Filipino Nationalism - Further Progress of Filipino Nationalism (1820s-1860)

Further Progress of Filipino Nationalism (1820s-1860)

At this stage, the Creoles slowly introduced their own reforms. Parishes began to have native priests at the time of Archbishop Sancho. The Philippines was given representation in the Spanish Cortes three times (last time was from 1836–1837). However, on June 1, 1823, a Creole revolt broke out in Manila led by the Mexican-blood Creole captain Andres Novales. The revolt, caused by an order from Spain that declared military officers commissioned in the Peninsula (Spain) should outrank all those appointed in the Colonies, saw Manila cheering with Novales's cry of "Viva la Independencia" (English: Long Live Independence). The revolt prompted the government to deport Varela together with other Creoles, after being associated with the Creole reformists. The Novales Revolt would soon be followed by another Creole plot of secession known as the Palmero Conspiracy, which was caused by the replacement of Creole public officials, especially provincial governors, with Peninsulars.

Economic developments also did a part in making up the shape of Filipino Nationalism. Before the opening of Manila to foreign trade, the Spanish authorities discouraged foreign merchants from residing in the colony and engaging in business. In 1823, Governor-General Mariano Ricafort promulgated an edict prohibiting foreign merchants from engaging in retail trade and visiting the provinces for purposes of trade. However, by the royal decree of September 6, 1834, the privileges of the Company were abolished and the port of Manila was opened to trade.

Shortly after opening Manila to world trade, the Spanish merchants began to lose their commercial supremacy in the Philippines. In 1834, restrictions against foreign traders were relaxed when Manila became an open port. By the end of 1859, there were 15 foreign firms in Manila: seven of which are British, three are American, two French, two Swiss and one German. In response to Sinibaldo de Mas' recommendations, more ports were opened by Spain to world trade. The ports of Sual, Pangasinan, Iloilo and Zamboanga were opened in 1855. Cebu was opened in 1860, Legazpi and Tacloban in 1873. Like Japan that rushed into modernization and national transformation during the Meiji Restoration, the Philippines and its people saw that the Spanish and its government is not as invincible as it was two centuries before. The Indios and the Creoles became more influenced by foreign ideas of liberalism as the Philippines became more open to foreigners. Foreigners who visited the Philippines had noticed the speed of the circulation of the ideas of Voltaire and Thomas Paine. Songs about liberty and equality were also being sung at the time. Some Spanish who foresaw a "fast verging" Indio takeover of the archipelago began to send money out of the Philippines.