How Spain Accidentally Conquered the Philippines | 333 Years of Empire

Spain never set out to colonize the Philippines. It was hunting for spices and a shortcut to the Moluccas. Instead it stumbled into 333 years of rule over 7,000 islands, a conquest that would make the Philippines the largest Catholic nation in Asia and reshape Southeast Asia forever. This is the complete story, from the barangays and sultanates that thrived before Magellan's fateful arrival in 1521, through Legazpi's conquest, the galleon trade that linked Asia and the Americas, the brutal encomienda system, centuries of revolts and Moro resistance, the rise of Rizal and the Katipunan, and the revolution that finally ended Spanish rule, only for the islands to be sold to the United States in 1898.