Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Paths of History







Indo-Malays and Chinese merchants inhabited the islands before the discovery in 1521 by Spanish travelers led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. They named the archipelago Felipinas after Spain’s Philip II.

The Spanish conquistadors introduced Christianity to the Philippines. They saw the islands an ideal hub for commerce with Manila and Cebu as strategic trading ports. The seat of government was first established in Cebu and later moved to Manila in 1571. Spanish colonization lasted from the 16th to the 19th century, or 333 years, and was marked by a series of uprisings.

The Filipinos waged Asia’s first nationalist revolution in 1896 and won their independence from Spain on 12 June 1898.

The Americans came after the Spanish left and introduced their educational and legal systems as well as their democratic from of government. The Americans ruled for 48 years until World War II broke out in 1941 and the Japanese annexed the Philippines for 4 years. The US forces returned to liberate the Filipinos and on 04 July 1946, the Americans finally recognized Philippine Independence.

0 comments:

Post a Comment