The province´s name is derived from the Tagalog word kawit, meaning 
"hook", which refers to the shape of the peninsula. This place was a
port of Spanish vessels, including the galleons from Mexico.

Colonizers arriving in the late 16th century saw an unusual tongue
of land thrust into Manila Bay and saw its value as the main
staging ground from where they could launch their bulky galleons.
Formed in the shape of a hook, which in Tagalog is called kawit ,
it became the most important port linking the colony to the outside
world.

   What is now Cavite City was once a mooring place for Chinese
junks trading that came to trade with the settlements around
Manila Bay. In 1571, Spanish colonizers founded the port and city
of Cavite and fortified the settlement as a first line of defense for
the city of Manila. Galleons were built and fitted at the port and
many Chinese merchants settled in the communities of Bacoor
and Kawit, opposite the Spanish city to trade silks, porcelain and
other Oriental goods. The vibrant mix of traders, Spanish seamen
and local residents gave rise to the use of pidgin Spanish called
chabacano.

   In 1614, the politico-military jurisdiction of Cavite was
established covering all the present territory except for the
town of Maragondon, which used to belong to the corregimiento
of Mariveles. Maragondon was ceded to Cavite in 1754. Within
Maragondon was a settlement established in 1663 for Christian
exiles from Ternate, Mollucas.

   Owing to its military importance, Cavite was attacked by
foreigners in their quest to conquer Manila and the Philippines.
The Dutch made a surprise attack on the city in 1647, founding the
port incessantly, but were repulsed. In 1672, the British
occupied the port during their two-year interregnum in the
Philippines. American forces attacked the Spanish squadron in
Cavite. The Spanish defeat marked the end of Spanish rule in the
country.

   Missionary orders acquired and enlarged vast haciendas in Cavite
during the 18th and 19th century. These haciendas became the
source of bitter agrarian conflicts between the friar orders and
Filipino farmers and pushed a number of Cavitenos to live as outlaws.
This opposition to the friar orders was an important factor that drove
many Cavite residents to support reform, and later, independence.

   In 1872, a mutiny by disgruntled navy men in Cavite led to a
large-scale crackdown on reformers and liberals. Three Filipino
priests – Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora- were
executed and dozens others sent into exile. In 1896, after the
outbreak of the Philippine Revolution, Cavite took center stage as
thousands of Katipuneros liberated most of the province's towns.

   On August 26, 1896, when the Philippine revolution against Spain
broke out, Cavite became a bloody theatre war. Led by Emilio
Aguinaldo, Cavitenos made surprise attacks on the Spanish
headquarters and soon liberated the whole province.

   Emilio Aguinaldo, the first Philippine president came from the town of
Kawit and directed the conduct of the Revolution from his base in the
province. He agreed to go into exile in December 1897, but returned
to the Philippines in May 1898. On June 12, he declared Philippine
independence from the balcony of his home in Kawit.

   The Americans established civil government in the province in 1901.
The naval station in Sangley Point became the chief American naval
base in the country.

   The Japanese targeted the naval base during the first wave of attacks
on military installations in the Philippines.

   Cavite and its people, what they are today, and what will be tomorrow
will remain their infinity, as a place with a glorious history, and a
people fortified with strength to live and die for a worthy cause.