Posted on 09/15/2022 5:36:50 PM PDT by nickcarraway
WITH the recent death of Queen Elizabeth 2nd at the age of 96, I saw a few scattered social media posts discussing the brief "British Interlude in Manila" from 1762 to 1765. Of these, I encountered a few that imagined how the archipelago would have turned out had the British booted the Spanish out of the colony for good. Even as a counterfactual, this daydream would not pass.
One thing needs to be emphasized, based on the studies of scholars on the subject: the British had no intention of seizing and taking the Philippines away from Spain.
Historian Nicholas Tracy is quick to clarify that "British interest in the Philippines was a result of frustrations associated with the development of trade with China." To summarize, Britain wanted greater involvement in the lucrative Chinese trade, which the Spanish dominated early through the Galleon Trade. The East India Company was limited in its commerce to the southern Chinese port of Canton and had to pay for the goods using silver which could be obtained from the Spanish in Manila. Moreover, they could not deal directly with Manila and had to use Indian middlemen to transact with Chinese merchants outside of Manila.
Even then the Spanish authorities were fearful of growing Chinese influence in the Philippines and were seeking to curb their growing numbers in the colony through various means.
By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. An audacious alternative to the troublesome situation was hatched by Alexander Dalrymple in 1759 when he forged commercial relations with the Sultanate of Sulu. According to Tracy:
"Dalrymple hoped to establish an entrepôt in Sulu where northern Chinese merchants could bring their silks and chinaware, thereby circumventing the restrictions on foreign trade at Canton, and replacing Spanish silver with English manufactures as the means of financing the trade. A colony of Chinese would also be planted to produce Suluan goods for the English market."
However, the political situation in the Muslim south was extremely fluid during this time. According to Cesar Adib Majul, the "Moro Wars" between the Muslims and the Spaniards had reached a fifth stage beginning after the Iberians returned to refortify Zamboanga in 1718. Spanish-Muslim relations were quite complicated at that stage. Both sides expressed interest in peace but were eager to exploit any weaknesses on the other side. Conflict often erupted between the parties, such as the infamous siege on the Zamboanga fort in 1721. The Muslims were also eager to involve the Dutch in Batavia (Jakarta) against the Spaniards. Internal conflict among the Muslims, usually stemming from succession issues, also contributed to the instability.
The situation of Sulu Sultan Azim-ud-Din (Alim-ud-Din in other sources) typified this predicament: in 1742 he asked for Spanish assistance to fend off the challenge coming from his relatives. In exchange for Spanish support, Azim-ud-Din acceded to the presence of Christian missionaries in his domain as well as commercial and security agreements with the Spaniards. He was baptized as a Christian on April 28, 1750. Yet when Spanish Governor Francisco Jose de Ovando asked him in 1751 to write a letter to his supporters, instructing them to accept the Christian missionaries and release their Christian captives, Azim-ud-Din wrote a secret letter to Maguindanao Sultan Amir-ud-Din Hamza intimating that the letter was written under duress. Azim-ud-Din was arrested and imprisoned for many years because of that letter and was only released by the British in 1762.
Dalrymple secured a provisional treaty with the Sulu sultan in 1761 and was advancing his agenda when news of Spanish involvement in the Seven Years' War broke. (King Charles 3rd of Spain entered into the so-called Family Compact with fellow Bourbon monarch Louis 15th of France in the war against the British).
Col. William Draper enthusiastically pushed for taking over Manila as an entrepot for British trade in Asia using the war as a pretext. Draper pitched his plan to Lord Egremont, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Admiral Anson, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Anson himself hatched a similar plan to attack Havana (Cuba). He approached Laurance Sullivan, chairman of the East India Company, to endorse Draper's proposed expedition. (British presence in India and elsewhere in Asia was through the auspices of the East India Company.) Egremont officially introduced the Draper plan and the court of the East India Company gave its assent.
It is hard to imagine the Philippines being a British colony in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War that led to a brief occupation of Manila in 1762. The British were not interested in occupying the entire archipelago. They were drawn only because of Manila's central role in the Chinese trade. Seizing a colony was completely unnecessary. Besides, the Galleon Trade ceased to operate by 1815 after the Europeans (including the British) landed commercial bases in China itself, finally bypassing entrepots like Manila.
Bookmark
Everyone there is mixed they’ll say. If they’re gonna be dominated it’s best if it’s the US. They’ve had experience with the Spanish and Japanese-not good. The population is 15% ethnic Chinese. They are the merchant class and rub the country.
(Dalrymple)
Blossom is on Thursday night?
Who knew they had email in 1759!
Counterhistorical speculations are pretty meaningless, sorry.
My in-law is Filipina and our company has a subsidiary there so I head there for both personal and business reasons. 400 + years of being occupied by the Spanish (and unlike south americans—they DONT SPEAK SPANISH but Tagalog), Americans and Japanese.
time travel alert!
(Who knew they had email in 1759!)
The people in 1760.
Duh 😜
She’s like a scientist!
And boy was she cute, too
Well, her and .... the tractor 🚜 girl, but.....
After 35+ years of listening to my Filipino in-laws speak Tagalog, there are a lot of mangled Spanish words and phrases in their language. Some English is also mixed in too.
For a while, yes. But...
The Spanish left behind a lot of bad influences (as with many other Hispanic countries) that resurfaced after the US granted Independence. Philippines after independence was often lauded as the “Tiger of the Pacific” and expected to dominate, instead it economically and politically rotted. Compare to the success of Singapore (wow!), and, for that matter, but not quite so spectacularly, Malaysia, which is actually not doing too badly.
Don’t get me wrong - my wife is a Filipina and in general I love the people!
It’s interesting. One thing that the Philippines seems to have in spades is a willingness to overlook corruption. How man yof their disgraced leaders and insurgents have returned to power after short stints in prison? I mean, look who’s the president today! I’m not sure you can say that’s a relic of Spanish rule. India is much the same way in terms of corruption embedded into the political culture.
” Spanish words and phrases in their language.”
That’s true. 400 years of occupation does that to a population lol. Mesa, silya, kotse, etc. But “lunch” is not comida (spanish) . In Tagalog it’s “tanghalian”. Or instead of “quanto” (soanish for how much), oit’s “magkano”. There are discrepancies..
“One thing that the Philippines seems to have in spades is a willingness to overlook corruption.”
Oh gawd, 100% true. ANYTHING can be bought. My Fil sis-in law ‘s family does NOT line-up at the govt / city hall if they want something or documents.
“One thing that the Philippines seems to have in spades is a willingness to overlook corruption.”
Oh gawd, 100% true. ANYTHING can be bought. My Fil sis-in law ‘s family does NOT line-up at the govt / city hall if they want something or documents.
When we were in Manila meeting their family, my new brother in law got caught at a red light intersection by a cop. He just inserted 100 pesos into his drivers license sleeve when the cop asked for it. Thew the cop returned with his license saying “don’t do that again” (in tagalog). The money was gone.
-—One thing that the Philippines seems to have in spades is a willingness to overlook corruption-—
Sort of like Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York.
One wonders is Bong Bong is more corrupt than American President Joe Biden?
LOL! Dude you’re funny.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.