Note 29 — V. The Nineteenth Century and Economic Development

The material progress of the Filipinos wrought great changes in the social population, mind, and structure. Though not affecting the majority of the people, economic advance paved the way for the development of the spirit of independence and criticism, which characterizes an independent and stable middle class. It was that class, which, because of contact with the new ideas brought by the newcomers, and of increasing material power, first questioned the abuses of the government, and demanded social reforms.29