AMERICAN COLONIZATION PERIOD (1898-1946)

Preview of the lesson: The Spanish government invaded the Philippines for 333 long years. Many Filipinos revolted and
sought for independence and reform. After so many years of fighting, the Spaniards freed us but other foreigners came
and colonized us.

The Philippines was freed from the Spanish government after 333 years of colonization.
 The Spanish armada’s defeat from the hands of American forces brought an end to the Spanish
regime in the Philippines. When they came in 1998, the Spanish and American forces pretended
that they will have a battle in Intramuros; the Spanish government wanted the Filipinos to think
that they were protecting us against the Americans. However, truth be told that they sold to us
American forces under the TREATY OF PARIS with very huge price. This was an agreement
between the two countries that all the power and rights of Spain to govern the Philippines will be
transferred to America. Additionally, they wanted the Filipinos to believe that they were just
defeated by the American forces.
June 12, 1898 raised the Philippine flag as a symbol of our independence.
 Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo led the ceremony of raising our flag in his house at Kawit, Cavite; it also
became the day of our independence. He was the first president of the republic but it was just
short-lived. This was because he was the symbol of independence of the country and the
American forces were building their authority to the Filipinos. With Aguinaldo around, the
Filipinos will still be determined to think that they were free. To stop that, the Americans needed
to capture Aguinaldo. Consequently, he was captured in 1901 in Isabela.
Weeks after the American forces overpowered the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, the
military government of the US set up public schools in the country.
 When the Americans came, the Filipinos are still using the Spanish language and it was the
cause of language barrier of the former and latter. Because of this, they needed to spread the
English language so they set up some public schools. Our first teachers were called ‘thomasites’
as they were transported from America to the Philippines. They were American soldiers who
were ordered to teach the Filipinos how to read, write and converse using the English language.
Education became a very important issue for the united states colonial government, since
it allowed it to spread their cultural values, particularly the English language, to the
Filipino people.
 Education and building of public schools were considered necessary to popularize democracy,
train the Filipinos about citizenship and disseminate the English language. The truth was if the
Spaniards used religion to deceive us, this time the Americans used education and democracy to
deceive the Filipinos. They were claiming that the reason of their arrival here in our country was
to teach us about democracy so that no other nation will ever do the same as the Spaniards did.
Further, July 4, 1946, the day of our independence from the hands of American government is
celebrated as the American-Philippine friendship day. This day was made as a friendship day
because the Americans never admitted that they colonized us.
Many Filipino started writing again and the nationalism of the people remain undaunted.
Their writings clearly depicted their love of country and their longings for independence.
 In terms the literature, the greatest portion of Spanish literature was written during the American
period, most often as an expression of the pro-Hispanic nationalism of the elites, who had been
taught by the Spanish friars and whose principles entered in conflict with the American cultural
trends. Besides, most of the Filipino journalists encouraged their countrymen to break the chain
of unquestioning obedience and seek to redress. They were insisting that if we were freed from
the Spaniards after 3 centuries of being colonized, we should be more cautious with the presence
of new foreigners. In simpler words, we should not trust them. The Filipino writers exposed
what was wrong and inimical to public interest. They made their readers aware of the ills of the
society by exposing intolerance and narrow-mindedness. Consequently, the writers exposed the
problems of this era and reflected the true state of the Philippines
 The Commonwealth of the Philippines was born on November 15, 1935 with Manuel L.
Quezon as the first leader. During this period, there was a great emphasis on social justice.
 After Aguinaldo was captured, the country was under the hands of the American government. As
they were insisting democracy to us, they built a new government called Commonwealth headed
by Manuel L. Quezon. Under this, the Filipinos were given 10 years to practice the ways the
Americans run their government. Quezon was also sent to America from time to time so that
he’ll know how they managed their government such as conducting elections and attending to
hearing. With this, our current government is based on America as they were the ones to teach us
about it. However, this was just a way of the new colonizers to manipulate the Filipinos. But as
the pace of Americanization became accelerated, the voices demanding political freedom
gradually waned and new literary themes appeared. One of these was the psychology of the
fallen woman. Most writings during the first few years of American Occupation were confined
to Spanish and Tagalog.
In 1910, a new group started to write in English.
 Some of the prestigious universities that we have now were built during the American period
such as University of the Philippines (UP) and Philippine National University (PNU). The
students studying there were speaking a new language: English. Likewise, this period focused on
social justice. Many laws to improve the life of the poor and the labouring classes were passed.
Thus, the literature of the period showed interest about social consciousness. The stories, essays,
poems and plays centered on the common people.
The writers in this period were inspired to write on nationalism like honoring Rizal and
other heroes.
 Although new government came, the writers were still remembering Rizal and other heroes They
said we should also be willing to risk our lives for the motherland.
 Various literary contests were held and their attractive prizes encouraged much literary output to
be produced. Filipino writers and poets became skillful in the use of English. They tried out their
own forms and conventions to match the mood of the times. The short stories showed a new
sense of freedom in the choice of subject matter, style and language. The play written during this
period were more spontaneous and realistic.
Altogether, this was the most productive period of in the history of Philippine literature in
English and many of the works have excellent quality.

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Three (3) Time Frames:
The Period of Re-Orientation (1898-1910)- English as a literary vehicle came with the American
occupation. By 1908, the primary and intermediate grades were using English.
THE PERIOD OF IMITATION (1910-1924)- The Filipino writers imitated American and British
models which resulted in a stilted, artificial and unnatural style, lacking vitality and spontaneity. The
writers valued more the form over substance.
PERIOD OF SELF-DISCOVERY AND GROWTH (1925-1941)- By this time, Filipino writers had
acquired the mastery of English writing. They went into all forms of writing like the novel and the
drama
Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez- stand out as a model of perfection in character delineation, local
color, plot and message.
Footnote to youth by Jose Garcia Villa
Banaag at Sikat- Lope K. Santos
Ang Isang Punongkahoy- Jose Corazon De Jesus
Ang Panday- Armando V. Hernandez