COLLECTION NAME: DON FRANCISCO ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON COLLECTION SCOPE NOTE: At the outset of the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution, combined with the end of the galleon trade between Acapulco in New Spain (Mexico) and Manila, forced Spain to end the isolationist policies that it had imposed on Philippines since it had taken control of the islands in 1542. In addition, many of Spain's colonies, most importantly Mexico, began to revolt against Spanish rule and gained their independence around this time period. Cut off from the lucrative trade that had been their main source of income and protected Latin American markets, the islands had to find a way to pay for themselves. Colonial authorities had no choice but to open the Philippines to foreign trade and promote economic development. As a result, a growing number of merchants arrived in Manila, spurring the integration of the Philippines into an international commercial system, which linked industrialized Europe and North America with sources of raw materials and markets in the Americas and Asia. In 1834, the Spanish Crown abolished the Royal Company of the Philippines and formally recognized free trade, opening the port of Manila to unrestricted foreign commerce. Economic development, free trade, and increased demand for raw materials resulted in the emergence of a new mestizo class, the descendants of Chinese merchants who had settled on the islands and married Filipino women. Through the acquisition of land, they became an economically privileged class in the new cash-crop economy. In the decades to come, this new Filipino elite would also produce notable nationalist leaders who would advocate reform and protest the injustices suffered under the colonial regime, eventually leading to a full-scale revolution. It was during this pivotal time period in both Filipino and Spanish histories that the Francisco Enriquez y Giron Collection was written. As a leading Spanish official in Manila, his title being Delegate General of the Royal Lands, Colonel of Infantry, and Quartermaster General and Superintendent, Francisco Enriquez y Giron was exposed to the corrupt and inefficient practices of the colonial government and witnessed first hand the impact that increased commercialization had on the islands and on Spanish control. His frustration with inept members of the government, most notably Mariano Ricafort Palac¡n y Abarca, who was Governor and Captain General at the time, is extremely manifest in his letters. The discomfort he suffered was worsened by the fact that his position in the government allotted him no real authority to enact what he believed to be positive change. Enriquez' letters also touch on topics relating to his personal experiences in the Philippines, such as epidemics and earthquakes the population had to endure. Of most interest are his references to the diminishing status of Spaniards in the colony, as many of the natives no longer went out of their way to act meek and compliant in the presence of Europeans. The information and alternative perspectives found in these original letters is quite impressive and is extremely helpful to anyone researching the experiences of Spanish officials during the initial stages of economic development in the Philippines. This archive is comprised of 14 letters arranged in chronological order that total to 58 pages of original material. Most of the letters were written by Don Francisco Enriquez y Giron to his friend Don Manuel Bernaldez Pizarro, an official residing in Madrid and descendant of the famous Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro. One of the letters was penned by Gertrudis Seguera, wife of Enriquez, and sent to her friend, Josepha Folgueras, which offers an interesting female point of view. All of the letters were written entirely in Spanish with rich and legible ink and remain in fairly nice condition. ABBREVIATIONS ALS - Autograph Letter Signed. FEG - Francisco Enriquez y Giron. MBP - Manuel Bernaldez Pizarro. GS - Gertrudis Seguera. JF - Josepha Folgueras. ACCESSION DATA: Status: Open Access Provenance: Purchased from Scott Petersen in 2002. Processed by Kathy Banuelos, April 2002 BULK DATES: 1824 - 1831 SPAN DATES: 1824 - 1831 EXTENT: 1 Box SERIES: 1. One Series Only 1 1 [Bajadoz, October 18, 1824] 10/18/1824 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Bajadoz, October 18, 1824 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro apologizing for the lateness of his reply,which could not be helped due to his mother's illness. He goes on to say that this illness has been afflicting many people and has given him and his wife, Rita, much reason to worry. FEG also mentions that Mariano Ricafort Palacin y Abarca will leave to Cadiz shortly to await an opportunity to leave for the Philippines where he will take up his post as Governor and Captain General of the islands. 