HUE UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES

------

TRAN THI QUE CHAU

SPAIN’S “CLOSED-DOOR” AND “OPEN-DOOR”

POLICIES IN THE PHILIPPINE COLONY

FROM THE LATE SIXTEENTH TO THE LATE

NINETEENTH CENTURY

Major: World History

Code: 62 22 03 11

SUMMARY OF HISTORY PH.D DISSERTATION

HUE, 2018

The dissertation completed at: Hue University of Science

Academic Supervisors: Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Van Chuong

Hue University of Education, Hue University

Reviewer 1: ……………………………

Reviewer 2: ……………………………

Reviewer 3: ……………………………

The dissertation will be defended at Council of Dissertation

Assessment, Hue University

Time: ………… date …… month …… year 2018

The dissertation could be found at:

- Library of Hue University of Sicience

- Vietnamese National Library

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 1. Significance of the research ................................................................................. 1 2. Research aim and research Objective ................................................................. 3 3. Subjects and scope of the research ...................................................................... 3 4. Material Sources ................................................................................................... 5 5. Methodology and Research Methods ................................................................. 5 6. Contributions of Dissertation ............................................................................... 6 7. Chapter Dissertation Structure ............................................................................. 6 CHAPTER ONE. OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH TOPIC ........... 7 1.1. Domestic researches ........................................................................................ 7 1.2. Foreign researches ........................................................................................... 8 1.3. Comment on research results and issues that the disertation needs to be

studied ..................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO. SPAIN’S “CLOSED-DOOR” POLICY IN

PHILIPPINE COLONY (1593-1762) ........................................... 12 2.1. The historical context of the formation of the “closed-door” plolicy ..... 12

2.1.1. The process of establishing Spanish rule in the Philippines

(1521-1571) ................................................................................... 12 2.1.2. Spain’s commercial policy in Philippine colony in the early

decades of domination ................................................................... 12 2.1.3. The rise of political security threats and the pressure of trade

competition .................................................................................... 13 2.1.4. Spain’s exclusive commercial tradition and the influence of

“Mercantilism” .............................................................................. 13 2.2. The content and implementation process of the "closed-door" policy ........ 14

2.2.1. Trade restriction and commercial monopoly policy ............ 14 2.2.2. The restrictive, strict control immigration policy ................ 15

CHAPTER THREE. FROM THE “LOOSENING OF CLOSED-

DOOR” TO SPAIN’S “OPEN-DOOR” POLICY IN

PHILIPPINE COLONY (1764-1898) ........................................... 15 3.1. Factors affectting the transformation of policy from "closed-door" to

"open-door" ............................................................................................................. 15 3.1.1. The ineffectiveness of monopoly management and the

decline of the Spanish empire in the 18th and 19th centuries ........ 15 3.1.2. The birth of new political and economic thought in Europe in

the 18th century ............................................................................. 16

3.1.3. The British invasion of Manila (1762-1764) and the

requirement for international trade restoration, maintaining Spanish

rule in the Philippines .................................................................... 16 3.2. The content and implementation process of the "open-door" policy ........... 16

3.2.1. The “loosing closed-door” policy (1764-1789) ................... 16 3.2.1. The “limitted open-door” policy (1789-1833) .................... 17 3.2.2. The “fully open-door” policy (1834-1898) ......................... 17

CHAPTER FOUR. COMMENTS ON THE SPAIN’S “CLOSED-

DOOR” AND “OPEN-DOOR” POLICIES IN THE

PHILIPPINE COLONY ................................................................ 18 4.1. The "closed-door" and "open-door" policies are the result of interactions

between internal factors and international and regional contexts. ....................... 18 4.2. Spain focused on political and religious objectives more than economic

interests .................................................................................................................... 19 4.3. There is a great gap between the enactment and

implementation of the "closed-door" policy in the Philippine

colony ............................................................................................... 19 4.4. The "closed-door" and "open-door" policy in the Philippine colony was in

the general "trajectory" of the Spanish empire ..................................................... 19 4.5. The Effect ......................................................................................................... 19

4.5.1. To Philippines ...................................................................... 19 4.5.2. To Spain ............................................................................... 19

CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 20 LIST OF RELATED RESEARCH PROJECTSPULISHED BY

AUTHOR .............................................................................................

1

INTRODUCTION

1. Significance of the research

Many people would probably be surprised to know that Europe at

the beginning of the fifteenth century was a stagnant and miserable

region, as they were recovering from the devastation of Black Death -

the pandemic halved the population. The Hundred Year’s War (1337-

1453) between England and France was ongoing. Some of the

kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula remained under the Muslim rule. The

most prosperous regions of Europe were actually only the northern

Italian cities such as Florence, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. The most

imaginative people couldn’t think that Europe would have rise to

dominate the world for the next four centuries. So how can Europe

conquer the great East empires, subdue Africa, America and Australia?

American scientist Jared Diamond in his 1999 essay entitled How to get

Rich explains: “On the Eastern plains of Eurasia, the oriental empires

were as stable as the agar choked every renewal; while at the western

edge with the rolling hills and divided by rivers, many monarches and

cities are take part in competition and creative interactions.”1 It is an

incomplete answer to great problem of history, but it must be admitted

that it is the deepest root.

The competition that led to the establishment of European

dominance was opened by the fierce rivalry between the two nations on

the Iberian Peninsula in the "Age of Discovery" at the end of the

fifteenth century. For the Europeans, finding new sea routes was not a

"flaunting power" but also to overcome other opponents both

economically and politically. It is a struggle for space or rather a

scramble for gold, spices among European nations. Although located in

the Far East, Southeast Asian countries were still drawn into the

vicissitudes of trade disputes and the colonization of the Portuguese and

Spanish pioneers.

On his journey to the East to find the way to the Spice Islands

Moluccas, Magellan set foot on the Philippine Islands in 1521. After 43

years of discovery and exploration, Spain formally invaded and annexed

1 Work Cited: Furguson, Nail (2017) (translated), Western Civilization and the

Rest of the World, Hong Duc Publishing House, p.51

2

the Philippines through the expedition of Lopez de Legazpi in 1564, and in

1571 Spain basically conquered the Philippines (except for Muslim

countries in the south).

