How did Rizal develop his nationalist aspirations?

RIZAL was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered a national hero of the Philippines, and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.

The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Sto Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Unibersidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages. He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El filibusterismo. These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries against the Spanish colonial authorities.

As a political figure, Jose Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.

 

To be a native boy, living in the Philippine island during the Spanish colonization, it would be like experiencing great daily humiliation. A child need not to be smart to be able to see and understand what is happening around him during those times. Most probably he will see his neighbors, friends, relatives, brothers, sisters, or even parents get their piece of humiliation in front of him. Most kids would surely have in his mind fear… fear from the colonizers. But this one boy is special, his name is Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado.
His father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, an industrious farmer whom Rizal called "a model of fathers," came from Biñan, Laguna; while his mother, Teodora Alonzo y Quintos, a highly cultured and accomplished woman whom Rizal called "loving and prudent mother," was born in Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila. At the age of 3, he learned the alphabet from his mother; at 5, while learning to read and write, he already showed inclinations to be an artist. He astounded his family and relatives by his pencil drawings and sketches and by his moldings of clay.

During his childhood he had seen a lot of misdeeds of the Spanish colony and what small people did to stop it. In his tiny eyes he had witnessed how his teachers—The GOMBURZA—were humiliated and executed due to false blames and injustice. His own mother was taken to jail because of again false blames. At school, native students were often maltreated and compared to Spanish students. His brother was then became a member of a secret society whose objective is to protect and to create order in the country. People everywhere are whispering in secret to create and rise up against the colonizers.

The first signs of nationalism appeared at the age 8, the young Pepe wrote a Tagalog poem, "Sa Aking Mga Kabata," the theme of which revolves on the love of one’s language. Later he would join his brother’s group and fight for the equality for all. At his school in Manila, he fought against his friar teachers and showed that the natives as well can do what other Spanish students can do.
Later he was sent to Spain to study and to advocate for the rights of his fellow natives. He wrote in a newspaper called La Solidaridad which exposed the maltreatment done to his country. He advocated for rights and reforms to change the way the Spanish rule in the Philippine islands.

While out in other countries he wrote the novels Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo to open the eyes of his fellowmen. He wanted them to see and realize how grim their situation is and to do something about it. However, he later said that he did not meant bloody revolutions what he meant was to create peaceful solutions such as education and governmental reforms. In doing so, he woke up the sense of nationalism here in the country.

All in all the nationalism he spread later led to the sense of being a Filipino which later led to the independence that we experience now. We now have our identity and not only regarded as a colony but the sovereign Filipino people.