1 2 [Bajadoz, September 3, 1825] 9/3/1825 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Bajadoz, September 3, 1825 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro updating him on the activities of a mutual friend who is also named Manuel. FEG also speaks of a hard working African slave who will be baptized as soon as his smallpox clears up. He concludes the letter by saying that his mother has recovered from her illness nicely and that the rest of his family is also in good health. 1 3 [Manila, January 31, 1829] 1/31/1829 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, January 31, 1829 from Franciso Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro in which he speaks of a recently uncovered conspiracy developed by revolutionaries to assasinate members of the Spanish Government. The conspirators were arrested before they could carry out their plans and FEG feels that they should be dealt with severely and made examples of. FEB expresses his discontent with the way the Philippines being are governed and speaks illy of Ricafort, whom he believes is incompetent. He also mentions the frequency with which earthquakes occur. 1 4 [Manila, February 10, 1829] 2/10/1829 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, February 10, 1829 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro written in the hand of Domingo Roxas, possibly FEG's secretary. The purpose of the letter is to ask MBP to use his influence to assist a man named, Don Ramon Zuniga, who has yet to received a fourth of his due salary for his years of active service and wishes to be compensated. 1 5 [Manila, December 2, 1829] 12/2/1829 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, December 2, 1829 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Francisco Gomez Pedroso describing how he and his family have adjusted to living in the Philippines. He talks about the beauty of the islands, which is marred only by the frequent earthquakes and lightening storms. FEG also shows some concern for his own safety when he discusses the lack of overall security on the island and the increasing boldness of the native people. FEG feels that measure need to be taken to fix this problem and re-assert the authority of the Spanish people. 1 6 [Manila, December 20, 1829] 12/20/1829 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, December 20, 1829 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro complaining about Governor Ricafort's inefficent and ineffective government. 1 7 [Manila, January 8, 1830] 1/8/1830 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, January 8, 1830 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro updating him on the recent bad weather, lightening storms and earthquakes they have had to endure. FEG continues to speak about how the current system of government has turned the country into a shadow of its former self. He speaks of efforts to counsel Governor Ricafort and the Ministry to implement positive changes, which have been all in vain. Furthermore, he laments the fact that he does not have the authority or influence to remedy those things that need reform. 1 8 [Manila, March 31, 1830] 3/31/1830 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, March 31, 1830 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizarro in which he continues to grieve over the current state of affairs in the Phillppines and claims that if he were given the proper support he could bring the country to the level of prosperity which it is capable of. He also expresses his desire for a European secretary because he has no confidence in colonial ones. 1 9 [Manila, September 8, 1830] 9/8/1830 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, September 8, 1830 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro expressing his anger over the fact that the government does not dispose employees who have resided on the island for more than eight years or have married native women. He feels that European men who marry on the island and form large families develop interests that are not in accordance with those of Spain, which ultimately contributes to the demise of the government. 1 10 [Manila, December 12, 1830] 12/12/1830 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, December 12, 1830 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro informing him that a document arrived, which restored the functions of the Superintendent to the Intendency. He thanks MBP as he believes that he played a significant role in making that happen. He proceeds to announce that Ricafort will be leaving with the ship, Santa Ana, and expresses his relief that finally some of the damage he caused can be repaired. FEG feels that all the discomfort he has endured is paying off as Spanish troops have arrived and there are signs that the government is turning around for the better. A duplicate of this letter is found in the same folder. 