A History of the Philippines Part 16

Att.i.tude of the Spanish and the Friars toward Filipino Education.--The great mistake committed by the Spaniard was that he rarely welcomed the further progress of the native population, and the center of this opposition to the general enlightenment of the race was the friars. Thus those who had been the early protectors and educators, little by little, because of their extreme conservatism and their fear of loosening the ties that bound the Filipino to the church and to Spain, changed into opponents of his progress and enemies of his enlightenment; but the education which the church itself had given to the Filipino, and which had been fostered by the state and especially in recent times by the Jesuits, had made the Filipino pa.s.sionately ambitious for more enlightenment and freedom.

The Rule of Governor Torre.--Liberal Reforms.--In 1868, Queen Isabella II. of Spain was deposed, and a little later a revolutionary government, the "Republic of Spain," was founded. It was the brief triumph of that reforming and liberal spirit which for so many years had been struggling to free Spain from the burdens of aristocracy and ecclesiasticism.

The natural consequence was the sending of a liberal governor to the Philippines and the publication of liberal principles and reforms. This governor was General de la Torre. He was a brave and experienced soldier and a thorough democrat at heart. He dispensed with the formality and petty pomp with which the governors of Manila had surrounded themselves; he dismissed the escort of halberdiers, with their mediaeval uniforms and weapons, which had surrounded the governor-generals since 1581, and rode out in civilian's clothes and without ostentation. His efforts were directed to encouraging the Filipinos and to attaching them to Spain. In the eyes of the Spanish law, for a brief period, Spaniard and colonists had become equal, and La Torre tried to enforce this principle and make no distinction of race or birth. While Filipinos were encouraged and delighted, it is impossible to describe the disgust of the Spanish population and the opposition of the friars. La Torre was attacked and opposed, and the entire course of his governorship was filled with trouble, in which, naturally, liberal ideas gained wider and wider currency among the Filipinos.

Effect of the Opposition of the Friars.--The friars, being the most influential opponents of the Filipino, naturally came to be regarded by the Filipinos as their greatest enemies, and the anti-friar spirit daily spread and intensified. A party was formed which demanded that the friars vacate the parishes, and that their places be filled by secular priests, in accordance with the statutes of the Council of Trent. This party was headed by a native priest, Dr. Jose Burgos.

A Filipino Movement for Reform.--After the fall of the republic in Spain and the restoration of the monarchy, the administration in the Philippines attempted to extirpate the rising tide of liberal thought; but these ideas had taken root and could not be suppressed. The Filipino party, if so we may call it, continued to plan and work for reform. It numbered not only those of Filipino blood, but many of Spanish descent, born in the Philippines. There is no certain evidence that they were at this time plotting for independence, or that their actions were treasonable; but the fear and hatred felt by the Spaniards resulted frequently in the exile and punishment of known advocates of reform.

The Cavite Revolt.--In 1872 there occurred an important outbreak known as the Cavite Revolt. Two hundred native soldiers at the Cavite a.r.s.enal rose, killed their officers, and shouted "Death to Spain!" They had fellow-conspirators among the troops in Manila, but owing to mistakes in their plans these failed to rise with them and the revolt was easily suppressed.

It was immediately followed by the arrest of a large number of Filipinos who had been conspicuous in La Torre's time and who were advocates of reform. This number included the three priests, Fathers Burgos, Zamora, and Gomez, besides Don Antonio Regidor, Don Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, Don Pedro Carillo, and others. A council of war condemned to death forty-one of the partic.i.p.ants in the Cavite riot, and these were shot on the morning of the 27th of January, 1872, on the Field of Bagumbayan. On the 6th of February a council of war condemned to death eleven more soldiers of the regiment of artillery, but this sentence was commuted by the governor to life imprisonment. On the 15th of February the same council of war sentenced to death upon the garrote, the priests Burgos, Zamora, Gomez, and a countryman, Saldua; and this sentence was executed on the morning of the 17th.

