THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

Ruled by Spain
- the Philippines were a Spanish colony for nearly three hundred and thirty years, and the locals had been crying for independence
for decades.
Finally independence was granted to the colony in 1898. Expecting support from other countries such as the United States, the
Philippines were celebrating their newly found independence.

Treaty of Paris
- on April 11, 1899, John Hay the Secretary of State signing the Paris of Treaty. In this treaty Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam, and
Puerto Rico to the United States for about $20 million dollars after the Spanish American War. This gave the U.S. three more
colonies to control.
The Filipinos had not been consulted about American rule.

War Breaks Out!

- Soon after the Treaty of Paris was signed two battles broke out between the Americans and the Filipinos, the First was between the
Moros (or Muslims) in Mindanao and lasted until 1912.
The Americans set up a government with no regard to the Moros culture and religion which caused a war to break out.

War Tactics
- Filipino leader Emelio Aguinaldo began guerilla war tactics against the American, hiding in bamboo thickets and bushes; both
armies commenced war through guerilla tactics. By the end of 1902, seven thousand Americans had been killed and more than two
hundred thousand Filipinos had died.

Anti-Filipino Attitudes
- Under America’s rule, the Filipinos were denied employment and while inhabitants had more rights.
The Filipinos were upset with America because they thought America was going to support them in their independence; however
America did not trust them. These “Anti-Filipino” feelings resulted in raids and revolts and overall unhappiness.
This was a newspaper published on March 23rd, 1899, and it was not uncommon to see titles like this one.

America Begins to Benefit

- Though there were many things that were seen as negative for the Filipinos, America also tried to help them as best they could.
They adapted college or higher level education in the colony and taught them better ways to survive.

Filipinization
- During America’s era of control, “Filipinization” was allowed.
Filipinization was a compromise that allowed colonial authorities some government action. Elite citizens in the colony were elected
as a member of the Philippine Commission, which was allowed to draft acts and have a potential say in the government. Taken in
1914, this photo shows the Philippine Commission, and many mayors of different villages.

Road to Independence
- At the Manila Grand Opera House, the Filipinos established their want for independence. President Theodore Roosevelt addressed
the Philippine Assembly and addressed their fellow delegates and proclamation, and the path to independence had started.

Freedom At Last!
- On July 4th 1946, the United States Government restored full independence in the Philippines. After battling different imperial
powers for years, the Filipinos finally achieves their dreams. They were ahead of other countries trying to gain their freedom from
the beginning, and that is why they were successful.

1901 - 1935
The American Period

“The Philippines are ours not to exploit, but to develop, civilize, educate, and to train in the science of self-governmnet” - William
McKinley

1. Political
2. Social
3. Economic

POLITICAL

The American Colonial Government

A. The Taft Commission
B. Civil Government
C. Philippine Bill of 1902
D. Philippine Assembly
E. Resident Commissioners
F. The Filipinization of the Government
G. The Jones Law of 1916
H. The Wood-Forbes Mission
I. The OSROX Mission
A. The Taft Commission
- created on March 16, 1900
- Also known as The Second Philippine Commission
- Headed by Judge William Howard Taft.
- members: Luke E. Wright
Henry C. Ide
Dean C. Worcester
Bernard Moses

- establish a civl government in the Philippines

- to train the Filipinos in self-government
- guided by a set of instructions issued to it on April 7, 1900 bt McKinley.
Those instructions were drafted by Secretary of War, Elihu Root

- Arrived in Manila on June 3, 1900

- $1,000,000 for building, and repairing roads and bridges
- from September 1900 to August 1902, it enacted more than 400 laws.
- In September 1901, it was expanded to include three pro-American Filipino as members.
They were: Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera
Benito Legarda
Jose Luzurriaga

B. Civil Government
- Inaugurated on July 4, 1901
- William Howard Taft as the First Civil Governor
- In 1905: Governor-General
- Gov. Taft exercised both executive and legislative functions
- his policy “the Philippines for the Filipinos” made him popular among the Filipinos
- Taft served until December 1903

C. Philippine Bill of 1902

- also known as the Cooper Act
- sponsored by U.S. Representative Henry A. Cooper of Wisconsin.
- on July 1, 1902, the Philippine Bill of 1902 was passed by Congress. It created the Philippine Assembly.

Among the key provisions of the Philippine Bill of 1902 were:

1. A bill of right for the Filipinos;
2. The appointment of two Filipino resident commissioners to represent the Philippine in the U.S. Congress, but without voting
rights;
3. The establishment of a Philippine Assembly to be elected by the Filipinos two years after the publication of a census and only after
peace has been completely restored in the country. The Philippine Assembly would be the lower house of the legislature while the
Philippine Commission would be the upper house.
4. Executive power would be exercised by the Civil Governor who would have several executive departments under him such as
Interior, Public Information, Finance and Justice and Commerce and Police.
5. Conservation of the country’s natural resources for the Filipinos.

