Visiting United

States and Great

Britain
Jose Rizal

RIZAL IN
AMERICA,
1888
I visited the cities of America, with their
grandiose edifices, their electric lights, and their
great conceptions. America is, undoubtedly a
great country, but she has many defects.
-Jose Rizal

 Rizal first saw America on

April 28, 1888.
His arrival in this great
country was marred by racial
prejudice.
He saw the discriminatory
treatment of the Chinese and
the Negros by the white
Americans.

 Saturday, April 28, 1888The steamer Belgic docked at

San Francisco.
American health authorities
did not let the passengers
land for one week because of
the rumored cholera
epidemic.
Rizal was surprised because
he knew there was no cholera
epidemic in the Far East.

 He soon discovered that it

was motivated by politics and
the ship was carrying 643
Chinese coolies.
They displaced white
laborers in railroad
construction ramps.
Administration had to impede
then their entry to favor their
people(white-voters).

May 4, 1888 The day he

was permitted to go ashore
and registered at the
Palace Hotel which was
then considered a firstclass hotel in the city.

Rizal in San Francisco

May 4 to 6, 1888 Rizal stayed
in
San Francisco.
He mentioned in his diary
about Leland Stanford, Stanford
University founder.

 Grover Cleveland was the U.S.

president when Rizal visited.

Across the
American Continent
May 6, 1888 it was Sunday, 4:30 pm,

Rizal left San Francisco for Oakland,

nine miles across San Francisco Bay,
by ferry boat.
May 7, 1888 it was
morning, Rizal awoke and
had a good breakfast at
Reno, Nevada, now
glamorized by American
high-pressure propaganda

Oakland
Sacramento

a
h
a
m
O

Reno

Denver

Chicago

Ogden

Boston
Albany

r
e
v
i
R
n
o
s
d
u
Crossed H

Nebraska

Missouri River

Oakland
Sacramento

a
h
a
m
O

Reno

Denver

Chicago

Ogden

Boston
Albany

r
e
v
i
R
n
o
s
d
u
Crossed H

 Rizal had observed that in Chicago,

every cigar store has an Indian
figure

Oakland
Sacramento

a
h
a
m
O

Reno

Denver

Chicago

Ogden

Boston
Albany

r
e
v
i
R
n
o
s
d
u
Crossed H

Niagara Falls

He compared it with the falls at Los

Baos, saying the latter, though smaller
in size, is more beautiful and finer.

Oakland
Sacramento

a
h
a
m
O

Reno

Denver

Chicago

Ogden

Boston
Albany

r
e
v
i
R
n
o
s
d
u
Crossed H

Hudson River

Rizal in New York

May 13, 1888 it was Sunday

morning when Rizal reached New
York.
He stayed three days
in this city, which he
called the big town.

 Rizal visited the scenic and

historical places in New York.
He was awed and inspired by
the memorials of the former
US president, George
Washington:
He is a great man who,
I think has no equal in
this country.
-Rizal
Ponce)

(in his letter to

May 16, 1888 Rizal left

New York for Liverpool on
board the City of Rome
(the 2nd largest ship at
that time).
He saw the Statue of
Liberty on Bedloe Island.

zals Impressions of America

A. Good
1) Material progress of the
country
as shown in its cities, farms, and
industries
2) The drive and energy of the
Americans
3) The natural beauty of the
land
4) The high standard of living
5) The opportunities for better
life offered to poor immigrants.
B. Bad

Rizals roommate in
Brussels, Jose Alejandrino
(Engineering student that
time in Belgium) have
never been to America so
he asked him of his
impressions of the place.
And Rizal replied:

America is the land par excellence of

freedom but only for the whites.

Life and
Works
in London,
1888-1889

I am dedicating myself
night and day to certain
studies about our
country, its history, its
administration the
very rich collection of
the British Museum, a
collection which cannot
be found anywhere else
is serving my purpose.
For this reason, I will
stay here for a long

Rizals reasons for

staying
in London:
1) To improve his
knowledge on the English
language;
2) To study and annotate
Morgas Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas;
3) London was a safe
place to for him to carry on
his fight againstSpanish

rip Across the Atlantic

On board the ship, City of
Rome
Rizal befriended with the
other passengers of different
nationalities(European,
American), as a naturally
friendly man and because of
his linguistic ability.

