To the degree that intellectual development lagged in the New World, the Societies also had to fight an uphill battle to popularise Enlightenment thinking in the context of a very conservative culture. Members were generally drawn from the local aristocracy, the university faculty if there was one in the city, professionals (e.g. lawyers), and skilled artisans. It is noteworthy that in the New World colonies, the later independence movements' first members were drawn from the same social categories. Some of the groups in the Americas also strayed into activity that bordered on the political, and were punished by having their legal licenses revoked, which forced them to close, as happened repeatedly to the Society in Guatemala, for example. In some cities, the actual amount of useful work done was little, and they were rather more like faddish pet projects of a local intellectual and withered with the departure of the main personality who had gotten it started. In the Philippines The Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Manila was founded in 1781. Composed of leading men in business, industry and profession, the society was tasked to explore and exploit the islands' natural resources. The society led to the creation of Plan General Economico of Governor-General José Basco y Vargas, 1st Count of the Conquest of Batanes Islands, which implemented the monopolies on the areca nut, tobacco, spirited liquors and explosives. It offered local and foreign scholarships, besides training grants in agriculture and established an academy of design. It was also credited to the carabao ban of 1782, the formation of the silversmiths and gold beaters guild and the construction of the first papermill in the Philippines in 1825. The society was introduced in the Philippines in 1780, vanished temporarily in 1787-1819, 1820–1822 and 1822-1875 and ceased to exist at the end of the 1890s, when the United States took over as a colonial power. Legacy In the larger view, the work of the New World Economic Societies was important for bringing Enlightenment ideas to the Spanish colonies, which was a necessary precondition for independence struggles after 1810. Some of the societies published essays on new developments in agriculture, industry, and other fields; they often advocated for relaxation of Imperial mercantilist economic regulation, with occasional (though short-lived) success. The Society in Santiago de Chile offered classes to the public in various trades, even venturing into teaching rhetoric, painting and