SS 1C – Readings in Philippine History
008 – The American Period Political Cartoons
The American Period Political Cartoons
 The United States of America, following
Spain, occupied the Philippines between
1899 and 1946.
 The archipelago was the largest among the
territories that the US took over from Spain,
including Puerto Rico and Cuba.
 In spite of the dominance of American
imperialistic acts, the development of
publishing industry and newspapers brought
out innovative expressions of protest from
liberal-minded Filipinos.
 The period saw the rise of editorial cartoons
in many news papers, magazines, and other
publications, making caricature of the
political and social conditions of the times.
 Even in the United States at the time,
American satirical cartoonist were
unforgiving.
o Criticizing the American acquisition
of the Philippines at the turn of the
20th century, some magazines
denigrated new colony but some
also exposed the hypocrisy of the
America political establishment in its
policy towards the Philippines.
 The blackboard contains the lessons
learned from Great Britain on how to govern
a colony and bring them into the civilized
world, stating,
o “... By not waiting for their consent
she has greatly advanced the
world's civilization. — The U.S. must
govern its new territories with or
without their consent until they can
govern themselves.”
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 Veneration of Britain’s treatment of colonies
as a positive model attest to the significant
shift in the American world view given U.S.
origins in relation to the mother country.
Even the Civil War is referenced, in a wall
plaque:
o “The Confederate States refused
their consent to be governed; but the
Union was preserved without their
consent.”
 Refuting the right of indigenous rule was
based on demonstrating a population’s lack
of preparation for self-governance.
The image exhibits a racist hierarchy that places
1. a dominant white American male in the
center, and
2. on the fringes, an African American washing
the windows and
3. Native-American reading a primer upside
down.
4. China, shown gripping a schoolbook in the
doorway, has not yet entered the scene.
5. Girls are part of the obedient older class
studying books labeled “California, Texas,
New Mexico, and Arizona.”
6. The only non-white student in the older
group holds the book titled “Alaska” and is
neatly coifed in contrast to the unruly new
class made up of the “Philippines, Hawaii,
Porto Rico, and Cuba.” All are depicted as
dark-skinned and childish.
The Forbidden Book
 It caricatures how the US military, through
President William McKinley, banned the
American media in covering and reportage
of Filipino Activities, especially rebellion and
insurgency, during the protected Philippine-
American War. For the American
government what was transpiring then was
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SS 1C – Readings in Philippine History
008 – The American Period Political Cartoons
not war but insurgency.
 A Chicago Chronicle cartoon in January
1900 showed President McKinley
preventing Uncle Sam from reading the
“Forbidden Book” about the “true history of
the war in the Philippines.”
 February 4, 1899, the United States went to
war based on a false claim that Filipinos
began attacking American soldiers in
Manila.
o The first shots were actually fired by
an American soldier as Filipinos
crossed a bridge, and historians
would later discover a “prearranged
plan” by U.S. military to precipitate a
war as soon as an incident was
provoked.
 Misled by false reports, the Senate passed
(by one vote) a treaty to annex the
Philippines.
 President McKinley would later justify the
war by claiming that God had counseled
him to take the Philippines in order to
civilize and Christianize the Filipinos.
 What was really behind the annexation was
the need for overseas markets and raw
materials for the American industry.
 Opposition to the war was led by the Anti-
Imperialist League who members included
many prominent Americans:
o presidential candidate William
Jennings Bryan,
o suffragist Jane Addams,
o labor leader Samuel Gompers,
o African American activist Ida Wells
Barnett, and
o writer Mark Twain.
 The “anti-imperialists” were branded as
traitors by “pro- expansionists” and Filipinos
were depicted as savages in order to de-
legitimize their resistance to American
occupation.
“Progresista Voters”, it
shows how the Progresista
Party (formerly Federalista
Party that advocated for
Philippine sisterhood under
US) changed stance when
rural voters tipped the vote
for the party to support
Philippine Independence.
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Lipang Kalabaw
 Lipang Kalabaw is a satirical-political
entertainment weekly Tagalog magazine
that circulated in the Philippines in three
different periods: 1907-1909, 1922-24, and
1947-48
 Owned and edited by Lope K. Santos, the
Lipang Kalabaw of 1907-09 tackled the
relevant issues of politics, society, and
culture of the day.
 The caricatures of the famous personalities
of the era made it a very controversial
magazine. According to art historians, this
early Lipang Kalabaw caricatures were
drawn by Jorge Pineda. The magazine
folded in 1909, as a result of pressure from
the government.
 Issued – Lipang Kalabaw - festivity of the
Filipinos celebrating the election of their
popular candidate, Fernando Ma. Guerrero.
 Americans who witnessed the event were
bothered by the massive show support by
Filipino patriots and the singular display of
the American flag amidst banners and
Philippine flags.
 Philippine Commission passed on August
23, 1907 – Act No. 1696 – the Flag Law –
banned the public display of the Philippine
flag and other patriotic banners.
 Issued – Lipang Kalabaw – July 27, 1907 –
Philippine Assembly candidate Dominador
Gomez delivering a final blow to the
crucified freedom fighters, he was blamed
for the deaths of the freedom fighters and
believed he betrayed the Filipino rebels to
the Americans.
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SS 1C – Readings in Philippine History
008 – The American Period Political Cartoons

First Independence Mission

 February 23, 1919 – Then Senate President
Manuel L. Quezon headed the First
Independence Mission, left Manila for
United States.
 The first Independence Mission submitted a
memorial to both houses of the US
Congress requesting America to grant
independence to the Philippines because
the Filipinos were certainly ready for it.

Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
 The first US law passed for the
decolonization of the Philippines. The law
promised Philippine independence after 10
years, but reserved military and naval bases
for the Unites States as well as imposing
tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports.
 It was passed by the US Congress on
December 1932, but was vetoed by US
President Herbert Hoover. Congress then
overrode the veto on January 17, 1933.
 Senate President Manuel L. Quezon urged
the Philippine Senate to reject the bill, which
it did. The Philippine Senate advocated a
new bill that won the support of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. The result was the
Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934.
Campaign for Philippine Independence
Tydings-McDuffie Act
 It provided for the drafting of guidelines of
the Constitution for a 10-year “transition
period” which became the Commonwealth
of the Philippines before granting of
Philippine Independence.
 The US will maintain military forces in the
Philippines, furthermore, during this period,
the American President was granted the
power to call military service to all military
forces in the Philippine government.
 It permitted the maintenance of US naval
bases, within this region, for two years after
independence.
 The act classified all Filipinos that were

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SS 1C – Readings in Philippine History
008 – The American Period Political Cartoons
living in the United States as aliens for the
purpose of immigration to America.
 Filipinos were no longer allowed to work
legally in the US, and a quota of 50
immigrants per year was established.

Relevance
 Illustrations and photographs play a large
part in the study of history. These sources
have stories to tell and enable us to
distinguish details that give us insights into
something beyond the text.
 They are also record of the past useful for
historians.
 Photographs and illustrations reflect social
conditions of historical; realities and
everyday life and indicate the situation of
past societies.
 Editorial cartoons, on the other hand, are
sources of political expressions or
propaganda in the historical era which they
came out.

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