 The American and

European passengers
were amused of his
marvelous skill in using
yo yo (a small wooden disc attached to
a string from a finger) as a
weapon.
He told the
unknowing
westerners that a
yo yo is an offensive
weapon, instead of being

 While on board, Rizal met

several American
newspapermen with whom
he discussed current social
and political issues but
could not enjoy the
conversation for their (the
Americans) knowledge on
geo-politics were not as rich
as Rizals.
He arrived at Liverpool,
England on May 24, 1888

Life in London
Rizal went to London on
May 25, 1888.
He stayed for a short time
at the home of Dr. Antonio
Ma. Regidor, an exile of 1872
and a practising lawyer in
London.

 He found a permanent
boarding place at No. 37
Chalcot Crescent, Primrose Hill,
owned by the Beckett family.
The Becketts were Mr.
Becket(organist of St. Pauls
church), his wife, and their
three charming daughters.
The Becketts home was
conveniently near the public
places and the British
Museum where he would do
his extensive research.

 He met Dr. Reinhold Rost,

the librarian of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and an
authority on Malayan
languages and customs.
He called Rizal a pearl of
a man (una perla de
hombre) as he was
impressed by his learning
and character.
connections with the
British Museum auhtorities.

 He religiously studied
several materials on
Philippine History
especially on Antonio de
Morgas Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas which he
annotated.
discussed problems on
Philippine affairs with Dr.
Regidor
learned even more and

Good and Bad News

from Home
*** Bad news:
1) Persecution of the Filipino
patriots in Manila and the
surrounding towns being
involved in the Anti-friar
Manifesto of 1888.
2) The Calamba agrarian
trouble of 1888 in which the
tenants, including the Rizals,
were being persecuted by the

3)Manuel T. Hidalgo (husband of

Saturnina), Rizals brother-inlaw, was exiled to Bohol.
4) Another brother-in-law,
Mariano Herbosa (husband of
Lucia), was denied of Christian
burial because of the malicious
rumor that he had not
confessed since marriage.
5) A friend of Rizal, Laurencio
Viado, a medical student at the
UST, was imprisoned because
of owning a copy of Noli Me

 The only good

news was Rev. Father
Vicente Garcias defense
of the Noli.

nnotating Morgas Work

his greatest achievement in
London
spent many days in the British
Museum poring over materials
about Philippines (Fr. Chirinos,
Fr. Colins, Argensola, Plasencia,
eyc.)
For Rizal Dr. Antonio de
Morgas Sucesos de las Islas

Dr. Antonio de Morga

 He was so dedicated
in his annotation and
other studies that he
even refused to help
edit a newspaper as
requested by Mariano
Ponce.

hort Visit to Paris and Spain

his experience in the place
accompanied by Juan Luna and his
(Luna) family.
he stayed here for a week to
study more historical materials in
the Bibliotheque Nationale
On December 11, 1888- he
visited Madrid and Barcelona
surveyed political situations
regarding the agitation for

Bibliotheque Nationale

 he first met Mariano

Ponce andMarcelo H. del
Pilar
started to be involved
officially in the Propaganda
Movement.

Christmas in London
Christmas and New Years
Day with the Becketts.
his first Christmas on
English soil.
Rizal reflected on the true
meaning of Christmas, not
as a mere holiday but a
remarkable day to
remember Christs birth.

mance With Gertrude Beckett

Rizal had a romantic
interlude with the oldest of the
three Beckett sisters,
Gertrude Beckett.

 Gettie, was a
buxom English girl
with brown hair,
blue eyes and
pink cheeks.
She was attracted to Rizal
and had always loved to be
with him.
and our hero, being away
from home, in turn, found a

Although he did not

pursue his love for Gertrude
because he was still in a
relationship with Leonor
Rivera at the time and
would not want to be
unfaithful.
It was this romantic affair
that drove Rizal to Paris in
1889, leaving London for he
could marry Gertrude.