Spain began to set up the government and take over all of the

Philippines' foreign relations parallel with the invasion. In the early

decades of dominance, in order to compete with its "neighbor" Portugal,

Spain pursued a policy of encouraging trade, attracting Asian merchants

to the Philippines. In the free trade environment, Manila flourished,

becoming the center of commerce between Asia and the Americas, was

known as the "Pearl of the Orient."

From the end of the sixteenth century, Spain turned to the "closed-

door" policy, isolating the Philippine colony. This policy was strictly

enforced through many measures such as limiting Philippine foreign

trade to other countries, making monopoly of production and

consumption many industrial goods, prohibiting foreign immigrant to

the Philippines. In the second half of the 18th century, Spain gradually

abandoned its "isolation policy”, turn into "open-door" policy in foreign

relations. The "open-door” have promoted Philippine economic

development, exports have increased and domestic products have

gradually replaced foreign goods. So, the questions here are why did

Spain apply two different policies in the process of ruling the

Philippines? The “closed-door” and "open-door” policies were due to

the Spanish’s subjective desire or objective factors? What were the

aims of Spain when implementing these policies? Is it for economic or

political or religious benefit? How were the aspects and levels of

implementation of such policies? And how did that affect to the

Philippines and Spain? Clarifying these questions, the dissertation will

contribute both scientific and practical aspects.

In terms of theory, the studying of Spain’s “closed-door” and

“open-door” policies will contribute to the deeper interpretation of

Spanish policies in the Philippine colony under the influence of internal

(Spain and Philippines) and external factors. Thereby, it helps us draw

the characteristics and effects of these policies for Spain and

Philippines. Simultaneously, the studying of this topic, we’ll get more

objective view of the similarities and differences in the "closed-door"

and "open-door" policies in Southeast Asian countries from the

sixteenth century to the nineteenth century.

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In terms of practice, clarifying the Spain’s "closed-door" and "open-

door" policies in Philippine colony will contribute to enriching the

"closed-door" - "open-door" pictures of the Asian era at the time facing

with the invasion of Western colonialism. That is a colonial state that

implements "closed-door" and "open-door" policies in a posession state.

That is the reason that I have chosen “Spain’s "closed-door" and

"open-door" policies in Philippine colony from the late sixteenth to the

late nineteenth century” as the topic of my dissertation to clarify the

feature and nature of Spanish policy in the Philippines in general,

foreign policy in particular, thereby contributing to the identification

and comparison Western’s colonial policy of in Southeast Asia as well

as in the world from the XVI to XIX century.

2. Research aim and research Objective

2.1. Research Objective

On the basis of systematizing the Spain’s "closed-door" and "open-

door" policies in the Philippine colony from the late 16th century to the

nineteenth century, the thesis will build a panorama picture and point out

the nature of Spanish’s rule and its impact on Spain and the Philippines.

2.2. Research aim

To accomplish the above goals, we will practice the following

basic tasks:

- Analyzing of the historical context and the main reason for the

conquest and the implementing "closed-door" and "open-door" policies

of Spain in the Philippine colony

- Clarifying the basic content of the Spain’s "closed-door" and

"open-door" policies in the Philippines (late 16th century - late 19th

century) on two main aspects that are trade and foreigner’s immigration

policies.

- Drawing on the characteristics of Spanish’s "closed-door" and

"open-door" policies in the Philippine colony.

- Analyzing the impacts, the consequences of these policies for

Spain and the Philippines during the studied period

3. Subjects and scope of the research

3.1. Subjects of the research

The thesis focuses on the Spain’s "closed-door" and "open-door"

policies in the Philippine colony for three centuries (from the late 16th

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century to the late 19th century). Therefore, in order to distinct define the

object of research we have to clarify two basic concepts of the thesis which

are "closed-door" and "open-door".

The "closed-door" policy is a scientific term has been applying in

studying of foreign relations in recent decades. However, until now, there

has not been a full definition of it. Through the works involving in “closed-

door” policy, we assume that its content is usually mentioned in three

aspects: political entities restrict trade and diplomatic relations with

external countries, control the issue of international migration strictly and

practice national affairs secretly. At certain historical periods, when each

nation faced with political, economic and security threats, this policy was

chosen as a measure to defend the nation's independence, such as Japan

(1639-1854), or the Nguyen Dynasty (Vietnam) in the nineteenth century.

The "open-door policy" has the opposite connotation of the "closed-

door" policy that political entities encourage other nations to establish

diplomatic, trade and investment relations with their own countries and

people can immigrant to your country freely.

From these understandings, to clarify the "closed-door" and "open-

door" policies, the thesis focuses on two major aspects of research that are

Spain’s trade policy and immigration policy in colonial Philippines from

the late 16th to the late nineteenth century.

3.2. Scope of the research

- In terms of time range, the dissertation studied almost completely the

period of Spanish domination in the Philippines from the late 16th century

to the late nineteenth century. In particular, we focus on the important

milestones as follows: The year 1593: the beginning of the “closed-door”

policy. The year 1764: the beginning of the transition from loosening

"closed-door" to the "open-door" policy of Spain in the Philippines. The

year 1789: the starting point for the colonial "open-door" policy.

- In terms of spatial scope, the dissertation focuses primarily on the

Philippine Islands (except for the Muslim areas in the south where was not

dominated by Spanish). In addition, due to this is a topic which related to

foreign affairs, we have always placed the Philippine colony in the

international, regional and national contexts, particularly the competition

for trade monopolies between Spain and Portugal, Holland, England,

America in Southeast Asia from the 16th to 19th century.

- In terms of content: During three centuries (1571-1898) ruled in

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the Philippines, Spain’s foreign policy could be divided into two major

phases: (1) 1593-1762 "closed-door" and isolated; and (2) 1789-1898

the policy of "open-door" and intergration. However, during the

research we found that the transition from the "closed-door" to "open-

door" policy actually underwent a period of "transition" (1764 to 1789).

