Lesson 2

Page 6-9

The World In Dr. Rizal’s Time

The Event and Important Changes of the 18th and 19th Centuries:

1. The march of imperialism.

Imperialism – the activity of a nation in extending its control and authority beyond its territorial
boundaries through the acquisition of new territories; the desire of civilized nations to rule over the
“weak nations.”

Specific Events:

 The Opening of the Suez Canal;

 The Voyages and Subsequent Colonization by the British, French, Russians etc;
 America’s Territorial Expansion and growth as a world power;
 Territorial disputes (such as the Spanish-German Dispute Over the Caroline Is.);

Primary Reasons for colonization:

 Economic - secure raw materials, markets for finished products, additional food supplies,
outlets for surplus population, investment for surplus capital;
 Political - national defense; additional territories;
 Religious – spread particular religion.

Techniques used:

1. Engage in business
2. Political control to protect economic interest

Benefits brought about by colonization:

sanitation, education, transportation, communication, improved way of living,

government,
recreation, enriched culture.

Bad effects of colonization:

exploitation of natural resources, progress is held back, racial discrimination

2. The nations struggle for Nationalism

Nationalism is a feeling of oneness by a group of people who believe that they possess
common traditions, culture and common ideals and goals (Capino).

Two major struggles for freedom that influenced the thinking of other nations:

 American Revolution (1775-1783), which led to the independence of the

Americans from Great Britain;
 French Revolution (1779-1789) which abolished absolutism and feudal privileges
for the French.

Other struggles for independence:

  In 1805, the Norwegians gained independence from Sweden;
 In 1830, the Greeks gained independence from the Turks;
 In 1861, Italy became a free and united nation from the Austrians and French except for
Rome (Capital City) which was under the Pope and Venetia;
 In 1867, Canada became a self-governing nation;
 Mexico was conquered but fought for independence and later on elected the first
Mexican of pure Indian blood, Benito Juarez, as President;
 The Revolt of and Spain’s loss of her Latin American Colonies (1800-1825):
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
 On July 8, 1853, American Commodore Matthew C. Perry re-opened Japan to the world
after a 214 year seclusion under the Shogunate (1639-1853). It ended Japan’s Isolation
 Japan’s War against China and Russia
 1871-Germany, under Otto Von Bismarck, known as “the Iron Chancellor”, defeated
France in the Franco-Prussian war;
 February 17, 1872-unjust execution of Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and
Jacinto Zamora

3.The gradual spread of democracy and the fight for human rights and fundamental
freedoms.

Major World Events:

 Feb. 19, 1861(4 months before birth of Rizal) Czar Alexander II of Russia
issued a proclamation emancipating 22,500 serfs (slaves);
 Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. On September 22, 1862, President Abraham
Lincoln issued his emancipation proclamation freeing the Negro slaves.

Advances for democracy:

 Right to vote (suffrage);

 Reforms (political) systems such as referendum and initiative;
 Cabinet systems (House of Commons and Lords);
 Abolition of slavery;
 Public education was provided in many parts of the world.

4. The modernization of living through the Industrial Revolution

 Mode of production changed from hand work to machine work;

 From domestic system to factory system.

Positive Effects brought by the changes:

 Machines (such as the spinning jenny, cotton gin, and sewing machine) hastened the
revolution in manufacturing;
 Establishment of factories;
 The use of steel, discovery of oil, gasoline, and electricity, and invention of the internal
combustion engine heralded the advent of the motorized age;
 The revolution in transportation (steam boats, locomotives, airplanes, etc) and
Communication (telephone, telegraph, and cable facilities enabled man to conquer time and
 distance;
 Increased demands for raw materials and markets for finished products;
 Increase in employment and national income;
 Improved the standard of living;
 Improvement in medicine and public hygiene;
 Nationalism was stimulated, the modern means of communication and transportation
brought the people close to each other; they began to realize their common problems and
aspirations and the need to solve these problems and attain their goals;
 Increase in population;

Negative Effects brought by the changes:

 Dispute between labor and capital;

 Ruin of the domestic systems of production;
 Exploitation of the working class;
 The employment of child or woman laborers;
 Concentration of wealth in the hands of a few capitalists.

Responses to the Problems brought by the Industrial Revolution:

A. The adoption of the laissez-faire policy;

B. Early socialists responded by proposing gradual and peaceful methods of reforms

for they
believed that for as long as capitalists controlled the economic life of the
people, there could be no democracy;

C. Marx responded by advocating revolutionary communism for he believed that only

a violent
revolution could improve the lot of working men;

D. The Catholic Church reacted by advocating Christian principles announced by

Pope Leo XIII
in Rerum Novarum (The Conditions of Labor):

1. Rights must be religiously respected;

2. It is the duty of public authority to prevent and punish injury;
3.The poor and the helpless have claim to a special consideration whenever there is a
question of
protecting the rights of individuals;
5.Since private property is as universal as human nature, the state has the right to
regulate the use
of private property and to protect it;
6.The preservation of life is the bounden duty of each and all members of society.
The worker is
entitled to a just and decent living wage which will enable him to live in
reasonable
comfort as a human being, to develop his faculties, and to attain his ultimate
goal in life;
7. The state has the duty to provide favorable working conditions; and
8. The workers have the right to form unions.

5. The advance of science.

 Many used systematized experimentation to discover things and about the facts of nature;
 Researches were funded;
  Chemistry or Physics were greatly enhanced;
 Medical science improved dramatically;
 Natural sciences brought new understanding of the world and the place of man in it;
 Gave man longer life span
Louis Pasteur discovered that germs caused diseases
Robert Koch discovered the cause of anthrax; developed a method of inoculation for
prevention
Joseph Lister introduced antiseptics to prevent infection; introduced the use of anesthetics
Crawford Long introduced anesthetic properties of ether in surgery
William Morton was the first to use ether in tooth extraction
James Simpson was the first to use chloroform

6. The new current in the movement of thought and the growing confidence on progress.

Modern philosophy came to a close around the end of the 18th and 19th centuries and upon
its end began contemporary philosophy that is characterized by political and religious
outlooks. Many political thinkers emerged brought about by changes then taking place in
Europe. Among these thoughts was the deviation from the divine right theory, which was the
basis of absolute monarchies in Europe and in Asia. Foremost among the proponents of these
new political ideologies were: John Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Charles Darwin, Hobbes,
Bakunin, Marx, and Edmund Burke. Exposed to their writings and teachings, Rizal (1861-
1896) developed his own philosophy and political thoughts. Europe became his social and
political laboratory while his countrymen the Indios, as referred to by the Spanish community
became his patients. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 allowed liberal ideas to flow into
the archipelago. Among others were the ideas of the French revolution, anti-clericalism,
secularism and nationalism. The socio-economic and political conditions provide a fertile
ground in the country for the seeds of revolution to flourish.
The Industrial Revolution brought unprecedented economic progress around the world,
and with this, the confidence that things are becoming better.

The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These
nations have progressed in this sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to
liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to
complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from
dependency back again to bondage.

--Alexander Tyler 1770, Cycle of

Democracy
Points to ponder:

1. Are changes in the life of a nation inevitable?

2. Why is nationalism a desirable national goal?
3. Is industrialization good for a nation? Does it have pitfalls?
4. How could changes like the ones listed above affect a person?

Readings:
Seeds of Revolution. By Daquila pp. 9-13.
Rizal’s Life, Works and Writings. Capino, pp. 1-9.