On June 19, 1861, José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba, Laguna. His life is not foreign to most Filipinos, as it has been shown in a great many books and films (TV shows included). Yet, to fully understand Jose Rizal, it helps to examine the time in which he lived. And this starts by looking at the year—1861—that saw the birth of the so-called “First Filipino” (a moniker given to the five-foot-three-inches tall man from Laguna attributed to Leon Ma. Guerrero).
MANILA, PH - DEC. 29: The Martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal large metal statues on December 29, 2016 in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines.
As if to herald Rizal’s birth, the year 1861 was not a particularly quiet one. Globally, it was a year of conflict and, interestingly, a year of transition, which is not different from the life the yet-to-be hero was to live.
Most notable, perhaps, of all the events in 1861 was the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the US, which was soon afterwards followed by the outbreak of the American Civil War in April. Lincoln, much like Rizal, was a man of reform and change, whose actions would influence generations of Americans after him. A curious coincidence? Maybe.
In nearby Mexico, a certain Benito Juárez became president, after a three-year-long war (the Reform War) between liberals and conservatives. Juárez headed the former, again much like Rizal.
Change was also happening in Europe. The year 1861 saw most of Italy uniting as one kingdom for the first time (and since after) under one monarch instead of multiple states. Meanwhile in Russia, the Tsar Alexander II set free all serfs. In the UK, the government formed a commission to investigate child labor supposedly prominent in the country’s textile industry. These developments followed themes of unity, freedom, and social reform, which were also present throughout the life and writings of Rizal.
It is not a stretch to see a connection because these events are fueled by the maturation of the ideas of the Enlightenment, which transformed much of the “modern” world from the 17th to the 18th century, but only reached Philippine shores in the late 19th century (the era of Rizal and his fellow illustrados).
In terms of revolution in technology, industrialization continued to change the labor and social landscape of the west. In the US, telegraph lines connected the country coast to coast, while other discoveries in science were well underway. Back in the UK, the first-ever weather forecast saw print in The Times.
Other notable developments in 1861 include the enactment of the first income tax in the US, to help the government shoulder expenses in mobilizing its army for the Civil War.
Back in our own shores, 1861 had other events worth mentioning. Apart from the birth of Rizal, there was the foundation of Escuela de Artes Y Oficios de Bacolor, now called Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) and recognized as the oldest vocational school in Asia. Also, José Lemery e Ibarrola Ney y González was appointed governor-general of the Philippines.
Not a lot of heroes have their births celebrated, with Rizal and Bonifacio being the most prominent. It is interesting to understand how the world in which they were born shaped how these Filipinos became heroes of their own eras. Curious, isn’t it? The year Jose Rizal was born was a time when the world and even the Philippines was in a period of change, of reform—themes that, undoubtedly, would resonate in the life of the hero from Laguna.