Abstract
This chapter situates the life of Jose Rizal. First, it examines the origins of Philippine liberalism in the creole intellectuals of the late eighteenth century/early nineteenth century. It explains how these creoles, inspired by the French Revolution and other liberal movements in Europe, articulated the broad contours of the propaganda movement that Rizal would lead in the nineteenth century. Second, it provides an overview of the political and economic changes in the Philippines during the late nineteenth century. It was a period of economic growth and political stagnation, creating a revolutionary atmosphere that would form not only the ideas of Rizal but also the Philippine Revolution of 1896. It ends with a brief biography of Rizal.
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Notes
- 1.
The category “creole,” as we shall see, was more slippery in the Philippines. Unlike Latin America, there were fewer “pure” Spaniards in the Philippines, so creoles tended to marry more with the native “indio” population. Their offspring, however, continued to identify as “creoles” and were often associated with a form of liberal/nationalist politics known as “criollismo.” Nevertheless, Filipino creoles, like their American counterparts, became key figures in their country’s early nationalism.
- 2.
It is not surprising that these same provinces would rise up in revolt in 1896.
- 3.
Due to the introductory nature of this volume and the fact that it focuses on Rizal’s political thought, I will not be unable to devote much space to this historical/ethnological work. Interested readers may refer to the work of Filomeno Aguilar (2005), which remains the best critical examination of Rizal’s annotation of Morga’s work.
- 4.
Rizal’s struggles are similar to many present-day Filipino intellectuals who are more comfortable with English than Tagalog. See Ocampo, 1992, for an account of Rizal’s incomplete third novel.
- 5.
As we shall see in the next chapter, this repudiation became the basis for radical historians to dismiss Rizal as a reformist critic of revolution. It is clear, however, that Rizal’s primary objection centered on viability and not principle.
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Claudio, L.E. (2019). Creolism and the Liberal Nineteenth Century. In: Jose Rizal. Global Political Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01316-5_1
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