Thus, we will present this content in the period before Spain officially

introduced the "open-door" policy in 1789.

4. Material Sources

In order to complete this thesis we have exploited and used the

following main material sources:

- Original document

Spanish Royal Ordinances, letter from Spanish Kings to officials in the

Philippines related colonial issues and vice versa; the records of European

astronauts on state status, residents, traders in the Philippines, notes by

President Antonio de Morga on the Philippine Islands' relations with other

countries in the region; Ordinance on the establishment of the Royal

Philippine Company in 1785 and the opening of the Manila to the Asian

countries under King Charles III (1759-1788).

- Secondary document

This is the material sources of Spanish, Filipino, English, Dutch

researchers (most of them have been translated into English). These are

monographs, articles published in specialized journals (mainly

PhilippineStudies), paper were presentated at scientific conferences. In

addition, there are doctoral theses, master theses that successfully

defended.

- Internet document: mainly e-book, e-journals specialized the

Philippines.

5. Methodology and Research Methods

5.1. Methodology

- Adopting the dialectical and materialist viewpoints of Marxism-

Leninism in analyzing and evaluating the contents, characteristics and

impacts of historical events.

- Philippines under Spanish rule participated as well as were

influenced by progress on international relations and tumults in traditional

relations between countries in the region, so we use a systematic

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perspective to review the issues presented in the thesis.

5.2. Research Methods

- As a historical theme, historical method which analyse the

relationship between historical events both in the same time and in the

history is the main line in the thesis. To a certain extent, other methods of

research such as logic, comparative method, statistical method, mapping

method are also applied.

- The "closed-door" and "open-door" policies are a system that is

organized by the various economic, political and social components, so the

dissertation focuses not only on analyzing policies in specific spheres, but

also on the interaction between components.

6. Contributions of Dissertation

- The dissertation is a study of Spanish rule in the Philippines in

general and foreign policy in particular with a new approach through the

two main phases "closed-door" and "open-door"

- The dissertation has pointed out and analyzed basic historical

events related to three major issues: (1) the causes led to the Spanish’s

"closed-door" and "open-door" policies in the Philippine colony; (2)

Specific policies on foreign trade and international migration in the

Philippines; (3) The characteristics and impact of such policies on the

Philippines and Spain.

7. Chapter Dissertation Structure

Apart from the introduction, conclusion, references and appendix,

the disertation is divided into 4 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1. Overview of research topic

Chapter 2. Spain's "closed-door" policy in the Philippine colony

(1593-1762)

Chapter 3. From the “loosening of closed-door" to Spain’s "open-

door" policy in the Philippine colony (1764-1898)

Chapter 4. Comments on the Spain’s "closed-door" and "open-

door" policies in the Philippine colony

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CHAPTER ONE. OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH TOPIC

1.1. Domestic researches

History of the Philippines in general and Philippine under Spanish

rule in particular has received the long-term attention from Vietnamese

scholars. The results of these works can be divided into three main

groups:

The first group: The works refer to the Philippine history and

culture

The work “History of the Philippines: From the fifteenth-the

sixteenth century to the year 1980” (1993) of Huynh Van Tong; the work

“History of the Philippines” (2007) by Cao Minh Chong; the works

“Understanding about Philippine history and culture”, volume 1 (1996) by

Duc Ninh and “Understanding about the Philippine history and culture”,

vol. 2 (2001) of the National Center for Social Sciences and Humanities -

South East Asia Institute. These are the works that study about Philippine

history written by chronological order so they have the advantage of being

systematic, referring to the Philippine situation from pre-Hispanic times, the

invasions of Spain, and Spain’s policies in Philippines. However, due to the

limited exploitation of material resources, each issue is presented in brief

paragraphes.

The second group: The works refer to the Spanish rule in the

Philippine colony

In the Southeast Asian journal, scattered in recent years, there have

several articles that suggest some aspects directly related to the topic. Such

as: Comparisons of Spanish and American rule in the Philippine colony by

Tran Khanh; Spain's Trade Restriction Policy in the Philippine Colony

(1593-1834) by Dang Van Chuong - Ha Thi Thom; Commercial Rivalry

and the establishment of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines in the

16th and 19th centuries of Bui Van Hao - Tran Khanh; The Entropot of

Manila (Philippines) during seventeenth-century; The Chinese in the

Philippines under the Spanish rule (1565-1898) of Duong Van Huy;

Manila and the silver flow of New World XVI-XVIII century of Hoang Anh

Tuan, Nguyen Minh Nguyet. These works helped to clarify Manila's

position in the Philippine trade and world trade in the sixteenth and

eighteenth centuries. Authors point out that, during this period, Manila was

a transit hub between the East Asian and American colonies through the

Manila galleon trade. In addition, these articles are initially mentioned the

8

Spain’s "closed-door" policy in the Philippine colony, most notably the

trade restrictions and discriminatory policies against the Chinese.

The third group: The works refer to the history of the Philippines

during the Spanish period in the overall view of Southeast Asia.

The work History of Southeast Asia (2005) by Luong Ninh (Chief

Editor) - Do Thanh Binh - Tran Thi Vinh; Southeast Asia in Colonialism

period and the National Liberation Movement (from the beginning of the

16th century to 1945) by Tran Khanh (Chief Editor). These two works have

also initially presented the process of invasion, the establishment of the rule

and the situation of the Philippines under Spanish domination in the whole of

Southeast Asia.

If the above two works see history of Southeast Asian as the main

research object, the work The Japan and Southeast Asia Relations in the

15th - 17th centuries (2003) by Nguyen Van Kim put the South-East Asian

countries in the Middle-Modern Period in relations with Japan. In this work,

there is an article entitled Japan- Philippines Relations in the 16th - 17th

centuries. This is one of the rare papers refer to the relationship of the

Philippines with other countries in the region under Spanish rule.

