A Review of "Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines"

Kas 110 (Colonial Philippines I) Book Review

It is already well-established that early Spanish colonial period in Latin America caused a drastic decline of the population of native Americans, primarily due to diseases from the Old World where they had no immunity from, combining with mass slaughters that the Spanish conquistadors committed on their conquest. However, there is a lack of an extensive study of population decline among natives when it comes to the Philippine setting. Linda Newson’s “Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines” aims to fill the gap on this demographic historical knowledge.

Newson’s book seeks to study the population trends of Indios in the major provinces of Luzon and Visayas from 16th to 17th century under the Spanish rule. She argues that although the levels of population decline in early Spanish Philippines was not that severe in comparison to Spanish America, it was still more disastrous than previously imagined. Variety of factors have postulated to have contributed to this phenomenon including diseases, conquistador violence, Moro raids, and the Hispano-Dutch War; not to mention that fertility traditions, climate change, and geography also likely played a role in some degree.

In contrast to the Spanish America where the native population experienced a sharp drop due to acute Old-World diseases like measles, smallpox, and rubella; the early colonial Philippines tells another story. Its humid, tropical climate make the islands a hotbed for illnesses like malaria, dysentery, and cholera. Due to some of its kingdoms and polities having maritime trading connections with Southeast Asian neighbors, China, and Japan, this meant that there were opportunities for pathogenic transmissions. Since some pre-colonial Filipino population were constantly exposed to these diseases, they likely developed some degree of immunity to them, which made the mortality rate less severe after the arrival of the Spaniards. But another factor for this more benign spread of epidemics has something to with pre-colonial settlement pattern being more dispersed and communications between two communities more difficult, which gave no more chance for acute diseases to infect more hosts; and whenever these epidemics manage to reach a settlement, many people tend to die due to their lack of exposure to the illness and therefore lack of immunity.

Spanish conquering policies in the Philippines were also relatively less brutal in comparison to their American colonies. Since King Philip II already saw the disastrous results of violence committing by the conquistadors in Central and South America (which was heavily criticized by missionary friars), he commanded that the colonization and Christianization of the Philippines should be done by peaceful means as possible. However, due to the islands being too far from mainland Spain, royal decrees were tended to be ignored. Mass killings of natives were committed throughout the islands of Luzon and Visayas from Cagayan, Manila, Bicol, Panay, Negros, Bohol, Samar, and Leyte; although not to the extent like that of the Americas. Tax policies like polo y servicio and the bandala system, which were often abused by the encomenderos, also took a role on the eventual 17th century population decline in the islands.

Other factors that further exacerbated the phenomenon was the conflicts of the Spaniards towards the Dutch and Moros. Bad blood between the Muslims in the south and the colonizers could be traced with the Spanish hatred with the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula which they expelled during the Reconquista, and also with the fact that Mindanao was more resistant towards Spanish rule. Most Spanish attempts to conquer Mindanao were a failure mainly because of lack of soldiers and weaponry. Raiding communities and kidnapping Indios for slavery by the Moros became more frequent in Western Visayas and Bicol, and this put the Spaniards into a defensive position of warding off Muslim pirates. Death toll in native populations also increased due to the Hispano-Dutch Wars of 1568-1648 (which was mainly a fight for the independence of the Netherlands from Spain). Dutch colonizers from Indonesia attacked the Spaniards in the Philippines, such as in Iloilo in 1609 led by Francois de Wittert and 1616 led by Joris van Spielbergen. Demand for warships also meant increased demand for forced labor from the natives. Dutch aggression in the Philippines only stopped when Spain finally recognized their independence in 1648 through the Treaty of Westphalia.

Degrees of population decline varied depending on the regions in Luzon and Visayas. Mindanao was obviously excluded for they had no available demographic records from 16th to 17th century as they were not fully conquered by Spain. It was likely that by 1565, the total population of the Philippines was around 1.43 million, majority inhabiting the island of Luzon. Despite of this, the population density of pre-Spanish Philippines is considered low, which had something to do with factors like dispersed settlements, low birth rates due to fertility traditions, and diseases. Total population in Luzon decreased by 34.5% from 1,004,150 in 1570 to just 683,760 in 1600. While in Visayas, it decreased by 42.1% from 383,000 in 1565 to just 221,700 in 1600. To sum it all up, the Philippine population was 1,427,150 in 1565-1570 and it dropped to 905,460 in 1600, indicating a 36.6% of decrease. On the other hand, it was not until the 18th century when the demographic trend started to recover from decline, albeit gradually.

But how exactly do we know all of these? Interpretation of evidence (mainly from Spanish tributary records, ecclesiastical records, and consensuses) was tricky, since most of them were at best, intelligent guesses and estimates. Most of the basis for these data came from the Spanish records of natives who were required to pay tributes. But the difficult part was that the way how the tributaries were classified was inconsistent and not all Indios were documented as tribute payers. Add that to the fact that sources from 16th to 17th century was scant, and pre-colonial records were basically nonexistent. That is why Newson mostly relied on 18th century records as basis for studying the demographics of the two previous centuries. Archeology and paleopathology, however, became a great help on finding out the extent of deaths due to epidemics in this time period, although even those approaches still yielded complicated results.

Despite the challenges of searching and interpreting primary sources, Newson still managed to give a comprehensive study of 16th to 17th century Philippine demographic history. Conquest and Pestilence is definitely an excellent book that covers a topic that Filipino historians tend to overlook. Although the explanation of data and events are full of nuances and complication of factors, the use of language is understandable not only to the historian but also to the ordinary audience. This surely deserves to belong among the Philippine history classics and a must-read for everyone who are interested to delve deeper into the conditions of our ancestors during the early Spanish colonial period.

Sources:

• Newson, Linda A. Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 2009.

Published on January 22, 2023