THE CONSTITUTION OF 1812.
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.
[Illustration:
A MODERN WAR SHIP.
]
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.
[Illustration:
KING FERDINAND VII.
]
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.
[Illustration:
A STREET IN MANILA.
]
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?
[Illustration]