D. Philippine Assembly
- On July 30, 1907, the first free national elections were held in the Philippines for members of all the Filipino lawmaking body.
- Hundreds of candidates campaigned under many new political parties
- 80 delegates won, most of them came from the Nacionalista Party.
- Inaugurated on October 16, 1907 at the Manila Grand Opera House.
Speaker: Sergio Osmena
Majority Floor Leader : Manuel L. Quezon

E. Resident Commissioners
The Philippine Bill of 1902 gave the Filipinos the right to be represented by two Filipino resident commissioners (Benito Legarda and
Pablo Ocampo) in the United States Congress.
- They could speak out for or against any bill in Congress affecting the Philippines.
- Manuel L. Quezon served from 1909 to 1916.
- Considered one of the greatest Filipino resident commissioners.
- Spoke out strongly against those they considered harmful to Filipino interests.

F. The Filipinization of the Government

- America made it a policy to appoint qualified Filipinos to government positions.
- A number of prominent Filipinos were named to high positions.
- In 1903, there were more Americans (2,777) in the government than Filipinos (2,697)
- In 1904, the number rose to 3,377 compared to 3,228 Americans.
- Cayetano Arellano was named Chief Justice of the Philippines Supreme Court.
- Florentino Torres became Attorney General
- By 1908, Gregorio Araneta was named Secretary of Finance and Justice
G. The Jones Law of 1916
- signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 19, 1916
- also known as the Philippine Autonomy Act.
- sponsored by. U.S. representative William Atkinson Jones of Virginia.

- it contained American’s promise to give independence to the Philippines.

- gave the Filipinos greater participation in the government.
- it defined the structure of the government, the powers and duties of the officials, and provided for a bill of rights for the Filipinos.

Executive Power : Governor-General (an American)

Appointed by the President of the United States.

Legislative Power : exclusive to the Filipinos

Created two houses : the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Philippine Senate (upper house).

Judicial Power : Chief Justice (Filipino) and Associate Justice (Filipino and American)
Appointed by the President of the United States.

On October 3, 1916, elections were held for the new Philippine Legislature.
- it was formally inaugurated on October 16, 1916.
- Sergio Osmena was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- Manuel L. Quezon became President of the Senate.

H. The Wood-Forbes Mission

- General Leonard Wood and Governor-GEneral W. Cameron Forbes stayed in the Philippines for four months.
- in October 1921, the mission submitted its report to the president that the Filipinos were not yet prepared for independence and
U.S. should not yet grant independence to the Philippines.

I. The OSROX Mission

- in November 1931, the Philippines Legislature sent a mission to the United States to work for the passage of an independence law.
(The OSROX Mission)
- U.S. Senator Harry B. Hawes filed an independence bill in the U.S. Congress, with U.S> Congressman Hare and U.S. Senator Cutting
as co-sponsors.
- the bill was approved in December 1932, but President Herbert Hoover, vetoed the bill.
- the U.S. Congress repassed the bill on January 17, 1933 known as the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act.
- the Antis were those who sided with Quezon in opposing the law.
- the Pros were those who supported the law and backed Osmena and Roxas.

- the law’s provisions on trade relations were disadvantageous to the Philippines.

- He (Manuel L. Quezon) objected the provision limiting the immigration of Filipinos to the U.S.
- He also objected to the retention by the U.S. of military bases in the Philippines.

- OSROX claimed that the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act was the best independence law that the Filipinos could obtain from the U.S.
- on October 17, 1933, the legislature rejected the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act.
- the U.S. Congress enacted a new independence bill sponsored by Senator Milliard Tydings and Representative John McDuffie.
- Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 24, 1934.

SOCIAL

Social Progress
A. Education
B. Religious Developments
C. Rise of the Aglipayan Church

A. Education

Spain
1. Christianizing the pagan natives was more important than giving them an education.
2. It was only in the closing of decades of Spanish rule that some system of public school education was introduced by Spain in the
Philippines.

United States
1. “to educate, to train in the science of self-government”
2. Americans made it a policy to teach English to the Filipinos.

- In January 1901, the Taft Commission enacted Act No.74 which established the Philippine public school system.
- It provided free primary education and the establishment of a school to train Filipino Teachers.
- On August 23, 1901, the first group of 600 teachers from the United States arrived in Manila on board the transport ship Thomas.
- These teachers came to be known as the Thomasites.
- Elementary schools : 7-year course
- High School : 4-year course
- Those who finished high school could take up

In January 1901, the Taft Commission enacted Act No. 74 which established the Philippine public school system.
- It provided free primary education and the establisghment of a school to train Filipino teachers.
- On August 23, 1901, the first group of 600 teachers from the United States arrived in Manila on board the transport ship Thomas.
- These teachers came to be known as the Thomasites.

Elementary schools : 7 years course

High-school : 4 year course
- Those who finished high school could take up higher education in a public junior college or at the University of the Philippines
which was created in 1908 by Act No. 1870 enacted by the Philippine Assembly and the Philippine Commission.

Filipino pensionados - bright young Filipino students.