The colonization of Spain in the Philippines over three centuries has also

seen fierce competition with other Western powers (Portugal, the

Netherlands, England and France). This can be seen through some works of

author Le Thanh Thuy with title Trade integration in Southeast Asia from

the sixteenth to the nineteenth century (2007); The formation of the British

Empire in the East and the role of the British East India Company in the

17th - 19th centuries (2009); About the establishment of the British East

India Company in 1600 (2011). For the author, these studies are not only a

source of reference but also open up the direction and methodology in

analyzing the problems of the thesis.

1.2. Foreign researches

The presence of Spain in the Philippine archipelago in general and

Spanish foreign policy in particular has been studied by Asian, European

and American historians through over many periods with different aspects.

Group 1: Works refer to the colonial conquest and the economic-

political and social situation of the Spanish Empire in the context of

Europe from the 16th century to the nineteenth century

First of all, we have to mention about the "Introduction" works on

Spanish History such as Spain, A Modern History by Rhea Marsh Smith,

9

(1965) and A History of Spain by Charles E. Chapman, (1966) or Spain -

the thousand years of history by Spanish historian Antonio Dominguez

Ortiz, published by the World Publishing House in 2009. In addition to an

overview of the entire history of Spain according to the annals, these works

focused on the Spanish situation under the reign of Charles I (1516-1556),

Philip II (1556-1598) crisis and decline (1598-1700) and the Spanish

situation in the XVIII century.

The next are the works refer to Spanish history during the Imperial

period, such as Imperial Spain 1469-1716 by J. H. Elliot and Golden Age

Spain of Henry Kamen give an overview of the establishment of Spanish

autocracy in the late 15th century and the formation of the Spanish Empire

in the early 16th century. Among them, the authors focus on the causes that

led to the decline of the Spanish Empire in the second half of the 17th

century.

The works Modern diplomatic history (16th-18th centuries) by

V.Pochemkin (2001) and History of Capitalism from 1500 to 2000 of

Michel Beard (2002) (Chief Editor) give a macro view of the development

of capitalist countries. The authors argue that from the sixteenth century to

the nineteenth century, European countries were dominated by two

political economic ideas: mercantilism and liberalism. The works also stop

to analyzing the manifestation of the decline of Spain in the late sixteenth

century, the first half of the seventeenth century. The seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries were the period of decline of the Spanish empire

marked by the Spanish Succession, at the same time it was the strongest

period of British capitalism and the struggle between Britain and France to

gain control of Europe.

Group 2: The works refer to the history of the Philippines and the

Philippines relations with foreign countries under Spanish rule Until the second half of the twentieth century, the beginning of the

twenty-first century many works by Filipino scholars were published. Typically, the authors Conrado, Benitez (1954), History of Philippines; Zaide; Alip, Eufronio.M (1964), Political and Cultural History of the Philippines; Zaide, Soria.M (1999), The Philippines – A Unique Nation; Zulueta, Francisco.M – Nebres, A. Briel (2003), Philippine History and Government through the Year; Zaide, Gregorio.F – Zaide, Sonia (2004), Philippine History and Government; Agoncillo, Teodoro.A (2006), History of the Filipino People; Costa, Horacio de la, S.J. (1992), Readings in Philippine History. Most of these works have studied the history of the

10

Philippines systematically from prehistoric times to modern times. Based on the abundant resources of the colonial period, the authors partially and thoroughly reconstruct the Philippine history and society from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century

In the work of "History of the Philippines," Conrado Benitez mentions the relationship between colonial Philpines with outside forces, such as China, Japan, the Netherlands, and the British invasion of Manila in 1762. Based on the analysis of commercial activity, the author has initially divided the history of the Philippines into two periods, the "period of restrictions" and the "Period of commercial liberty and political reforms). It can be said that Conrado Benitez’s approach has prompted many important ideas for the thesis being studied.

"Spain in the Philippines" of Cushner Nicholas P., SJ (1971) is a work study about Philippine history during the Spanish period. In it, he devoted two chapters to the presentation of Spanish commercial policy in the Philippines, Chapter 6 entitled "Trade and Finance" and Chapter 9 "Bourbon Reform and Foreign Merchants". Through the division and interpretation of the author, we can see that, in the second half of the 18th century, Spain's commercial policy in the Philippine colony has seen positive moves.

While intensive works on the history of the Philippines are limited, access to historical research resources on Southeast Asian history is extremely necessary. The work “In Search of Southeast Asia-A Mordern History” of Chandler, David. P; Roff, William.R; Smail, Jonh.R.W; ... (1985), Part II entitled “New Challenges to Old Authority”, analyzed the new challenges that colonial governments in Southeast Asia encountered in the 18th, 19th, including Spanish government in colonial Philippines.

In terms of relationship between the Philippines and other countries in the region, General Antonio de Morga (1559 - 1636), as a Spanish official in Philippine colony, as well as historian published the book "Sucesos de las Islas Filippinas" (1609) in Mexico. The main content of this book mentions about Philippine history in relations to the Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan and China in the late 16th century.

Spanish historian Florentino Rodao Garcia have published several articles related to the Spanish period in the Philippines: The Castilians discover Siam: Changing Visions and Self-Discovery, The Journal of the Siam Society (JSS), 95 / 2007; Departure from Asia: Spain in the Philippines and East Asia in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries in Nation and Conflict in Modern Spain: Essays in Honor of Stanley G.

11

Payne (2008). These articles have added more and more material to Spanish dominance in the Philippines in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Researchers from the Netherlands, the United States, and other countries have also published articles related to Philippine-Dutch relations, Philippines-Japan, Chinese in Philippines under Spainish rule such as: Laarhoven, Ruurdje and Pinowittermans (1985), "From Blockade to Trade: Early Relations with Manila, 1600-1750", Philippine Studies vol.33, no.4; Arensmeyer, Elliott C (1970); Chan, Albert (1978), "Chinese-Philippine Relations in the Late Sixteenth Century and to 1603", Philippine Studies Vol. 26, no.1-2.

