Changing Colonial Lives in the Spanish Philippines, 1790-1810: Looking through the Protocolo de Manila Documents

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This study is to look into colonial lives in Spanish Manila in transition, namely, 1790-1810. For this, "Protocolo de Manila" documents, or notarial deeds,preserved in the National Archives of the Philippines (NAP) were examined. The Protocolo de Manila documents, which have only partially been utilized, prove to be a rich source of information on colonial lives as they contain such as,powers of attorney, last wills, sales contracts, and IOU's.Based on the analysis of the notarial deeds, this study shows that colonial people were well adjusted to the changing socio-economic environment of the day, particularly brought about by the expanding foreign trade based on a growing export economy. As part of its process was the decline of the Chinese carrying trade with Fujian. Manila Chinese who used to derive profits from the Fujian-Manila trade had to seek new economic opportunities for their living. Some of them ventured to invest in the Sulu-Manila trade.