Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines

Linda A. Newson

Linda A. Newson

Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines

University of Hawaii Press | 2009

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824861971

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About this book

Scholars have long assumed that Spanish colonial rule had only a limited demographic impact on the Philippines. Filipinos, they believed, had acquired immunity to Old World diseases prior to Spanish arrival; conquest was thought to have been more benign than what took place in the Americas because of more enlightened colonial policies introduced by Philip II. Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines illuminates the demographic history of the Spanish Philippines in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and, in the process, challenges these assumptions.

In this provocative new work, Linda Newson convincingly demonstrates that the Filipino population suffered a significant decline in the early colonial period. Newson argues that the sparse population of the islands meant that Old World diseases could not become endemic in pre-Spanish times. She also shows that the initial conquest of the Philippines was far bloodier than has often been supposed and that subsequent Spanish demands for tribute, labor, and land brought socioeconomic transformations and depopulation that were prolonged beyond the early conquest years. Comparisons are made with the impact of Spanish colonial rule in the Americas.

Newson adopts a regional approach and examines critically each major area in Luzon and the Visayas in turn. Building on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, she proposes a new estimate for the population of the Visayas and Luzon of 1.57 million in 1565—slightly higher than that suggested by previous studies—and calculates that by the mid-seventeenth century this figure may have fallen by about two-thirds.

Based on extensive archival research conducted in secular and missionary archives in the Philippines, Spain, and elsewhere, Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines is an exemplary contribution to our understanding of the formative influences on demographic change in premodern Southeast Asian society and the history of the early Spanish Philippines.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	v
Illustrations And Tables Free access PDF PDF	vii
Preface Free access PDF PDF	ix
Part I. Introduction
Chapter 1. A World Apart? Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	3
Chapter 2. The Role Of Disease Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	10
Chapter 3. Colonial Realities And Population Decline Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	24
Chapter 4. Interpreting The Evidence Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	37
Part II. The Visayas
Chapter 5. Conquest And Depopulation Before 1600 Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	53
Chapter 6. Wars And Missionaries In The Seventeenth-Century Visayas Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	80
Part III. Southern Luzon
Chapter 7. Manila And Tondo Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	115
Chapter 8. Southwest Luzon Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	133
Chapter 9. Bikol Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	153
Chapter 10. Pampanga And Bulacan Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	166
Part IV. Northern Luzon
Chapter 11. Ilocos And Pangasinan Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	179
Chapter 12. Cagayan Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	201
Chapter 13. Interior Luzon Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	218
Part V. Conclusion
Chapter 14. Demographic Change In The Early Spanish Philippines Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	251
Appendixes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	265
Abbreviations Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	313
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	315
Glossary Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	381
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	385
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	407

Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines

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