Group 3: The works refer to the Philippine economic situation of from the 16th century to the nineteenth century

From an economist's perspective, the work “After the Galleons” of Benito J. Legarda, reprinted in 1999 analyzed the development of foreign trade, economic transformation and business in the Philippines in the nineteenth century, after the Manila galleon ended. In his work he pointed out that "Unlike other countries in Southeast Asia, the motive behind promoting Philippine trade is not government but business and capital imports through flexible price." Professor Legarda highlighted the nature of the Philippines' "open-door" and economic integration process in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Spanish historian Maria Lourdres Diaz-Trechuelo has written many articles on the 18th century Philippine economy, published in the PhilippineStudies such as: Diaz-Trechuelo, Maria Lourdres (1963), "The Economic Development of the Philippines in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century, Philippine Studies vol.11, no2; Diaz-Trechuelo, Maria Lourdres (1966) "Eighteenth century Philippine economy: Commerce", Philippine Studies vol.14, no2. Diaz-Trechuelo analyzed the Spanish trade restriction-monopoly policy in the Philippine colony for the Orient, New Spain and the birth of the Royal Philippine Company.

1.3. Comment on research results and issues that the disertation needs

to be studied On the basis of an overview of the research, we can draw the following

observations: Firstly, in Vienam the number of studies related to this issue is too

limited: some books, articles referring to the Spanish policy in Philippines colony in general. The Philippine foreign policy during the Spanish period has not been studied.

12

Secondly, foreign researches related to this issue are quite abundant however there are few works that have a close approach to the disertation.

Thirdly, the domestic and foreign works are the important material for us to carry out my topic. However, in order to fully solving the issues, we supposed that we need to focus on the following contents: (1) Historical context of the formation of the Spain’s "closed-door" policy in the Philippine colony from the late 16th century to 1762. (2) Factors influencing change from "closed-door" to "open-door" policy in the second half of the 18th century. (3) Systematize and analyze Spanish policies in the Philippines in two spheres of trade and immigration. From the content of the study, we will draw the characteristics and comprehensive and objective assessment of the consequences of the Spain’s "closed-door" and "open-door" policies in the Philippine colony.

CHAPTER TWO. SPAIN’S “CLOSED-DOOR” POLICY IN

PHILIPPINE COLONY (1593-1762)

2.1. The historical context of the formation of the “closed-door” plolicy

2.1.1. The process of establishing Spanish rule in the Philippines (1521-

1571)

After completing the reunification of the country in the late 15th

century, utilizing the advantages of geographic location, improvements

in navigation and especially to compete with the Portuguese, Spain has

stepped up its geological exploration in search of new lands, including

the Philippines. After many expeditions to the Philippines, without

success, Spain officially launched the invasion of the Philippines

through the expedition of Lopez de Legazpi in 1564. By 1571 Spain had

basically settled most of the territory of the Philippine Islands (except

the southern of Muslim).

2.1.2. Spain’s commercial policy in Philippine colony in the early

decades of domination

In the early three decades of the rule, in order to exploit colonial

resources and compete with its “neighbor” Portuguese, Spain established

trade relations with her colonies in America as well as promoted trade

relations with some countries in the region. That policy on the one hand,

has turned Manila into a thriving entropôt in South-East Asian region on

the other hand it attracted the attention of other countries on the geographic

location of Philippine islands, especially Manila capital.

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2.1.3. The rise of political security threats and the pressure of trade

competition

Only three years after Spain completed the pacification of the

Philippines, Chinese pirates Lim - Ah - Hong attacked Manila in 1574.

Their forces killed Spanish commander Marshal Martin de Goiti, burned

the city and even built a base at the mouth of the Agno. Besides the

invasion of Lim- Ah- Hong, the rapid increasing in the number of Chinese

in the Philippines also made the Spanish government start to fear.

To the Japanese government side, fearing the rising tide of Spanish

imperialism in the Philippines, in May 1592, Hideyoshi sent an envoy to

Manila with the demanding tribute and homage from Spanish authorities

otherwise he would invade the Philippines.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, security factors

always had been a "standing problem" in the relations between colonial

Philippines and other countries in the region. Moreover, this period

witnessed the rise of new factors threatening Spanish power in the

Philippines that were the Dutch and the British. Not only compete in the

commerce, the British were also the first power to overthrow Spanish rule

in Manila through the war of 1762.

2.1.4. Spain’s exclusive commercial tradition and the influence of

“Mercantilism”

Since 1503 a Spanish trading system with the New World formed and

lasted for two centuries. All of affair relating to colonial trade was

controlled by the Casa de Contracion, or House of Trade in Seville under

the Colonial Council. Direct trade between Mexico and Peru or other

colonies was prohibited.

The advent of the mercantile doctrine further strengthened Spain's

trade monopoly policy because the idea was that to control the foreign

trade in such a manner that the largest possible quantity of the precious

metals should be brought into a country, while their exportation should

kept at a minimum.

The flourishing development of the Manila galleon trade during the

first two decades of the sixteenth century had made the Orient goods,

especially Chinese silk, became very popular in the Americas. In addition,

this trade has made a large amount of silver from the Americas flowing to

the Orient, especially into the Chinese market. Thus, in order to protect the

silk industry and the monopoly trade with the American market, Spain

14

was forced to go to trade restriction policies in the colony of the

Philippines.

2.2. The content and implementation process of the "closed-door" policy

2.2.1. Trade restriction and commercial monopoly policy

2.2.1.1. To Spanish America

In order to restrain the influx of East Asian commodities, protect their

industry and their foreign trade, Spanish Royal issued decrees relating to

the Manila galleon from limiting the tonnage, value and merchandise of

the galleons to limiting member involved in the Manila galleon. This

proved that the Manila galleon nature was just reserved for the Spanish

authorities in the Philippines and Mexico. It was carried out by royal

officials and the profits were put in the hands of the Spaniards, including

officials, soldiers, clergies and monopoly traders. Filipinos, foreigners not

directly involved in Manila-Acapulco trade.

