PRE-
COLONIAL and
COLONIZED
BIN ABDULLAH
The Pre-colonial
The pre-colonial period
broadly refers to the
span of time prior to
the introduction of
European colonialism
in areas across the
world.
Pre-colonial philippines
• The Philippines' pre-colonial period was filled with indigenous peoples
engaged in healthy trade with various cultures and economies in the
region and the foreign traders.
• The islands' precolonial period, during which indigenous peoples engaged
in healthy trade with various cultures and economies in the region,
gave way to a long colonial period, first under Spain for over 300 years,
and then under the United States, during which it came briefly under
Japanese occupation in World War II.
Pre-colonial Philippines Science and
Technology
•Science and Technology in Pre-Colonial Period in the Philippines Setting Pre-Colonial in the
Philippines started at 15th to 17th century. In the history of science and technology in the Philippines
there was few written information about Philippine society, culture and technology before the arrival
of Spaniards in 1521.
•According to these sources, the early Filipinos had attained a generally simple level of technological
development, compared with those of the Chinese and Japanese, but this was sufficient of their needs
at that period of time.
Based on the Philippine science history, even
before the colonization by the Spaniards in the
Philippines, the natives of the archipelago already
had practices to link to science and technology.
Filipinos already gained knowledge of the medical
and therapeutic properties of plants and the
methods of extracting medicine from herbs that is
known as herbal medicines in their time. They also
developed alphabet and number system which help
them in better communication. Filipinos were
already engaged in farming activities, like planting
wheat and crops, shipbuilding for transportation,
mining and weaving which they created our first
clothes called “baro’t saya”
In the Pre-Spanish Era, Filipinos had already
engaged in the field of engineering where
Banaue Rice Terraces located at Ifugao is one of
the best product they developed during that
time. In addition, the colonization of the
Philippines contributed to growth the science
and technology field. The Spanish introduced
formal education and founded scientific
institution. During the early years of Spanish
rule in the Philippines, Parish schools were
established where religion, reading, writing,
arithmetic and music was taught. Sanitation and
more advance methods of agriculture was
taught to the early Filipinos which help them to
improve their agricultural land.
Even before the colonization by the Spaniards
in the Philippine islands, the natives of the
archipelago already had practices linked to
science and technology. Filipinos were already
aware of the medicinal and therapeutic
properties of plants and the methods of
extracting medicine from herbs. They already
had an alphabet, number system, a weighing
and measuring system and a calendar. Filipinos
were already engaged in farming, shipbuilding,
mining and weaving.
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription shows the
use of mathematics in precolonial Philippine
societies. A standard system of weights and
measures is demonstrated by the use of precise
measurement for gold, and familiarity with
rudimentary astronomy is shown by fixing the
precise day within the month in relation to the
phases of the moon.
Shipbuilding showed geometric thinking and
mastery of convexity, concavity, and the proper
proportion between ship breadth and length to
ensure sailing efficiency. The practice of
constructing as much as twelve ships and boats
to fit inside each other, not unlike matryoshka
dolls containing each other, can be interpreted
as large three-dimensional wooden
demonstration of sets, subsets, volumes, and
ordinality
Colonized Philippines
•The Spanish colonial period of the Philippines began when explorer Ferdinand Magellan came to the islands in
1521 and claimed it as a colony for the Spanish Empire. The period lasted until the Philippine Revolution in
1898
•The first recorded visit by Europeans is Ferdinand Magellan's expedition who landed in Homonhon Island, now
part of Guiuan, Eastern Samar on March 17, 1521. They lost a battle against the army of Lapulapu, chief of
Mactan, where Magellan was killed.
•Spanish rule ended in 1898 with Spain's defeat in the Spanish–American War. The Philippines then became a
territory of the United States. U.S. forces suppressed a revolution led by Emilio Aguinaldo. The United States
established the Insular Government to rule the Philippines. In 1907, the elected Philippine Assembly was set up
with popular elections. The U.S. promised independence in the Jones Act.[21] The Philippine Commonwealth
was established in 1935, as a 10-year interim step prior to full independence. However, in 1942 during World
War II, Japan occupied the Philippines. The U.S. military overpowered the Japanese in 1945. The Treaty of
Manila in 1946 established the independent Philippine Republic .