The Spread of Secret Organizations.--Masonry.--New ground for fear was now found in the spread of secret organizations, which were denounced as Free Masonry. This is a very ancient inst.i.tution which, in Protestant countries like England and America, has a very large membership, and in these countries its aims are wholly respectable. It has never in any way been connected with sedition or other unworthy movements. Its services are, in fact, largely of a religious character and it possesses a beautiful and elaborate Christian ritual; but in Latin countries Masonry has been charged with political intrigue and the encouragement of infidelity, and this has resulted in clerical opposition to the order wherever found. The first Masonic lodge in the Philippines was established about 1861 and was composed entirely of Spaniards. It was succeeded by others with Filipino membership, and in one way or another seems to have inspired many secret organizations.

The "Liga Filipina," and Dr. Rizal.--Large numbers of Filipinos were now working, if not for independence, at least for the expulsion of the friars; and while this feeling should have been met by a statesmanlike and liberal policy of reform, the government constantly resorted to measures of repression, which little by little changed the movement for reformation into revolution.

In 1887 the "Liga Filipina," was formed by a number of the younger Filipino patriots, chief among whom was Dr. Jose Rizal y Mercado. Rizal, by his gifts, his n.o.ble character, and his sad fate, has gained a supreme place in the hearts of Filipinos and in the history of the Islands. He was born in 1861 at Calamba, on Laguna de Bay, and even as a child he was affected with sadness at the memory of the events of 1872 and with the backward and unhappy condition of his countrymen. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Ateneo Munic.i.p.al in Manila, and his family having means, he was enabled to study in Spain, where he took a degree in medicine, and later to travel and study in France, England, and Germany.

It was in this latter country that he produced his first novel, Noli Me Tangere. He had been a contributor to the Filipino paper published in Spain, "La Solidaridad," and, to further bring the conditions and needs of his country to more public notice, he wrote this novel dealing with Tagalog life as represented at his old home on Laguna de Bay and in the city of Manila. Later he published a sequel, El Filibusterismo, in which even more courageously and significantly are set forth his ideas for reform.

His work made him many enemies, and on his return to Manila he found himself in danger and was obliged to leave. He returned again in 1893, and was immediately arrested and sentenced to deportation to Dapitan, Mindanao. Here he remained quietly in the practice of his profession for some years.

The Katipunan.--Meanwhile the ideas which had been agitated by the wealthy and educated Filipinos had worked their way down to the poor and humble cla.s.ses. They were now shared by the peasant and the fisherman. Especially in those provinces where the religious orders owned estates and took as rental a portion of the tenants'

crop, there was growing hatred and hostility to the friars. The "Liga Filipina" had been composed of cultivated and moderate men, who while pressing for reform were not inclined to radical extremes, nor to obtain their ends by violent means.

But there now grew up and gradually spread, until it had its branches and members in all the provinces surrounding Manila, a secret a.s.sociation composed largely of the uneducated cla.s.ses, whose object was independence of Spain, and whose members, having little to lose, were willing to risk all. This was the society which has since become famous under the name of "Katipunan." This secret a.s.sociation was organized in Cavite about 1892. Its president and founder was Andres Bonifacio. Its objects were frankly to expel the friars, and, if possible, to destroy the Spanish government.

Rebellion of 1896.--A general attack and slaughter of the Spaniards was planned for the 20th of August, 1896. The plot was discovered by the priest of Binondo, Padre Gil, who learned of the movement through the wife of one of the conspirators, and within a few hours the government had seized several hundred persons who were supposed to be implicated. The arrests included many rich and prominent Filipinos, and at the end of some weeks the Spanish prisons contained over five thousand suspects. Over one thousand of these were almost immediately exiled to far-distant Spanish prisons--Fernando Po, on the west coast of Africa, and the fortress of Ceuta, on the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile the Katipunan was organizing its forces for struggle. On the 26th of August, one thousand insurgents attacked Caloocan, and four days later a pitched battle was fought at San Juan del Monte. In this last fight the insurgents suffered great loss, their leader, Valenzuela, was captured and, with three companions, shot on the Campo de Bagumbayan. The rising continued, however, and the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija were soon in full rebellion. The center of revolt, however, proved to be Cavite, This province was almost immediately cleared of Spaniards, except the long neck of land containing the town of Cavite and protected by the fleet. Here the insurgents received some organization under a young man, who had been prominent in the Katipunan--Emilio Aguinaldo.