1 11 [Manila, December 12, 1830] 12/12/1830 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, December 12, 1830 from Getrudis Seguera to Josefa Folgueras describing a terrible epidemic that spread quickly throughout the population in the span of a few days. She belives the illness might have been brought over by the recently arrived troops. This, in addition to the cholera that many Europeans were afflicted with, caused many deaths. GS goes on to say that there is such similarity between the fashion and dance styles of Manila and Spain that one sometimes forgets how great the distance between them is. Lastly, GS speaks of Governor Ricafort's departure and the arrival of the new governor, Pascual Enrile y Alcedo. The bottom portion of the last page contains a small note from FEG wishing JF and her family well. 1 12 [Manila, January 10, 1831] 1/10/1831 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, January 10, 1831 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez in which he states that if certain incompetent government officials were to die it would be impossible to calculate the rapidity with which the colony would achieve prosperity and arrive at an Octavian peace. 1 13 [Manila, February 12, 1831] 2/12/1831 ]DESCRIPTION: 1 ALS dated Manila, February 12, 1831 from Francisco Enriquez y Giron to Manuel Bernaldez Pizzaro expressing his displeasure at the Governor Enrile's actions thus far, as he seems to be heading down the same road as his predecessor. INDEX BOX - FOLD - KEYWORD PHRASE 1 2 AFRICAN SLAVE - REFERENCE (1825) 1 3 BAUTISTA TORRES, JUAN - REFERENCE (1829) 1 1 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1824) 1 2 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1825) 1 3 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1829) 1 4 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1829) 1 6 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1829) 1 7 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1830) 1 8 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1830) 1 9 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1830) 1 10 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1830) 1 12 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1831) 1 13 BERNALDEZ PIZZARO, MANUEL - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1831) 1 3 CONSPIRACIES - REFERENCE (1829) 1 3 DE CADIR, PEDRO PAUL - REFERENCE (1829) 1 4 DE EGUIA, JOSE - REFERENCE (1829) 1 4 DE ZUNIGA, JUAN - REFERENCE (1829) 1 12 DURAN, FRANCISCO - REFERENCE (1831) 1 3 EARTHQUAKES - REFERENCE (1829) 1 5 EARTHQUAKES - REFERENCE (1829) 1 7 EARTHQUAKES - REFERENCE (1830) 1 11 ENRILE Y ALCEDO, PASCUAL - REFERENCE (1830) 1 12 ENRILE Y ALCEDO, PASCUAL - REFERENCE (1831) 1 13 ENRILE Y ALCEDO, PASCUAL - REFERENCE (1831) 1 11 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO JF (1830) 1 1 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1824) 1 2 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1825) 1 3 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1829) 1 4 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1829) 1 5 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1829) 1 6 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1829) 1 7 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1830) 1 8 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1830) 1 9 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1830) 1 10 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1830) 1 12 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1831) 1 13 ENRIQUEZ Y GIRON, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE TO MBP (1831) 1 1 EPIDEMIC - REFERENCE (1824) 1 11 ESCALANTE, ANA - REFERENCE (1830) 1 11 FOLGUERAS, JOSEFA - CORRESPONDENCE FROM GS (1830) 1 5 GOMEZ PEDROSO, FRANCISCO - CORRESPONDENCE FROM FEG (1829) 1 1 RICAFORT PALACIN Y ABARCA, MARIANO - REFERENCE (1824) 1 3 RICAFORT PALACIN Y ABARCA, MARIANO - REFERENCE (1829) 1 5 RICAFORT PALACIN Y ABARCA, MARIANO - REFERENCE (1829) 1 6 RICAFORT PALACIN Y ABARCA, MARIANO - REFERENCE (1829) 1 7 RICAFORT PALACIN Y ABARCA, MARIANO - REFERENCE (1830) 1 10 RICAFORT PALACIN Y ABARCA, MARIANO - REFERENCE (1830) 1 7 ROXAS, DOMINGO - REFERENCE (1830) 1 12 ROXAS, DOMINGO - REFERENCE (1831) 1 4 ROXAS, DOMINGO - SIGNATURE (1829) 1 11 SEGUERA, GETRUDIS - CORRESPONDENCE TO JF (1830) 1 2 SMALLPOX - REFERENCE (1825) 1 4 ZUNIGA, RAMON - REFERENCE (1829)