Schurman: The Philippines (1900) – Summary
themselves and need guidance
The Philippines
- 120,000 sq. miles of area
- Luzon: 40,000 sq. miles.
- Visayas
o Panay, Negras, Cebu, Samar,
Leyte, etc.
- Mindanao
- The Archipelago raises: hemp (nice),
rice, coffee, and pepper.
- The Caribou is the answer for all
transportation purposes.
- 6,500,000/8,000,000 were
Christianized as Roman Catholics
- Three great races
o Negritos (oldest inhabitants)
Their homes are on the
slopes and mountains of
Luzon, Mindoro, Panay,
and Negros.
25,000 estimated number
o Indonesians
Uneducated and live
mostly in Mindanao
~500,000 in number
o Malayans
They have 47 tribes
They speak in dialects
which are unintelligible to
each other
- Manila
o Does not represent the entirety
of the Nation
o A great cosmopolitan city
o Civilization
- Schurman goes around visiting Sulu,
Negros, etc., meeting Sultans and
Artists.
- The rest of the article basically
espouses the “white man’s burden”
narrative.
o How Filipinos can’t govern
from America
o And how it’s their job to ‘teach’
Filipinos on how to govern
themselves.
o “Complete self-government
would be a calamity.”
o The form of governance is very
Manila-centric.
- However, Schurman recognizes the
need to find out the needs of the
Filipino people first, and then, adapt
their government style based on our
needs.
o Schurman highlighted the
importance of entering into
agreements with the Philippine
south.
- Filipinos are idealistic and intelligent;
however, they lack independence.
- Filipino masses are densely ignorant,
superstitious, and uneducated.
- Schurman also points out that while
Filipinos have strayed away from
“barbarism”, The Philippines still would
not rank among Europe and America.
- Key words: mission, responsibility,
self-governance, intervention
Conclusion: This article is a joke. Its friendly
demeanor is a façade for putting down the
Philippines and the Filipinos, all the while
legitimizing their colonial presence at the
time. While they ‘plan’ to try to recognize the
needs of the Filipinos, it’s still within their
discretion whether they will act on them.
Tbh, if you get called to recit on this, just
rant about white man’s burden, and you’re set.
Good luck!