Writings in London
Other than annotating Morgas
work, Rizal wrote a lot in London
including articles in La
Solidaridad.
La Vision del Fray Rodriguez- a
counter-attack on the irrational
criticisms of Fray Rodriguez on
Noli.

 Under the pseudonym

Dimas Alang, Rizal
satirically attacked Fray
Rodriquez through
presenting a spirited
conversation between the
friar and St. Augustine.
It exposed how
senseless was Fray
Rodriguezs writing and
that it deserves

 Letter to the Women of

Malolos- written in Tagalog.
The Malolos women pursued
the establishment of their
school despite the opposition of
Fr. Felipe Garcia.
The letters main points:
1) Filipino mother should
teach her children love of God,
fatherland and mankind;
2) should be glad, like
Spartan mother to offer her
sons in the defense of the

3) Filipino woman should

know how to preserve her
dignity and honor;
4) should know how she
should educate herself, aside
from retaining her good
racial values;
5) Faith is not merely
reciting long prayers and
wearing religious pictures,
but rather, it is living the real
Christian way, with good

 His articles: 1)Specimens

of Tagalog Folklore and
2)Two Eastern Fables as
requested contributions
from Rizal in Dr. Rosts
Trubners Record.
Specimens of Tagalog
Folklore consists of Filipino
proverbs and puzzles.
Two Eastern Fables was
acomparative study of
Philippine and Japanese

izal Asociacion
and La Solidaridad
HispanoFilipina

the foundation of Asociation

(Hispano-Philippine Association)
Hispano-Filipina on January12,
1889.
Purpose: secure reforms for the

Philippines
It was the society founded by
President: Don Miguel Morayta
the Filipino patriots and their
V-president:
Gen.
Felipe
friend
in Madrid for the
purpose
ofdela
Corte
working
for the needed reforms of
Secretary:
Dominador Gomez
the Propaganda
Movement.
Members: all Filipinos in
Europe, prominent scholars,

...Asociacion HispanoFilipina
(Hispano-Philippine Association)
3 Sections:
1.) Political Section (M.H. del Pilar)
2.) Literary Section (M. Ponce)
3.) Recreation Section (Tomas
Arejola)

Asociacion HispanoFilipina
(Hispano-Philippine Association)
The members met once a month
to discuss Philippine-Spanish
questions.
They drew up petitions and
passed resolutions.

La Solidaridad, Organ
of the Propaganda
Movement
a newspaper founded by
Graciano Lopez Jaena in
Barcelona on February 15,
1889.
La Solidaridad was created
due to the reality that mass
media is important in

La Solidaridad, Organ
of
the Propaganda
Movement
La Solidaridad was printed
in:
Rizal
Barcelona
(Feb.an
15-Oct.
31,
became
active
1889)
contributor
to the newspaper
Madrid
(Nov.
15-Nov.
15,Dimas
(as
Laong
Laan
and
1895)
Alang.

Adios to London
Rizal was forced to leave
London because Gertrudes love
for him has turned serious.
He could not take advantage
of her affection and she would
not be happy because Rizal was
in love with Leonor Rivera.
He decided to move to Paris so
she may forget him.

Before leaving London, he

carved several fine
sculptural works:
1)Prometheus Bound
2)The Triumph of Death
over Life;
3) The Triumph of
Science over Death
4) a composite carving of
the heads of the three
Beckett sisters.
* Later he gave the 2nd and

Prometheus Bound

The Triumph of
Science over Death
(left)
Sacred Heart of Jesus
(center)
The Triumph of Death
over Life (right)

In the middle of March,

1889, Rizal departed
for Paris. He was sad as
he crossed the English
Channel for he had
many beautiful
memories of London.

Mr. Armando Delfino

-Instructor
(SSC108-Rizal and
Other Heroes)
Prepared by:
Rebecca B.
Borromeo
BSE-3 Eng