage of the world’s progress, but Spain did succeed in keeping the port of Manila closed to outside commerce.

Her colonies might not even trade freely with one another. Mexico might not send to the Philippines for goods, lest the Mexicans should buy less from Spain. Merchants in the Peninsula looked with great jealousy upon the growing trade between the Philippines and America. Foreign merchants could not do business in Manila, and every effort was made to limit the nature of the trade in that port. Cuba, Porto Rico, and other Spanish colonies suffered, as well, from the harsh restrictions which the mother country put upon their trade.

The government of the Philippine Islands had grown to be of the very worst sort. Many of the high officials were mere adventurers from Spain. They had no higher idea of right than their own wills; they neither loved nor understood the people, and they could not command the good will or the respect of the Filipinos. Many of the latter were superior in character and in education to the men who ruled the country, and the people were held in check by fear rather than by loyalty.

The government system of tobacco-growing early became a great source of trouble. Constant watching, heavy fines, imprisonment, even whipping, came to be necessary in order to hold the people to work on the tobacco crop, and much evil and injustice were done against the people by the officials who enforced these measures.

As was to be expected, the people often rebelled. Serious riots happened among the tobacco growers in northern Luzon in 1807, and again in 1814. In these there was great loss of life among both Spanish and Filipinos. Moreover, to add to the evil of forcing the people to grow tobacco, the government was very slow in paying the planters. Year after year these men were compelled either to raise tobacco or to give up their land, while they could get scarcely any return for their work. When at last the government made payment, it paid in treasury notes. These the people were forced by necessity to sell for almost nothing, to speculators who went about buying them up.

The islands suffered much from all these bad conditions, and the people became impatient and rebellious over the injustice heaped upon them. The American Revolution had had a marked effect upon all Europe. It had awakened ideas of liberty in the common people everywhere, and had set the whole world thinking about the rights of man. The freedom of this one country helped to insure the liberties of all other lands. Even in the far-off Philippines the echo was heard of the demand for that justice and decent treatment which is every man’s right.

In England, in France, and in Germany, men were asking for a voice in their own government, and their demand was winning a hearing. Besides this, the people of Mexico had now begun the struggle which ended at last in their throwing off Spain’s yoke.

By the year 1810 it was plain that it would no longer be possible to carry on the colony’s trade by means of the galleons to Mexico. The Spanish Cortes (cor´tās), therefore, passed a decree discontinuing these ships, and Manila merchants were given permission to fit out private ships, under the Spanish flag, for trade with America. The last state galleon left Manila for Acapulco in 1811. That same year saw the start of the first newspaper in the Philippines, and the beginning of an effort by the young men of Manila to bring about a better understanding between the colony and the mother country.

About this time the cause of political liberty began to win a hearing in Spain. The Liberal Party was in power there, and a strong feeling for popular government was winning its way in the country. In 1809 the Supreme Council in Spain convened the famous Cortes de Cadiz, in which were assembled delegates from all Spain’s colonies—Cuba, Venezuela, the Philippines, etc. The Cortes some time later passed what is known in history as the Act of Constitution of 1812. It gave to each of the colonies the right to send one or more representatives to the Cortes.

The Filipino delegate who signed this Act of Constitution was Ventura de Los Reyes (ven tö´rä dā los rī’es). The Act was sworn to by the proper officials in Manila in 1813, but soon afterwards was suspended. It came into force again, however, a few years later, and in 1820 the Cortes again admitted representatives from the Philippines. There were seventeen of these representatives, and they took part in the parliamentary debates of 1822–1823.

A short time afterwards the Constitution was again suspended by act of Ferdinand VII. A little later King Ferdinand died, and again two Filipino deputies sat in the Cortes. Filipino members also sat in the Cortes during the reign of Isabella II., but upon the opening of Parliament in 1837 it was voted to exclude them. Thus the dream of the Filipinos, of representation in the government, came to naught.

All this gave the people a taste of political freedom. The men who represented the islands in the Spanish Cortes came back to Manila full of the idea of equal rights for all. They preached this doctrine to the people, and their words found ready hearers. Soon, on Luzon, a group of young Filipinos and Mestizos gathered. Their aim was to bring about real reforms in the government, and to secure greater peace, prosperity, and liberty to the people. The discontent of the Filipinos began to be of a more intelligent sort, and to have a definite purpose. The people were coming to a clearer idea of what they wanted, and of the nature of the reforms needed in the country.

