#TodayinHistory in 1861, José Rizal, Filipino polymath, thinker, nationalist, & writer, is born in Calamba, Laguna #PH. He would be executed by firing squad in 1896. His writings united the Filipinos to revolt vs. the Spanish colonial rule. (A LONG THREAD) 🇵🇭 #Rizal #Kasaysayan
The unjust execution of the 3 Filipino priests, Mariano Gomes, José Burgos, & Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA) triggered public resentment among Filipinos under Spain. Burgos was housemate to Paciano Rizal, Jose's eldest brother.
José Rizal was 7th of 11 children of Francisco Mercado & Teodora Alonso, and the youngest of the 2 boys among the siblings. Paciano was the eldest. As the eldest, Paciano took charge of the management of land, while José was sent to Europe to study. tmblr.co/ZtGCUxNi9IRp
With regards to the Rizal family stature:
His first travel outside #PH going to Spain opened him to a world colonized by the West. His travels were not only an unraveling of cultures but also an awakening of curiosity and rediscovery of identity. tmblr.co/ZtGCUxHeQ_1S
In Spain, Rizal joined the campaign for Filipino representation in the Spanish cortes (legislature). In 1887, he published his novels written in Spanish—Noli Me Tangere (1887), & El filibusterismo (1891). tmblr.co/ZtGCUx1PfGwpX
Poignant theme on the two novels: that while Spanish oppression was real, the only path to true freedom is love for one's own people, and an allegiance to truth & justice. "Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?" tmblr.co/ZtGCUx1z9v7SP
Noli Me Tangere: "So much power placed in human hands, the hands of ignorant, and willful men, without moral training, without proven honesty, is a weapon placed in the hands of a madman let loose in an unarmed crowd." tmblr.co/ZtGCUx25QJe5R #QOTD
El filibusterismo: "... as long as our people are not prepared, and enter the struggle deceived and compelled, without a clear idea of what they are to do, the best planned movements will fail and it is better that they should fail....”
tmblr.co/ZtGCUx26gWtT9 #QOTD
Exposed in the ideas of the Enlightenment and modernity, of the ideals of liberty & equality, Rizal and his colleagues promoted #PressFreedom as vital to government, to voice out legitimate grievances in order for gov to properly address them.
His articles in the Filipino ilustrado-run periodical, La Solidaridad, clearly pointed out that the racial prejudice of the Spanish friars against Filipinos were untrue. He also voiced social issues in #PH to Spain so that these could be heard. indiohistorian.tumblr.com/post/554991466…
One article that became famous was his overflowing praise to a group of Filipina women in Malolos who opposed the Spanish friars by petitioning the Governor General to have a night school opened for them. tmblr.co/ZtGCUx2K0YKui
Rizal befriended many in the intellectual circles of Europe, one of whom was the Austrian ethnographer of #PH, Ferdinand Blumentritt. Rizal also became a member of Berlin Anthropological Society & Berlin Ethnological Society, & presented scholarly papers. tmblr.co/ZtGCUx12brqZX
Rizal also stayed with a Lutheran pastor who offered his home graciously to the Filipino while in Heidelberg, Germany. Here, he found a new appreciation for religious tolerance, an ideal he wanted to bring home, a country dominated by the Spanish friars. tmblr.co/ZtGCUx2RgaN8F
Rizal researched on #PH history prior to the Spanish colonization finding many materials in libraries all over Europe. He annotated Antonio de Morga's "Sucesos de las islas Filipinas."
Rizal's activities drew suspicion, as he was warned by families & friends. He was ready to die for his convictions, writing 2 letters—1 to his family & 1 "To the Filipinos." As soon as he got back in 1892, he was put under surveillance by the government. tmblr.co/ZtGCUx2TVsGkz
Thru Rizal's founding of the socio-civic organization, La Liga Filipina, he was the first to "unite the whole archipelago" & envision "a compact and homogenous" community based on "mutual protection."
Days after, Rizal would be exiled in Dapitan. In August 1896, with the discovery of the Katipunan, the underground revolutionary organization pushing for independence, it signaled an open revolution. "Rizal" was revered by the org.
While exiled in Dapitan, Rizal would win a lottery, buy land, construct a water aqueduct for the town, teach children, entertain patients who need eye surgery, discover 3 species that would be named after him, and sculpt. tmblr.co/ZtGCUx1JDTXXo
Although not openly supporting the Katipunan, Rizal got wind of the group's plans, who reached out to Rizal in Dapitan to seek his counsel. Rizal gave the org strategic and sound advice.
Jose Rizal was eventually sentenced to die via firing squad on 30 December 1896. Rizal composed his last poem, untitled, slipped it through a cocinilla (small alcohol stove) that he gave to Trinidad during the family's last visit to him in Fort Santiago. tmblr.co/ZtGCUxDyJTle
His death further unified the Philippine Revolution against Spain. Paciano Rizal became one of the generals of the Katipunan, while two of his sisters were part of the women's chapter of the org. tmblr.co/ZtGCUx1_uu3NH
📸: Manuel Arias Rodriguez - Museo del Ejército, 1896.
Leon Ma. Guerrero tells of Rizal: "It was Rizal as we have seen, who taught his countrymen that they could be something else, Filipinos who were members of a Filipino nation." tmblr.co/ZtGCUx6DGuIJ
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