3. Arrival in San Francisco
The steamer Belgic, with Rizal on board,
docked at San Francisco on Saturday
morning- April 28, 1888.
His arrival in this great country was
marred by racial prejudice, for he saw the
discriminatory treatment of Chinese and
the Negroes by the white Americans.
4. Rizal in San Francisco
May 4, 1888, the day he was permitted to
go ashore, Rizal registered at the Palace
Hotel. In his diary,
“I lodged in Palace Hotel; $4 a day with
bath and everything included. ”
He also visited Stanford University at Palo
Alto, California, Duplont Street in
Chinatown.
5. Across the American Continent
On May 6, 1888, Rizal left San Francisco
for Oakland. He got a breakfast at Reno
Nevada which he considered as The
Biggest Little City in the World
6. Rizal in New York
May 13, Rizal reached New York. He
visited scenic and historic places. He was
awed and inspired by the memorial to
George Washington, where he considered
as a great man.
On May 16, he left New York for Liverpool
by the steamer, “City of Rome”- second
largest ship in the world.
7. Rizal’s Impression of America
Rizal had a good and bad impressions of the
United States.
Good impressions: 1. the material progress of
the country as shown in the great cities, huge
farms, flourishing industries, and busy factories;
2. the drive and energy of the American people;
3. the natural beauty of the land; 4. the high
standard of living; and 5. the opportunities for
the better life offered to poor immigrants.
America, is the land par excellence of freedom
but only for the whites.
9. Life in London
May 25, 1888, a day after docking at
Liverpool, Rizal went to London. For a short
time, he stayed as guest at the home of Dr.
Antonio Ma. Regidor, an exile of 1872, and
a practising lawyer in London. Since he lived
near to public parks, he expected to do much
resear work. He came to know Dr. Reinhold
Rost, the librarian of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and an authority on Malayan
languages and customs. Dr. Rost once
called Rizal as “a pearl of a man”(una
perla de hombre).
10. News from Home, Good and Bad.
Both good and bad news came to Rizal
from his home. The bad news were the
injustices by the Spanish authorities on
the Filipino people and the Rizal family.
The good news cheered Rizal, and that
was Rev. Vicente Garcia’s defense of
the Noli against the attacks of the friars.
He heard this good news to Mariano
Ponce.
11. Annotating Morga’s Book
The greatest achievement of Rizal in
London was the annotating of Morga’s
book, Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas(Historical Events of the
Philippines) which was published in
Mexico, 1609. He said to his letter to
Blumentritt that the Book of Morgas
is an excellent work.
12. Short Visit to Paris and Spain
Early in September, 1888, he visited Paris for a week,
in order to search for more historical materials in the
Bibliotheque Nationale. He was entertained in this
gay French metropolis by Juan Luna and his
wife (Paz Pardo de Tavera), who proudly
showed him their little son Andres. On
December 11, 1888, he went to Spain, visiting
Spain, visiting Madrid and Barcelona. For the
first time he met Marcelo H. Del Pilar and
Mariano Ponce, two titans of the Propaganda
Movement. He exchanged ideas with these new
friends and promised to cooperate in the fight
for reforms.
13. Rizal becomes leader of Filipinos
in Europe
While Rizal is busy in learning about Historical studies in
London, Rizal learned that Filipinos in Barcelona are
planning to establish a patriotic society which would
cooperate in the crusade for reforms. This society is
called Asociacion La Solidaridad(Solidaridad
Association) and it was inaugurated on December
31, 1888 with the following officers: Galicano
Apacible, president; Graciano Lopez-Jaena, vice-
president; Manuel Santa Maria, secretary; Mariano
Ponce, treasurer; and Jose Ma. Panginaban,
accountant. By unanimous vote of all the members,
Rizal was chosen honorary president. As the leader, he
wrote a letter addressed to the members of the society, on
January 28, 1889 where he expressed his thanks for the
honor of making him honorary president.
14. Rizal and the La Solidaridad
Newspaper
On February 15, 1889, Graciano Lopez- Jaena
founded the patriotic newspaper called La
Solidaridad in Barcelona, where he was the residing. This
was a fortnightly periodical which served as the organ of
the Propaganda Movement. It aims as follows: (1) to work
peacefully for political and social reforms;(2) to portray the
deplorable conditions of the Philippines so that Spain may
remedy them; (3) to oppose the evil forces of reaction and
medievalism; (4) to advocate liberal ideas and progress;
(5) to champion the legitimate aspirations of the Filipinos
people to life, democracy and happiness. Rizal
congratulated Jaena and his associates in founding the La
Solidaridad. As evidence of his approval and cooperation,
he prepared articles for the periodical which were
subsequently published.
15. First Article in La Solidaridad
Rizal’s first article which appeared in La
Solidaridad was entitled Los
Agricultores Filipinos (The Filipino
Farmers). It was published on March
25, 1889, six days after he left London
for Paris.
16. Writings in London
He received an unabated attack on his
Noli by Fray Rodriguez. In defense, he
wrote a pamphlet entitled La Vision
del Fray Rodriguez which was published
in Barcelona under his nom-de-plume
Dimas Alang. This opus is a satire
depicting a spirited dialogue between St.
Augustine and Fray Rodriguez.
17. Romance with Gertrude Beckett
Rizal had a romantic interlude with the oldest of
the three Beckett sisters- Gertrude, Gettie- as
she was affectionately called, was a buxom
English girl with brown hair, blue eyes, and rosy
cheeks. She fell in love with Rizal. Rizal, being a
man of normal emotions, found exhilarating joy
in Gertude’s company. Their friendship drifted
towards romance. Before leaving London,
he finished four sculptural works, (1)
Prometheus Bound, (2) The Triumph of
Death over Life, (3) The Triumph of Science
over Death, (4) A compositive carving of the
head of the Beckett sisters.
18. Adios, London
Suddenly on Maech 19, 1889, Rizal
bade goodbye to the kind Beckett
Family and left London for Paris. He
was sad as he crossed the English
Channel, he cherished so many
beautiful memories of London.
19. ACTIVITY #3
CITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE RACIAL
DISCRIMINATION IN UNITED STATES DURING
THE TIME OF DR. RIZAL AND MAKE A REACT
PAPER ABOUT IT. DISCUSS IT BRIEFLY.
REACTION PAPER CONTENT:
I. INTRODUCTION
II. BODY
III. CONCLUSION
INCLUDE THE CITATION/VIDEO/JOURNAL URL YOU
USED IN THIS ACTIVITY.