2.2.1.2. To Asian countries

Due to the Spaniards were not allowed to trade directly with Asian

countries, they were forced to depend on Asian traders (China, Japan,

Southeast Asia) bringing goods to Manila. To ensure the monopoly in

buying goods, Spanish set up strict rules to control the purchase of goods:

(1) Open one port of Manila to exchange goods. (2) Control prices

through the whole sale system of purchasing (Pancada). The purpose of

using the Pancada system was to restrict the retailing of goods as well as

the rise of prices arbitrarily when goods were imported into Manila. At the

same time, Asian merchants were not able to participate directly in the

Manila galleon trade as well as in the Philippine domestic trade, but acted

only as suppliers.

2.2.1.3. To European merchants

From the end of the 16th century to 1789, Spain has taken all possible

measures to prevent European infiltration into the Philippine colonie in all

its forms. However, from the mid-seventeenth century to the early

eighteenth century, due to the need for goods exchange, many general

governors allowed the Dutch, the British to travel and "covert trade" with

Manila. One of the tacit agreements was the refrain from using the

European flag when trading with Manila. In addition, Asians are

frequently replaced as business leaders, while European merchants acted

as escorts or interpreters, or simply pick up the name of Asians.

15

2.2.2. The restrictive, strict control immigration policy

2.2.2.1 Case study of the Chinese

Of all the foreigners present in the Philippines, the Chinese are

numerous and play an important role in the development of the

archipelago. However, they also brought permanent threats to colonial

security. Thus, the Spanish government did not completely forbid the

Chinese to migrate to the Philippines instead, they have strict control

measures: (1) apply a separate tax system to the Chinese; (2) restrictions on

immigration; (3) converting the Chinese into Catholicism; and even

masscre and kill if the Chinese revolt against.

2.2.2.2. Case study of the Japanese

Due to the rise and fall in the relationship between the two

governments, the Japanese in the Philippines were controlled strictly.

Especially, the period from 1639 to 1868, when Japan implemented a

“closed-door” policy, the contact between the Philippines and Japan was

limited to Japanese who were shipwrecked or stranded. The Japanese in the

Philippines unable to return to their country opened their stores in Dailao,

San Miguel, San Roque near Cavite and were closely monitored by the

Philippine government, some Japanese also settled in Cebu and the city of

Bay in Laguna.

CHAPTER THREE. FROM THE “LOOSENING OF CLOSED-

DOOR” TO SPAIN’S “OPEN-DOOR” POLICY IN PHILIPPINE

COLONY (1764-1898)

3.1. Factors affectting the transformation of policy from "closed-door" to

"open-door"

3.1.1. The ineffectiveness of monopoly management and the decline of

the Spanish empire in the 18th and 19th centuries

As a pioneer in world exploration and colonial expansion, Spain

became the most powerful nation in Europe and all over the world

during the 16th century. However, from the 17th century, Spain began

to struct into the period of "decline" and prolonged economic and

political crisis, which continued in the 18th and 19th centuries. The

consequence of this situation was that Spain was incapable of

maintaining trade monopolies within its empire, forcing them to rely on

France. As the Spanish Succession war ended, with the Treaty of

Utrech, Spain could not even prevent the official presence of Britain to

16

Spanish trade in its own country and colonies.

3.1.2. The birth of new political and economic thought in Europe in the

18th century

In the early eighteenth century, in many European countries,

Mercantilism was replaced by "blance-of-trade" and then "free trade". In

Spain, many ideas for economic reform came into being - often called the

"counter-mercantilism" school. In that trend, the Spanish governors in

Philippine colony, especially Basco y Vargas (1778-1787) began to create

new rules that accordance with world’s trends, focuses on natural resource

development and attemptted to create a positive impact on the development

of agriculture and industry rather than focusing exclusively on trade during

the past 200 years

3.1.3. The British invasion of Manila (1762-1764) and the requirement

for international trade restoration, maintaining Spanish rule in

the Philippines

While the changes of economic policy in the Philippines are being

promoted a commotion event occur that was the attack of Manila in 1762.

Due to lack of information and defense, the Spanish government in Manila

quickly fell and Manila occupied by the British for 2 years (5-10-1762 to

31-5-1764). Manila was returned to Spain by Britain because the Paris

treaty ended the Seven Years' War on February 10, 1763. Their departure,

however, left the Spanish government a major challenge, requiring them to

make appropriate response to maintain their presence in the Philppine

outpost.

3.2. The content and implementation process of the "open-door" policy

3.2.1. The “loosing closed-door” policy (1764-1789)

3.2.1.1. In the commercial sphere

In addition to strengthening self-defense to ensure colonial safety,

facing the issue of post-war colonial reconstruction, in the term of

Governor Francisco de la Torre (1764-1765), Manila's finance minister,

Francisco Leandro de Viana, proposed a plan for economic development in

the Philippines with two major projects that were the direct commercial

link between the Philippines and the “mother country” and the Philippine

trade recovery plan with Asian countries.

3.2.1.2. In the term of policy toward the Chinese

In order to serve the "General Plan for Philippine Economic

Development", Governor Basco y Vargas was instructed by the king to

17

allow a small number of Chinese came to the Philippines, mostly farmers

and artisans. The Spanish government had called for "limited numbers" of

4,000 Chinese Catholics to settle in the Philippines to fill the gaps left by

former deportees, especially ceramic workers, dyers, molders, blacksmiths,

miners, skilled carpenters, mulberry growers, silk weavers. Basco

Governor's policy has narrowed the gap between the Spanish government

and potential Chinese immigrants to Manila.

3.2.1. The “limitted open-door” policy (1789-1833)

3.2.1.1. To commercial sphere

In the movement of trade reforms of the Spanish Empire from 1765 to

1789, Spain issued the "free trade" decree in the Philippines with the

stipulation that "the ship of any country are allowed to trade with Manila as

long as they do not carry the goods from Europe.” This decree has

facilitated the free trade of Asian goods in the Philippines.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the free-trade policy was

strongly promoted by the influence of factors both inside and outside of the

Spanish empire. Firstly, the Britain-France’s involvement in Southeast

Asian region reflected a new commercial and maritime ambition under the

influence of the industrial revolution. Secondly, at this time, Mexico's

independence movement in 1820 had a direct impact on the decline of the

Spanish empire because until then, Manila was dependent on Mexico for

both financial and political. The situation forced Spain to abolited the rest

restrictions on colonial trade.