Philippine Normal School - 1901
Siliman University - 1901
Centro Escolar University (1907)
Founded by Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna
Philippine Women’s University (1919) established by Francisca T. Benitez

“no people ever accepted the blessings of education with more enthusiasm than the Filipinos” - Governor-General Frank Murphy,
1935

By 1935, there were 1,229,242 students enrolled in 7,330 public schools throughout the country.
The private schools which numbered about 400, had a total student population of 97,500

B. Religion
Introduction of Protestantism
- the Protestants sought to win the Filipinos through friendly persuasion.
-Presbyterians (1899)
-Baptists (1900)
-The Disciples of Christ (1905)
-Methodist Episcoalians (1908)

C. Rise of the Aglipayan Church

On August 3, 1902, Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church) was established in Manila.
- Founder : Isabelo de los Reyes
He founded the Democratic Labor Union in July 1901.
-Iglesia Filipina Independiente.
-De los Reyes proclaimed Father Gregorio Aglipay as the new church’s Supreme Bishop/

On October 17, 1902, Aglipay agreed to head the new church.

On January 18, 1903, he was formally consecrated as the Supreme Bishop.
- The new church known as Aglipayan Church.
- In 1939 census, 9.8% of the population, or 1,573,608 claimed to be Aglipayans.

ECONOMIC

Economic Progress
A. American Economic Policy
B. New Prosperity
C. Population Explosion
D. New Land Policy
E. Agricultural Increase
F. Free Trade
G. Business Boom
H. New Industries
I. Improvement in Transportation and Communications
J. Better Budget
K. New Banks
L. International Exhibitions and Meetings
M. Economic Problems

The Filipinos enjoyed a better life under America than as the colony of Spain.
- Spain could not do for the Philippines in over 300 years, the United States did in less than 50 years.
- However, some problems with our economic life started during this era.
A. American Economic Policy
The Philippine Bill of 1902 declared that all public lands and natural resources of the Philippines are for “the benefit of the
inhabitants”.
- The Jones Law of 1916 and Tydings-Duffie Law of 1934.
- William H. Taft, the first American Governor-General, said that the Philippines was for the Filipinos.
: we had to serve the national interests of the United States.
: we could not make our own policy/

B. New Prosperity
The new prosperity of the Philippines as a colony of America was shown in the following ways:
1. Population explosion
2. New Land Policy
3. Agricultural increase
4. Free trade with America
5. Business boom
6. New Industries
7. Improvement in transportation and communications
8. Better government budget
9. New banks
10. Participation in International exhibitions

C. Population Explotion
Statistics show the population explosion then:
1895 - 6,000,000
1903 - 7,635,426
1918 - 10,314,310
1939 - 16,000,303

D. New Land Policy

Three ways on how Americans improved land policy in the Philippines:
- Friar lands were resold to Filipino farmers
- Homestead Act in 1924 allowed any Filipino to own up 24 hectares of public land.
- All Lands had to be registered, and their owners got Torrens titles.

E. Agricultural Increase
- The Filipinos and the Americans cooperated to revive agriculture.
- The Bureau of Agriculture (1902)
- In 1903, the American Congress sent a 43 million emergency fund to import rice and carabaos from other Asian countries.
- Modern farm tools from the United States were also introduced.

F. Free Trade with America

- most important economic change
- a country has to trade with other countries abroad in order to develop.
- we were introduced to the big Americans market and American products were bought by Filipinos.
- The Americans were the richest people in the mid-20th century
- American products could enter the Philippines without paying customs tariffs.

G. Business Boom
- Retail trade inside the Philippines also doubled from 1907-1935. Filipinos had more money to buy different things, however, they
liked to buy imported goods.

H. New Industries
- the Philippines entered the Industrial age.
- the Americans invented mass production in big factories.

Manila: coconut oil, cigars and cigarettes, sugar, rope, and textiles.
Marikina: shoes
Ilocos : blankets and towels
Bulacan, Laguna, Tayabas, Bohol and Pangasinan : hats and mats
Pampanga, Rizal and Bulacan : rattan and wood furniture
Albay, Rizal and Laguna : pottery and bricks

I. Improvement in Transportation and Communication

- the Filipinos enjoyed the automobile, electric street car (tranvia), airplane, telephone, wireless telegraph, radio and movies.
- Americans developed our railroads in Luzon, Cebu and Panay.
- Pier 7 in Manila became the largest port in Asia.
- Manila became the center of air travel in Asia.
- the Telephone and telegraph system in our country was the best in Asia.
- The best newspapers, radio stations, and postal services in Asia.
J. Better Budget
- The Philippine budget was balanced even during the Great World Depression in the 1930s
- In the 1930s, other government had huge deficits and problems
- but the Philippines colonial budget had a surplus.

K. New Banks
-In 1906, the Postal Savings Bank was introduced
-Philippine National Bank was established in 1908
-Rural credit groups for farmers helped to reduce usury in the provinces.

L. International Exhibitions and Meetings

-The Philippines was projected into the world’s limelight because of its participation in international eshibitions, conferences, and
meetings.
-the Philippine Army Band became the world famous at the Golden Gate Expositions, held at San Francisco, California in 1939.
-Filipino athletes were also able to join the Olympic Games.

M. Economic Problems
- we sold our raw materials cheap and bought expensive manufactured goods from America.
- Colonial mentality became worse
- Labor and peasant unrest spread in the 1920s and 1930s.
-American capitalists abd businessmen controlled the new companies.