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.
When the Elephants Dance
The Philippines is an archipelago located southeast of China and north of Indonesia. In the late 13th century, Arab traders introduced Islam the Philippines and the religion spread throughout the country between the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1521, Spanish colonizers led by Ferdinand Magellan “discovered” the Philippines while trying to circumvent the world and named it after King Philip II. However, it was not formally colonized until forty-four years later when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi began settling in Cebu. Spain sent missionaries, including the Jesuits, to spread Catholicism and used the country as a strategic refueling stop for trading with Mexico and China. The Spanish pushed Muslims to the southern region of the country, known as Mindanao.