Biography of Andres Bonifacio

Andres Bonifacio (1863-1897), a Philippine revolutionary hero, founded the Katipunan, a secret ships company which spearheaded the uprising against the Spanish and laid the groundwork for the first Philippine Republic. Andres Bonifacio was natural in Tondo, Manila, on Nov. 30, 1863. He grew up in the slums and knew from practical ingest the actual conditions of the class struggle in his society. Orphaned early, he break his primary schooling in order to earn a funding as a craftsman and then as clerk-messenger and agent of opposed commercial firms in Manila.Absorbing the teachings of classic rationalism from the works of Jose Rizal, Victor Hugos Les Miserables, Eugene Sues The go Jew, books on the French Revolution, and the lives of the chairs of the United States, Bonifacio acquired an understanding of the dynamics of the socio-historical process. This led him to sexual union the Liga Filipina, which Rizal organized in 1892 for the purpose of uniting and intensifying the na tionalist social movement for reforms.When the Liga was dissolved upon the arrest and banishment of Rizal, Bonifacio formed the Katipunan in 1892 and thus provided the pull in point for the peoples agitation for freedom, independence, and equality. The Katipunan patterned its initiation rites after the Masonry, but its ideologic principles derived from the French Revolution and can be judged radical in its materialistic-historical orientation. The Katipunan rarefied work as the source of all value.It directed attention to the unfair class structure of the colonial system, the increased exploitation of the indigenous population, and so the need to affirm the collective strength of the working masses in order to destroy the iniquitous system. When the society was discovered on Aug. 19, 1896, it had near 10,000 members. On August 23 Bonifacio and his followers assembled at Balintawak and agreed to bulge out the armed struggle.Two days later the first skirmish took place and a re ign of terror by the Spaniards soon followed. Conflict split the rebels into the dickens groups of Magdiwang and Magdalo in Cavite, on Luzon. Bonifacio was invited to mediate, only to be rebuffed by the clannish marrow class of Cavite. Judging Bonifacios plans as divisive and harmful to unity, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the elected president of the provisional revolutionary government, ordered the arrest, trial, and execution for treason and sedition of Bonifacio and his brothers.On whitethorn 10, 1897, Bonifacio was executed. Contrary to the popular view, the cause of Bonifacios tragic death at the transfer of other Filipino rebels cannot be solely attributed to his own personal pride. Rather, the correlation of class forces and the adventurist tendency of Bonifacios group led to his isolation and subsequently to Aguinaldos compromises with the American military invaders.