Gabriela Silang was born in the midst of Spanish rule of the Philippines. After becoming a wealthy young widow, her father would then marry her off to the well-off revolutionary Diego Silang. During the Seven Years' War, Spain's alliance with France left Spain and its various colonies subject to attack by Britain, and as such, the British warships intimidated the Philippines to hand over their capital city as they attacked them in surprise. The couple believed this sudden invasion had the potential to become something more, an opportunity for a free Philippines. The Silangs would then unite the working class against the wealthy elite that they had belonged to with the slogan "wrest power from the principales and restore it to the people." It would eventually culminate in the creation of a local militia that kicked Spaniards out of the Vigan region, which was now under British protection.
The Silangs had threatened the society that the rich and privileged had benefited from to a frightening degree, with many calling for their assassination. Gabriela had survived, but unfortunately, Diego had not. After a slight failure, she would organize a military force of over two thousand men and succeed in setting fire to many of the principales' homes. This effort was ultimately upended by enemy archers, cannon balls, and musket weaponry attacking her army. Although Gabriela Silang and her militia would get captured when retreating to her camp, the imagery of her avenging her husband on horseback through a battlefield would be culturally iconic to the women of the Philippines and forever changed what a strong woman was deemed as.