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Manila,
Luzon
 Themes
Regions
More
Information
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The Spanish colonial
period
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Resistance of the locals
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Wall
of Intramuros in Manila, a remnant of the Spanish colonial period
Picture
© delacova
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After
the Spaniards succeeded in 1556 to break the last good organized
resistance, a long period of Spanish influence followed.
The
Spaniards ruled the country, brought the Christian religion to the country and
were responsible for a lot of colonial
and religious buildings throughout the country.
The results can still be seen
in places as for instance Cebu City and Manila.
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Revolts
against the colonizers
The Spanish colonial period
wasn't without resistance of the Filipinos. On the contrary. There was a
succession of revolts against the European colonizers. Aguinaldo was the great leader of the big
revolt of 1896. However, the Filipino rebels
didn't succeed to defeat the armed Spaniards at that time. A helping hand came a
few years later from the Americans.
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Liberty,
brought by the Americans?
At the end of the nineteenth century, on April
25,1898, the United States declared war on Spain. The main reason was that the U.S. battle ship Main was blown up in the harbor of Havana. The United States thought Spain blew up this ship with a mine. (However, it was proved that the Main blew up due to coal dust). The American navy decided to attack the Spanish fleet in
the Philippine waters. The battle took place in Manila Bay. On May 1 in 1898 the Spanish
fleet was destroyed. After 327 years under Spanish rule,
the Philippine people thought that they won independence at last. The Americans
however, thought quit different about that at that time. |
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Aguinaldo |
The
Philippines, sold for a amount of less than 20 million dollars After the end of the American-Spanish war in
1898, the Spaniards sold the Philippines and other colonial properties for 20 million dollar to the Americans.
Aguinaldo didn't want to accept American rule and proclaimed the first Philippine Republic. The
Americans decided that the Filipinos were not yet capable to be independent. A
hostile period started. The United States needed more than 125.000 soldiers to
subdue the Philippines. The Philippine rebels were forced to retreat and were driven
into northern Luzon. From here they started a guerrilla.
This "Philippine War of Independence" continued for two years and
ended when Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901.
Only sporadic
resistance continued until 1903. |
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