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Christianity became a part of the filipino culture since 1565 when Miguel López de Legazpi, the Spanish governor, arrived in Cebu. Legazpi had three main ambitions in conquering in the Philippines. He wanted to use the island to trade with other Asian countries, become allies with China and Japan, and force the entire Filipino population to have faith through Christianity. To make the Philippines focus on one specific religion, the Spaniards forced the state correlate with the church. Filipinos were not able to escape the idea of believing in one almighty God because the religion was shown everywhere.
Christianity being inevitable made Filipinos very religious, for example Kirsten’s grandma is genuinely obligated to believe in God. She follows the religion’s standards by praying the rosary everyday and to shadow the Ten Commandments because she believes that God has absolute power. Her belief influenced the family to believe in God, thus the future generations committed to trust Him in accepting that He has a plan for everyone. Other than that, the Spaniards strict law of Filipinos becoming Catholic resulted in having at least one family member possessing the name Mary. When looking at the past relatives, reach generation has a female with the name of Mary. The Spanish wanted girls to have that name because Jesus’ mother is Mary. In Spain, the Spaniards believed that Mary is an important women because she created the man who saved them from their sins.Thus, the Spaniards wanted the Filipinos to convert to Christianity to make them realize how important these figures are.
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Spaniards forcing a belief influenced Kirsten’s family to be more religious by making an organization that dealt with a church. The Spanish wanted local leaders to create an association in local communities so more Filipinos would learn about the religion. The religious clubs created the principales, which pertains to a body of Filipinos having privileges and wealth. Since Kirsten’s ancestors created an organization, her past relatives were well educated because the Spaniards allowed them to attend College. Her family members were able to become highly skilled professions. Being experts on a particular topic gave the family leeway to find a job easier. Thus, when her ancestors found a suitable business, they were able to send their kids to school for a successful life as well. If it was not for the organization, then Kirsten’s family would have never gotten a chance to endure a prosperous life.
Other than owning a club for the church, new immigrants have also influenced Kirsten’s older generation to strive hard. The Philippines became financially unstable due to the Spaniards failing to trade with China. When the Chinese were unable to export goods, Philippines’ economy went downhill because of the significant loss of money. To manage exchanging materials, numerous amount of Chinese settled in Manila that the Island became over populated with more Chinese than the Spanish. Having the Chinese travel for business influenced many Filipinos to strive hard. Thus, Kirsten’s ancestors have always impacted the future generations’ lives by guiding them for a better future. Without the ancestors, Kirsten’s family would not be abounded with successful occupations.
Philippines' History: |
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Since the 1520s, it was typical for a Filipino to marry either a Chinese or Spaniard. There were multiple of foreigners who migrated in the Philippines that it seemed like almost every Filipino has mixed heritage for example, looking at Kirsten’s ancestry, she is Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish. In AD, the Chinese were the first group who traveled to the Philippines. They went to the country for trading purposes with Filipinos in local towns. Hence, the Chinese started to live in Philippines’ capitol, Manilla. Kirsten’s great Chinese grandfather met her great Filipino grandmother in Manilla, which is where they settled and made the city their hometown.
Since the treaty of Alcacovas allowed the Portugal to have access to the south of Canary Islands in 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, landed in the Philippines to conquer it for Spain. Filipinos were under the Spanish ruing in the 16th century when King Phillip 11 wanted to bring the Spanish culture to the Philippines. As more Spaniards were settling in urban towns, Kirsten’s great grandparents in her father’s side met and fell in love. Similar to her mother’s side of the family, they lived in Manilla which is where the grandparents met and made Kirsten’s mother and siblings.
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Dr José Rizal, a naturalist enthusiast, influenced American to defeat the Spanish ruling. As filipinos believed that Americans were helping to fight for freedom, America began controlling the Philippines. Similar to the Spaniards, Americans main intention was to americanize the Philippines economy and social relations. As early as Kindergarten, English was taught in school in the Philippines. By college, Filipinos were able to speak fluent English.
Kirsten’s mother and siblings had it easy because majority of the time their parents spoke to them in English, which resulted in becoming a natural language. Her grandparents did not communicate in their native tongue because they wanted their children to move the America for a better future. The American language helped Kirsten’s mother and siblings find a sufficient job in the United States. Even though they were not Caucasian, successful businesses hired them because of their excellent use of English.
Kirsten’s mother and siblings had it easy because majority of the time their parents spoke to them in English, which resulted in becoming a natural language. Her grandparents did not communicate in their native tongue because they wanted their children to move the America for a better future. The American language helped Kirsten’s mother and siblings find a sufficient job in the United States. Even though they were not Caucasian, successful businesses hired them because of their excellent use of English.
Becoming familiar with the English Language has helped Kirsten’s generation live a better lifestyle. If it was not for the American Era in the Philippines, her parents would have a difficult time living in the United States. Other than that, her family would have trouble with moving to America since Americans limited the immigrant population. Moving to America has led Kirsten’s generation to not experience the hardships of living in a Third World country. Although Americas economy is weak, citizens are able to posses food, shelter, and transportation. Thus, the benefits in America gave leverage for Kirsten’s family to survive easier.
The Women’s Rights Movement:
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America is a diversely gender country. Women are allowed to do masculine activities, while it is acceptable for men to do feminine labor. Both genders are capable of having the same amount of freedom. However, gender quality was not automatically appreciative, instead it was fought for. In the 19th century, women were angry for not having the same rights as men did. Through the hardships of striking for more than 30 years, American females have got what they wanted.
The Women’s Rights movement made it possible to prove that girls are capable to live without guys physically and emotionally. In the early centuries, women were only essential to produce a son as their offspring. A boy was the ideal child because people considered that males have a higher survival rate than females. Men perceive themselves as the dominant gender and that women are weak In order for girls to get through life, they must obey the males. If it was not for the Women's Rights Movement, the “weaker” gender’s health would be emotionally damaged due to the requirement of serving a man. Believing that girls are dependent can affect their emotional state because they would not have confidence in themselves to do anything. The females would start to hate themselves due to the negative stereotypes of being powerless. Thus, if there is a lack of motivation, it will result in never wanting to achieve a goal since they have accepted that their gender is not acceptable.
Since people believe that women were weak, the occupational status was another major reason why women fought for equality. Females were only hired to get jobs that needed little work such as, washing dishes and cleaning clothes. They seemed to be delicate for doing a heavy job that men do, for example building a house. The reason was not because women were not capable of lifting heavy loads, it was also due to the absence of intellectualism that females posses. Girls were not allowed to be highly skilled professions because people assumed that they were too dumb.
The people in the movement’s hard work and dedication inspired future girls to have a better future. Now there are laws stating how girls are able to achieve a higher education by going to college. These type of laws has helped individuals strive hard and prove that they do not need to be dependent on someone else. Girls can now be proud and grateful to earn a degree and to show how smart they are. Allowing females become professionals allows them to display their abilities and not waste their talent. For example, it would be a waste if a female is not allowed to enhance knowledge on her favorite subject only because were gender is known to be naive.
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The history that the movement has faced in the 1920s shaped Americans’ lives for the better. No gender is perfect than the other because females and males both have flaws. People should not be segregated because both genders play different significant roles and duties. They have to depend on each other in order to live a sustainable life.