3.2.1.2. In term of foreigner immigrantion issue

Since 1789, when Manila was opened its doors to foreign trade, many

foreigners with different nationalities began visiting and remaining in the

Philippines, including non-Catholics. However, Spain prohibits foreigners

from retailing or traveling to provinces to trade in any kind of goods.

3.2.2. The “fully open-door” policy (1834-1898)

3.2.2.1. The port-opening policy and allows the establishment of

consulates, foreign companies

The end of the Manila galleon in 1815, the failure of the Royal

Philippine Company proved that Spain's efforts to keep the monopoly

of commerce in the Philippines completely failed. From 1834 to 1873,

Spain announced the opening of many Philippine ports for world trade.

And along with the opening of other ports in the Philippines, European

and American companies were also established there. Consulates and

18

foreign companies play an important role in promoting Philippine

colonial trade with other countries whereby the Philippines trade has

increased rapidly.

3.2.2.2. The free investment for production and the free export-import

goods policies

Foreign merchants were allowed to invest capital and modern

technology in the production of major commodities in the Philippines,

such as sugar, tobacco and hemp. This has led to the expansion of the

area of cultivation and the abundant supply of export commodities.

3.2.2.3. Trade tax reduction policy

In order to encourage trade expansion, Spain issued several

decrees, mainly aimed at the abolition of export taxes and tariff

reductions on goods shipped by national vessels.

3.2.2.4. Free policy for travel, settlement and business of foreigners

Deriving from the efforts to promote the Philippine economic

development, by the end of the 18th century, Spain's policy toward

foreigners shifted from the limit to the promotion of immigration,

freedom of settlement, business and property ownership have

encouraged the attraction of abroad resources. At the same time, the

application of advanced elements of the era has opened the Philippine’s

door to integrate into the flow of world trade.

CHAPTER FOUR. COMMENTS ON THE SPAIN’S

“CLOSED-DOOR” AND “OPEN-DOOR” POLICIES

IN THE PHILIPPINE COLONY

4.1. The "closed-door" and "open-door" policies are the result of

interactions between internal factors and international and regional

contexts.

By analyzing the basis of the formation, context, and factors

affecting the implementation of the "closed-door" and "open-door"

policies, we have come to the conclusion that these policies are not

rooted in the subjective will of the Spanish government but are the

result of complex intertwined effects, in which three main factors

emerge: The first is the influence of European economic-political

doctrines from 16th to 19th centuries. The second is the Spanish

economic and political position in international order. And the third is

19

the relationship between the Spanish government and other countries in

the region, especially China and Japan.

4.2. Spain focused on political and religious objectives more than

economic interests

Usually when we talk about the policy of a colonialist country for a

possession country, we often emphasize the economic benefits that it

gives to the “mother country”. In the case of the Philippines, during the

"closed-door" period, this colony was not only unprofitable but also

became a financial burden for Spain. Clearly, the presence of Spain in

this archipelago is want to make the Philippines became a line of

defense to stop the flow of silver to the East, as well as using the

archipelago as a pedal to occupy Asian markets. Crucially, Spain is

aiming at the great mission of spreading Christianity.

4.3. There is a great gap between the enactment and

implementation of the "closed-door" policy in the Philippine colony

Studying the implementation of the Spanish "closed-door" policy in

the Philippines shows that a very obvious characteristic is the

inconsistency between enactment and enforcement. This was influenced

by two factors: the Philippines was indirectly governed by the Mexican

viceroy and colonial officials placed their own interests higher than the

policies.

4.4. The "closed-door" and "open-door" policy in the Philippine colony

was in the general "trajectory" of the Spanish empire

Despite its far-flung outpost in the Far East and its distinct

characteristics, the policies applied in the Philippines are basically

belonged to the context of the Spanish Empire. From a macro

perspective, Spain's trade policy was also divided into two phases:

"monopoly" (from the mid-16th century to 1764) and the period of

"freedom" (from 1765 to the end of the nineteenth century).

4.5. The Effect

4.5.1. To Philippines

4.5.2. To Spain

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CONCLUSION

1. In the great changes in the late medieval of Western history, Spain

took advantage of it to emerge as a pioneer nation in geographic

exploration and became a vast colonial empire in the sixteenth century. In

less than 100 years, Spain has completed the reunification of the country

and created the first world's "Truly Global Empire". The expansion of

Spain began shortly after Columbus discovered America in 1492. In

parallel with the invasion and plundering of Central and South America,

Spain has also been eyeing its way to the Far East, which owns a wide

variety of valuable commodities for commerce between East and West. On

the way to the Orient to the Moluccas Islands, Spain arrived in the

Philippines in 1521. After 44 years of exploration and discovery, Legaspi

landed in Cebu in 1565. From this point and onward, the Philpines became

part of the Spanish empire for over 300 years.

2. Spain's goal during colonial encroachment is encapsulated in "3G"

(Gold, God, Glory), however, unlike the Spanish American colonies, the

Philippines did not own valuable gold or silver mines. Thus, when

deciding to build a solid foothold in the Philippines, Spain has two major

goals. First, spread the Catholic faith, convert the Filipino, and people of

other countries in East-India through trade relations. Second, in the light of

the "mercantile doctrine", Spain pursues its ambition to become a "trading

empire." So, they want to use the archipelago as a springboard to move

towards establishing a world trade system between Spain, Mexico and the

Far East (mainly China)

3. In the first decade after establishing its dominance in the

Philippines (1571-1582), in order to compete with Portugal as well as to

extend its influence to other countries in the region, Spain implemented the

encouraging policy to Asian merchant to trade in the Philippines,

simultaneously attempted to establish trade relations with China and

Japan. Until 1582, the Spanish government almost did not tax on Asian

goods in the Philippines. That policy on the one hand, has turned Manila

into a thriving entropôt in South-East Asian region on the other hand it

attracted the attention of other countries on the geographic location of

Philippine islands, especially Manila capital.

