The Impact of Colonies on the Philippines Free Essay Example

Looking back, it agonize us to see how other countries have tried to invade our country, the Philippines. There is a lot of tension that occurred before and due to these circumstances, we were easily attached to their culture and habits. Today as Filipinos, we are living now in the age wherein we are influenced already by different countries who colonized us. We can see these in our language, our traditions, and even in our foods. Though it is hard to turn it back the way we, Filipinos, used to live before, we embrace now the culture we have learned from them.

What transpires us to live today and tomorrow is the legacy of the past that take us to whom, to what and to where we are now.

The legacy of the Philippines began during the arrival of Magellan in 1521 then followed by different expeditions. It was also Ferdinand Magellan who led the voyage of the Spaniards here in our country.

Expeditions led to many discoveries which later became the reason of giving name to the Islands of our country. La Islas Filipinas was the named given by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. It was followed by the successful expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi with almost 500 Spaniards to colonize the country.

The Spanish regime starts off with the friars. The one that pilot the expedition of Legazpi to retrace the route of the path to Philippines was one by Friar Andres de Urdaneta. Then, in the Philippines, Bishop Domingo de Salazar prohibits the enslavement of Filipinos in accordance to the Dominican Doctrine.

The friars together with Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his few men, are the ones who initiated the exploration ang invasion of the Philippines. This task was not easy because of the location of the houses. Ethnics are hard to reach and live in a small group. 300 years passed, and the friars deeds show some good acts but there are also a lot of horrendous acts which somehow the reason of Rizal’s execution.

Dr. Jose Rizal was well-known for being the national hero of our country, the Philippines. He was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna. One of the children of Dona Teodora Alonzo and Don Francisco Mercado. He is not only admired for his brilliance intelligence but for his compassion towards Filipino people and for the country. He is an outstanding student garnering different titles for his various written works like poetries. He is also a man of passion and determination because of having multiple professions. He had been very vocal against Spanish government.

For him, “the pen was mightier than the sword”, that’s why he chose to expose the wrongdoings of the Spaniards through his writings. Among his writings, the two novels stood out from the rest- Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These two novels harshly criticized the Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines and became also the reason of Rizal’s execution. Days before the execution, Rizal’s bid farewell to his motherland through his writing entitled “Mi Ultimo Adios”. He was executed on December 30, 1896 in Bagumbayan.

Many people wants a real foundation of studies about the things and questions that bear up their mind especially when it comes to our national hero. There were many questions existing like how Rizal became our national hero. There were two books from the mid-19th century that will eventually give information and could particularly answer the questions in the mind of the Filipinos.

Leon Maria Ignacio Agapito Guerrero y Francisco was born on March 4, 1915. He is the writer of the book “The First Filipino” which deals with Rizal’s life and experiences while he is still alive. He studied at the same school where Rizal studied. His written work about Rizal’s life is much different from other writers because the way he writes presents Rizal’s real work whether it is good or not at the time they are involved.

On the other hand, Austin Coates was the author of the book, “Rizal”. He was born in London in 1922. He was a guest of the Philippine government at the International Congress on Rizal, held at manila in 1961. Being the Assistant Colonial Secretary in Hongkong, he decided to make a study about the life of Rizal especially Rizal’s stay in the colony.

These two books were serve to enlighten the mind of the Filipinos and to give appropriate information about the national hero. With this, we will learn to view, see and accept Rizal as a normal human being and not as a saint. This paper will measure the analyzing skills of the writer and from it we will able to prevent all the controversies in the history of the national hero. Issues about him will then be prove if they are true or just an speculation of Filipinos.

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