Colonized Philippines Science and Technology
•The colonization of the Philippines contributed to growth of science
and technology in the archipelago. The Spanish introduced formal
education and founded scientific institution. During the early years of
Spanish rule in the Philippines. Parish schools were established where
religion, reading, writing, arithmetic and music was taught. Sanitation
and more advanced methods of agriculture was taught to the natives.
Later the Spanish established colleges and universities in the
archipelago including the University of Santo Tomas.
Accounts by Spanish friars in the 1580s showed
that astronomy was already known and
practiced. The accounts also give the local
names of constellations, such as Moroporo for
the Pleiades and Balatik for Ursa Major among
others.
In 1687, Isaac Newton included an explicit
reference to the Philippines in his classic
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
by mentioning Leuconia, the ancient Ptolemaic
name for the Philippines
The study of medicine in the Philippines was
given priority in the Spanish era, especially in
the later years. The Spanish also contributed to
the field of engineering in the islands by
constructing government buildings, churches,
roads, bridges and forts. Biology is given focus.
Contributors to science in the archipelago
during the 19th century were botanists, Fr.
Ignacio Mercado., Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera
and Dr. Leon Ma Guerrero, chemist Anaclento
del Rosario, and medicine scholars Dr. Manuel
Guerrero, Dr, Jose Montes and Dr. Elrodario
Mercado
The Galleon Trade have accounted in the
Philippine colonial economy. Trade was given
more focus by the Spaniard colonial authorities
due to the prospects of big profits. Agriculture
and industrial development on the other hand
were relatively neglected. The opening of the
Suez Canal saw the influx of European visitors
to the Spanish colony and some Filipinos were
able to study in Europe who were probably
influenced by the rapid development of
scientific ideals brought by the Age of
Enlightenment
During the Spanish Regime The beginnings of modern science and
technology in the Philippines can be traced to the Spanish regime. The
Spaniards established schools, hospitals and started scientific research
and these had important consequences for the rise of the country's
professions. But the direction and pace of development of science and
technology were greatly shaped by the role of the religious orders in
the conquest and colonization of the archipelago and by economic and
trade adopted by the colonial government. The interaction of these
forces and the resulting socio-economic and political changes must,
therefore, be analyzed in presenting a history of science and technology
in the Philippines
Spanish conquest and the colonization of the archipelago was greatly facilitated by
the adoption of an essentially religious strategy which had earlier been successfully
used in Latin America. Known as reduccion, it required the consolidation of the far-
flung, scattered barangay communities into fewer, larger and more compact
settlements within the hearing distance of the church bells. This was a necessary
response to the initial shortage of Spanish missionaries in the Philippines. This policy
was carried out by a combination of religious conversion and military force. The net
result of reduccion was the creation of towns and the foundation of the present
system of local government. The precolonial ruling class, the datus, and their
hereditary successors, were adopted by the Spanish colonial government into this
new system to serve as the heads of the lowest level of local government; i.e. as
cabezas de barangay. The colonial authorities found the new set-up expeditious for
establishing centralized political control over the archipelago -- for the imposition
and collection of the tribute tax, enforcement of compulsory labor services among
the native Filipinos, and implementation of the compulsory sale of local products to
the government.
The Filipinos naturally resisted reduccion as it took them away from
their rice fields, the streams and the forests which were their
traditional sources of livelihood and also subjected them to the onerous
economic exactions by the colonial government. Thus the first century
of Spanish rule brought about serious socio-economic dislocation and a
decline in agricultural production and traditional crafts in many places.
In the region surrounding the walled city of Manila, Filipinos migrated
from their barangays to the city in order to serve in the convents and
thus avoid the compulsory labor services in the shipyards and forests.
22 Over the centuries, this population movement would greatly
contribute to the congestion of Manila and its suburbs. The religious
orders likewise played a major role in the establishment of the colonial
educational system.
END OF DISCUSSION OF THE PRE-COLONIZATION
and COLONIZED PHILIPPINES