At this time, too, foreigners began to do business in Manila. England, by force of arms, had gained the right to trade with this port, and “the shut door” was no longer possible. Mexico had obtained her freedom from Spain, and the islands were now governed direct from the Peninsula. The independence of Mexico had a marked influence on the Filipinos in Luzon. They began to feel that they too might strike for their rights. They had no idea of winning independence, but they felt that they must have greater liberty. To meet this growing discontent more troops were asked for, and were sent from Spain. The King’s Regiment was reorganized from these, and a force of 10,000 men was kept in and about Manila.

In the Visayas matters were different. The people there were farther from the capital. They knew little or nothing of the changes and the differences brought about by the Constitution of 1812. They had no idea of the meaning of the word “equality” as between themselves and their rulers. Most of them had never heard of the Constitution of 1812. They did not dream that political equality had ever been thought of for them.

The colony was at this time troubled outwardly as well as within. Spain and England were at war, and the English were a source of danger and anxiety to the archipelago. Several expeditions had to be raised to fight off the British from various places on the islands, where they had set up headquarters. The Moros and the wild tribes of Mindanao were also giving trouble. They even came as far north as Manila, and carried off men and women into captivity in the south.

Nevertheless, during all these troubled years, a number of useful works were undertaken and carried out by the government. In 1817 a royal decree was issued commanding that schools for Filipino boys and girls should be opened in all the convents. In 1820 the duties were taken off, for ten years, from the natural and manufactured products of the islands sent to Spain, and an effort was made to revive the dying commerce of the country.

In this same year there was a great cholera epidemic in Manila. Many natives, some 30,000, the accounts say, died of it; but only one foreigner, an Englishman. The people got the idea that the foreigners had caused this epidemic by poisoning the water of the wells. They rose against the foreign residents, and killed all the English and French before the authorities could control them. There was a feeling among the Spanish in Manila that Governor-General Folgueras (fol gö ër´äs) had not been as prompt as he might have been in quelling this uprising. It was openly stated that he had made no effort to subdue the mob until the English and the French residents were killed.

To defend himself against this accusation the governor-general made certain criticisms of the Spanish-American forces in the islands. He charged them with disloyalty, recommending that they be withdrawn, and replaced by a larger force to be sent from Spain. He represented to the home government that this was necessary, because the Spanish-American troops could not be depended upon.

In 1822 a new governor-general, Señor Juan Antonio Martinez (än tō´nē ō mär tē´neth), was sent out. With him came many officers and soldiers from the Peninsula. Following the advice of Folgueras, Martinez sent a number of persons to Spain, on the pretext that they had conspired against the government.

All this provoked a revolt of a part of the King’s Regiment, led by Captain Novales (nō väl´ēs), a Spanish-American. A fierce battle was fought in the streets of Manila on the night of June 1, 1823, and Folgueras was slain. However, order was finally restored in the regiment. The leaders of the revolt were executed, and, as usual, the authorities seemed to think that the matter needed no further attention.

Summary.—At the beginning of the nineteenth century Spain was no longer a great world power. The government of the Philippines was full of evil, and the people had but little justice. The tobacco monopoly had become a source of much trouble, and the people were often in rebellion because of it. Ideas of liberty were growing among other nations, and the Filipinos, too, were becoming restless under oppression. In 1811 the last state galleon for Acapulco left Manila. The first newspaper in the Philippines was started in 1811. In 1812 the Spanish Cortes passed the Constitution of 1812, giving Spanish colonies representation in the Cortes. The Constitution was sworn to in Manila in 1813. It was afterwards suspended, but came again into force a few years later, and in 1820 the Cortes again admitted Filipino representatives. In 1837, however, these islands were finally denied representation. The enemies of Spain gave the islands much trouble during these early years of the century, and the Moros and wild tribes of Mindanao were also in arms. In 1817 schools for Filipino boys and girls were ordered to be opened in all the convents. In 1820 duties were taken off, for ten years, from natural and manufactured products of the islands sent to Spain. In that year a great cholera epidemic raged in Manila. In 1823 occurred the revolt of a part of the King’s Regiment in Manila.

Questions.—What were some of the reasons why Spain fell from her early position as a great world power? What effect had the government monopoly of tobacco-growing upon the country? How did the freedom of America affect other peoples in the world? Why were the state galleons to Mexico discontinued? When did the last galleon leave Manila? What was the Constitution of 1812? Give an account of its history in the islands. What led up to the revolt headed by Captain Novales in 1823?