This volume belongs to the landmark 55-volume series, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, which compiled and translated thousands of primary source documents from Spanish archives, making them accessible to an English-speaking audience following the American acquisition of the Philippines. Volume 19 focuses on a critical two-year period, 1620–1621, under the administration of Governor Alonso Fajardo de Tenza, revealing the internal and external pressures on the Spanish colony. The documents, including letters and official reports, detail administrative disputes, the immense difficulties caused by the obligatory, unpaid labor (repartimientos) levied on Indigenous populations for shipbuilding, and the continuous naval threat posed by the Dutch in the region. It also highlights the strategic importance of Manila as the nexus of trans-Pacific and Oriental commerce, and includes a major part of the Memorial y relación by Hernando de los Rios Coronel, the procurator-general who was sent to Spain to appeal for aid and reforms for the embattled colony.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol. 19, 1020-1621)