The governor-general, Blanco, a humane man, who afterwards for a short time commanded in Cuba, was recalled, and General Polavieja replaced him. The Spanish army at the beginning of the revolt had consisted of but fifteen hundred troops, but so serious was the revolt regarded that Spain, although straining every energy at the moment to end the rebellion in Cuba, strengthened the forces in the Philippines, until Polavieja had an army of twenty-eight thousand Spaniards a.s.sisted by several loyal Filipino regiments. With this army a fierce campaign in Cavite province was conducted, which after fifty-two days' hard fighting ended in the defeat of the insurgents and the scattering of their forces.

Death of Dr. Rizal.--For the moment it looked as though the rebellion might pa.s.s. Then the Spanish government of Polavieja disgraced itself by an act as wanton and cruel as it was inhuman and impolitic.

Four years Dr. Rizal had spent in exile at Dapitan. He had lived quietly and under surveillance, and it was impossible that he could have had any share in this rebellion of 1898. Wearied, however, with his inactivity, he solicited permission to go as an army doctor to the dreadful Spanish hospitals in Cuba. This request was granted in July, and Rizal had the misfortune to arrive in Manila at the very moment of discovery of the rebellion in August. Governor Blanco hastened to send him to Spain with a most kindly letter to the minister of war, in which he vouched for his independence of the events which were taking place in Manila.

His enemies, however, could not see him escape. Their persecution followed him to the Peninsula, and, upon his arrival in Spain, Rizal was at once arrested and sent back to Manila a prisoner. His friend Blanco had gone. Polavieja, the friend and tool of the reactionary party, was busy punishing by imprisonment, banishment or death all Filipinos who could be shown to have the slightest part or a.s.sociation in the movement for reform. And by this clique Dr. Rizal was sentenced to execution. He was shot early on the morning of December 30, 1896. [94] At his death the insurrection flamed out afresh. It now spread to Pangasinan, Zambales, and Ilocos.

End of the Revolt by Promises of Reform.--Polavieja returned to Spain, and was succeeded by Gen. Primo de Rivera, who arrived in the spring of 1897. The Spanish troops had suffered several recent reverses and the country swarmed with insurgents. The policy of Primo de Rivera was to gain by diplomacy where the energy of his predecessor had failed. In July, 1897, an amnesty proclamation was issued, and in August the governor-general opened negotiations with Aguinaldo, whose headquarters were now in the mountains of Angat in Bulacan. Primo de Rivera urged the home government to make some reforms, which would greatly lessen the political importance of the friars. He was vehemently opposed by the latter, but it was probably upon the promise of reform that Aguinaldo and his fellow-insurgents agreed, for the payment of 1,700,000 pesos, to surrender their arms, dismiss the insurgent forces, and themselves retire from the Islands. This agreement was made, and on December 27, 1897, Aguinaldo left the port of Sual for Hongkong.

The Spanish Misrule Ended.--Conditions in the provinces still continued very unsatisfactory, and in its very last hours the Spanish government lost the remnant of its prestige with the people by a ma.s.sacre in Calle Camba, Binondo, of a company of Bisayan sailors. Ten days after this occurrence a revolt blazed out on the island of Cebu. Had events taken their course, what would have been the final conclusion of the struggle between Spaniards and Filipinos it is impossible to say. On the 25th day of April the United States declared war upon Spain, and the first day of May an American fleet reached Manila harbor, and in the naval fight off Cavite, Spanish dominion, which had lasted with only one brief interruption for 332 years, was broken.

CHAPTER XIII.

AMERICA AND THE PHILIPPINES.

Beginning of a New Era.--With the pa.s.sing of the Spanish sovereignty to the Americans, a new era began in the Philippines. Already the old Spanish rule seems so far removed that we can begin to think of it without feeling and study it without prejudice.

Development of the United States of America.--The American nation is the type of the New World. Beginning in a group of colonies, planted half a century later than the settlement of the Philippines, it has had a development unparalleled in the history of states. Although peopled by emigrants from Europe, who rigidly preserved both their purity of race and pride of ancestry, the American colonists, at the end of a century, were far separated in spirit and inst.i.tutions from the Old World.

