History of the Philippines (1521–1898)
The history of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898, also known as the Spanish colonial period, was a period during which Spain controlled the Philippine islands as the Captaincy General of the Philippines, initially under New Spain until Mexican independence in 1821, which gave Madrid direct control over the area. It was also known as Spanish East Indies to the colonialists. It started with the arrival in 1521 of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing for Spain, which heralded the period when the Philippines was a colony of the Spanish Empire, and ended with the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1898, which marked the beginning of the American colonial era of Philippine history.
Sovereignty of the Philippines
On April 27, 1565, Spanish Conquistadores attacked the defiant Rajah Tupas, who had succeeded Rajah Humabon as king of Cebu. Tupas was defeated and made to sign an agreement after his defeat, effectively placing the Philippines under Spain. On February 8, 1597, King Philip II, near the end of his 42-year reign, issued a Royal Cedula instructing to Francisco de Tello de Guzmán, then Governor-General of the Philippines in severe terms to fulfill the laws of tributes and to provide for restitution of ill-gotten taxes imposed on the natives. The Cedula also decreed an undertaking by which the natives (referred to as "Indians"), "... freely render to me submission." The decree was published in Manila on August 5, 1598. King Philip died on 13 September, just forty days after the publication of the decree, but his death was not known in the Philippines until middle of 1599, by which time a referendum by which the natives would acknowledge Spanish rule was underway. With the completion of the Philippine referendum of 1599, Spain could be said to have established legitimate sovereignty over the Philippines.