4. From the attack of Chinese pirates to the plan of invasion by the

Japanese Emperor, add to the pressure of economic problems and

suspicion of foreigners were the main causes led to the Spain’s “closed-

21

door” policy in Philippine colony in the late 16th century. For nearly two

centuries Spain practised "closed-door" policy (1593-1762), there is only

one major economic activity, the Manila galleon. Trade relations between

the Philippines with other countries in the region (intra-Asia trade) were

often disrupted and have no connection to form a system of Spanish

trading in Asia such as Portugal, Netherlands, and England. In order to

ensure the monopoly of the purchase of goods, the rules governing intra-

Asia trade were established. Spain only opened a port of Manila to

exchange goods, applied the system of purchasing goods; Asian merchants

were not allowed to participate directly in the Manila Galleon trade as well

as in the Philippine domestic market but only acted as suppliers; All most

of the foreigners was prohibitted immigration except for a small number of

Chinese and Japanese. With the "divide and rule" policy, Spain prohibitted

the contact of indigenous peoples from foreigners as well as between

foreigners each other and even among the peoples of the same ethnic group

but different religion.

5. Affected by the emerging European economic doctrines in the

second half of the 18th century; the abolition of the traditional Manila

galleon trade in 1815, and the separation of Mexico from Spain in 1820,

made Spain aware of the need to engage in trade with Asian countries.

Spain started moving from the "limited" to the "free trade" policy as well

as allowed foreigners to settle in the Philippines at the end of the 18th

century. This process began cautiously in about 50 years (1789-1833) and

"fully freedom" from 1834 onwards with the opening ports policy and

allowing foreigners to settle in any province in the Philippines. These have

led to a change in the nature of the Philippine trade - from the "distribution

center" to the "world import-export market". Prior to the nineteenth

century, none of Philippine goods played an important role in Philippines-

New Spain trade; there have no significant capital investment to exploit the

Philippine natural resources. In the second half of the nineteenth century,

Philippines became the leading producer of sugar cane, hemp, dyes and

tobacco in the region, most of which were exported to the European and

American markets. However, the growth of the Philippine economy at this

stage mainly relies on the production and export of agricultural products,

while the capital, technology, and markets are dependent on the outside.

Perhaps most importantly, the Spanish government has failed to create a

social infrastructure, especially for the creation of traders, and indigenous

22

managers. Meanwhile, upper classes such as rulers, army commander, and

church dignitaries used their power, along with foreign merchants who

manipulated the trading system and developed the investment. This led to

the failure of Spain's "open-door" policy in the Philippines.

6. The "open-door" policy created the opportunity for immigrants

with large-scale numbers of foreigners to come to the Philippines and

participate in economic activity. When foreigners were free to expand their

residence, their role in the Philippine economy is also changing. Foreigners

were beginning to expand their economic power not only on trade but also

in other economic sectors. The economic activities of foreigners have

contributed greatly to the development of the Philippine economy.

7. It can be said that the Spain’s "closed-door" and "open-door"

policies in the Philippines under the influence of the international and

regional context have shaped the distinct characteristics of the foreign

relations of this islands in the colonial period. Simultaneously, these

policies have had implications for the development of the Philippines for

centuries. Even until they gain independence from the United States in

1946, the Philippines did not have much relationship with other countries

in the region. The Philippines became an isolated archipelago to its

neighbor and they took a long time to find its "Asian origin" to establish its

national identity. It shows us that the damage of being "closed-door",

isolating by other countries and seeing the value of "open-door" but not

"open-door" at alls costs, by give up.

LIST OF RELATED RESEARCH PROJECTS

PULISHED BY AUTHOR

1. Tran Thi Que Chau (2014), “Chinese mechants’ position in the

Spanish galleon trade between Manila (Philippines) and Acapulco

(Mexico) (1572-1815)”, Journal of Science and Education, Hue

University of Education, No. 2, pp: 98-108

2. Dang Van Chuong, Tran Thi Que Chau (2014), “The cause led to

the Spain’s "closed-door" policy in the Philippine colony at the end

of the 16th century, Journal of Southeast Asia, No. 5, pp. 26-34

3. Tran Thi Que Chau (2014), “From “Closed-Door” and Isolation to

“Open-Door” and Intergration: Spain’s Policy in Colonial

Philippines, Nineteenth Century”, The 3rd International

Conference on “Asia Dynamic: Prospects and Challenges”

Mahasarakham, Thailand, pp.584-594

4. Tran Thi Que Chau (2015), “The England-Spain War in Manila

(1762-1764)", Journal of Military History (Military History

Institute), No 11, pp. 71-75

5. Dang Van Chuong, Tran Thi Que Chau (2016), “British invasion

of Manila (1762-1764) and its impact on Spanish policy in the

Philippine colony in the late 18th century," Journal of European

Studies, No. 2, pp.47- 57.

6. Tran Thi Que Chau, Le Thanh Nam (2016), “The Position of

Moluccas in Commercial Rivalry between Spain and Netherlands

in East Asia in Seventeenth Century”, The 4th International

Conference on "Language, Society, and culture in Asian Context,

Malang, Indonesia, pp.801-808

7. Dang Van Chuong (Chief Author), Tran Dinh Hung, Tran Thi Que

Chau, le Thi Qui Duc (2016), The "closed-door" and "open-door"

policies of some Southeast Asian countries from the late eighteenth

century to the late nineteenth century, Ho Chi Minh City

Publishing House

8. Tran Thi Que Chau (2017), “Philippine Commercial Activities

during the Spanish Period (XVI-XIX)", Hue University Press, Vol.

126, No. 6A, pp. 5-16

9. Tran Thi Que Chau (2017), “Factors affecting to the changing of

Spanish policy toward the Chinese in Philippine colony from

1767 to 1898, Journal of Science and Education, Hue University

of Education, No. 3 (43), pp.100-110

10. Tran Thi Que Chau (2018), “The Spanish government's policy

towards the Chinese in the Philippine colony (1571-1898)”,

Journal of Science and Technology, Hue University of Science

No.2, pp.83-93