Struggle with the wilderness and with the savage produced among them a society more democratic and more independent than Europe had ever known; while their profound religious convictions saved the colonists from barbarism and intellectual decline. It can truthfully be held, that in 1775, at the outbreak of the American Revolution, the colonists had abler men and greater political ability than the mother-country of England. It was these men who, at the close of the Revolution, framed the American Const.i.tution, the greatest achievement in the history of public law. This nation, endowed at its commencement with so precious an inheritance of political genius, felt its civil superiority to the illiberal or ineffective governments of Europe, and this feeling has produced in Americans a supreme and traditional confidence in their own forms of government and democratic standards of life. Certainly their history contains much to justify the choice of their inst.i.tutions.

A hundred and twenty-five years ago, these colonies were a small nation of 2,500,000 people, occupying no more than the Atlantic coast of the continent. Great mountain chains divided them from the interior, which was overrun by the fiercest and most warlike type of man that the races have produced--the American Indian. With an energy which has shown no diminishing from generation to generation, the American broke through these mountain chains, subdued the wilderness, conquered the Indian tribes, and in the s.p.a.ce of three generations was master of the continent of North America.

Even while engaged in the War for Independence, the American frontiersman crossed the Appalachians and secured Kentucky and the Northwest Territory, and with them the richest and most productive regions of the Temperate Zone,--the Mississippi Valley. In 1803, the great empire of Louisiana, falling from the hand of France, was added to the American nation. In 1818, Florida was ceded by Spain, and in 1857, as a result of war with Mexico, came the Greater West and the Pacific seaboard. This vast dominion, nearly three thousand miles in width from east to west, has been peopled by natural increase and by immigration from Europe, until, at the end of the nineteenth century, the American nation numbered seventy-four million souls.

This development has taken place without fundamental change in the const.i.tution or form of government, without loss of individual liberty, and constantly increasing national prosperity. Moreover, the States have survived the Civil War, the most b.l.o.o.d.y and persistently fought war of all modern centuries--a war in which a million soldiers fell, and to sustain which three and a half billion dollars in gold were expended out of the national treasury. This war accomplished the abolition of negro slavery, the greatest economic revolution ever effected by a single blow.

Such in brief is the history of the American nation, so gifted with political intelligence, so driven by sleepless energy, so proud of its achievements, and inwardly so contemptuous of the more polished but less liberal life of the Old World. Europe has never understood this nation, and not until a few years ago did Europeans dream of its progress and its power.

Relation of the United States to South American Republics.--Toward the republics of Spanish America the United States has always stood in a peculiar relation. These countries achieved their independence of Spain under the inspiration of the success of the United States. Their governments were framed in imitation of the American, and in spite of the turbulence and disorder of their political life, the United States has always felt and manifested a strong sympathy for these states as fellow-republics. She has moreover pledged herself to the maintenance of their integrity against the attacks of European powers. This position of the United States in threatening with resistance the attempt of any European power to seize American territory is known as the Monroe Doctrine, because it was first declared by President Monroe in 1823.

Sympathy of American People for the Oppressed Cubans.--The fact that the American nation attained its own independence by revolution has made the American people give ready sympathy to the cause of the revolutionist. The people of Cuba, who made repeated ineffective struggles against Spanish sovereignty, always had the good wishes of the American people. By international usage, however, one nation may not recognize or a.s.sist revolutionists against a friendly power until their independence is practically effected.

Thus, when rebellion broke out afresh in Cuba in 1894, the United States government actively suppressed the lending of a.s.sistance to the Cubans, as was its duty, although the American people themselves heartily wished Cuba free. The war in Cuba dragged along for years and became more and more merciless. The pa.s.sions of Cubans and Spaniards were so inflamed that quarter was seldom given, and prisoners were not spared. Spain poured her troops into the island until there were 120,000 on Cuban soil, but the rebellion continued.

The Spanish have always been merciless in dealing with revolutionists. Americans, on the other hand, have always conceded the moral right of a people to resist oppressive government, and in the entire history of the United States there has scarcely been a single punishment for political crime. Although probably the fiercest war in history was the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865, there was not a single execution for treason. Thus the stories of the constant executions of political prisoners, on an island in sight of its own sh.o.r.es, greatly exasperated America, as did the policy of Governor-general Weyler, which was excessive in its severity.

War with Spain.--Destruction of the "Maine."--As the contest proceeded without sign of termination, the patience of the American people grew less. Then, February 15, 1898, occurred one of the most deplorable events of recent times. The American battleship "Maine," lying in the harbor of Havana, was, in the night, blown to destruction by mine or torpedo, killing 266 American officers and sailors. It is impossible to believe that so dastardly an act was done with the knowledge of the higher Spanish officials; but the American people rightly demanded that a government such as Spain maintained in Cuba, unable to prevent such an outrage upon the vessel of a friendly power, and that could neither suppress its rebellion nor wage war humanely, should cease.

Declaration of War.--On April 19th the American Congress demanded that Spain withdraw from the island and recognize the independence of Cuba. This was practically a declaration of war. Spain indignantly refused, and resolved upon resistance. Unfortunately, the ignorant European press claimed for Spain military and naval superiority.

The war was brief, and was an overwhelming disaster to Spain. Every vessel of her proud navy that came under the fire of American guns was destroyed.

For a few months battle raged along the coasts of Cuba, and then Spain sued for peace.

Dewey's Victory in Manila Bay.--But meanwhile the war, begun without the slightest reference to the Philippine Islands, had brought about surprising consequences here.

At the opening of the war, both Spain and the United States had squadrons in Asiatic waters. The Spanish fleet lay at Cavite, the American ships gathered at Hongkong. Immediately on the declaration of war, the American naval commander, Dewey, was ordered to destroy the Spanish fleet, which was feared on the Pacific coast of America. Dewey entered the Bay of Manila in darkness on the morning of May 1st, and made direct for the Spanish vessels at Cavite. His fleet was the more powerful and immeasurably the more efficient. In a few hours the Spanish navy was utterly destroyed and Manila lay at the mercy of his guns.

A New Insurrection, under Aguinaldo.--At this signal catastrophe to Spain, the smoldering insurrection in the Islands broke out afresh. The Spanish troops not in Manila were driven in upon their posts, and placed in a position of siege. The friars, so hated by the revolutionists, were captured in large numbers and were in some cases killed. With the permission and a.s.sistance of the American authorities, Aguinaldo returned from Singapore, and landed at Cavite. Here he immediately headed anew the Philippine insurrection.

Capture of Manila.--Troops were dispatched from San Francisco for the capture of Manila. By the end of July, 8,500 men lay in the transports off Cavite. They were landed at the little estuary of Paranaque, and advanced northwards upon Fort San Antonio and the defenses of Malate. The Spaniards behind the city's defenses, although outnumbering the Americans, were sick and dispirited. One attempt was made to drive back the invading army, but on the following day the Americans swept through the defenses and line of blockhouses, and Manila capitulated (August 13, 1898).

The Filipinos had scarcely partic.i.p.ated in the attack on the city, and they were excluded from occupying it after its surrender. This act was justified, because the Filipino forces had been very recently raised, the soldiers were undisciplined, and had they entered the city, with pa.s.sions as they were inflamed, it was feared by the Americans that their officers might not be able to keep them from looting and crime.

Misunderstanding between Americans and Filipinos.--Up to this point, the relations between the American and Filipino armies had been friendly. But here began that misunderstanding and distrust which for so many months were to alienate these two peoples and imbitter their intercourse.

Provisional Government of the Filipinos.--In the interval between the destruction of the Spanish fleet and the capture of Manila, the Filipinos in Cavite had organized a provisional government and proclaimed the independence of the archipelago.

American Ideas in Regard to the Philippines.--The idea of returning these islands to the Spanish power was exceedingly repugnant to American sentiment. Spain's att.i.tude toward revolutionists was well understood in America, and the Filipinos had acted as America's friends and allies. On the other hand, the American government was unwilling to turn over to the newly organized Filipino republic the government of the archipelago. It was felt in America, and with reason, that this Filipino government was not truly representative of all the people in the Philippines, that the Filipino leaders were untried men, and that the people themselves had not had political training and experience. The United States, having overthrown the Spanish government here, was under obligation to see that the government established in its place would represent all and do injustice to none. The Filipinos were very slightly known to Americans, but their educated cla.s.s was believed to be small and their political ability unproven. Thus, no a.s.surances were given to the Filipino leaders that their government would be recognized, or that their wishes would be consulted in the future of the Islands. In fact, these matters could be settled only by action of the American Congress, which was late in a.s.sembling and slow to act.

The Terms of Peace.--Spain and America were now negotiating terms of peace. These negotiations were conducted at Paris, and dragged on during many critical weeks. The Filipinos were naturally very much concerned over the outcome.