nations rapidly extended their authority through acquiring territory or establishing political or economic dominance over a territory. Although many in the United States opposed imperial rule over other countries due to the abandonment of American ideals of self-government and freedom, the U.S. imperialized many countries, including the Philippines. However, the Philippines had already been under strict imperial rule for over 300 years by Spain before the U.S., so the Filipinos had a strong desire for independence. The U.S. gained control of the Philippines as a result of the Spanish-American war and assumed that their authority over the Philippines would be able to help transform the Filipinos who were typically viewed as “primitive savages”. (Fallace) The United States’ imperialism failed to benefit the people of the Philippines, for the U.S. exploited Filipino resources and created extractive institutions for their own benefit. In addition, the U.S. fulfilled their need to spread their culture to the Philippines which was unwanted by the Filipinos.
The United States’ involvement in the Spanish-American War led to victory for the U.S. The Spanish-American War began in the Cuban conflict for independence from Spain in April 1998. This violent conflict caught America’s attention because of the economic and political instability that it produced in a region so close to the U.S. (https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-American-War) However, the U.S. had taken little interest in Spain’s possession of territories at the time. The inexplicable explosion of the U.S. Battleship Maine in Cuba was the tipping point of U.S. involvement, leading President William McKinley to send for a declaration of war. (Dolan 98) (See Appendix A)
Following the victory of the U.S. over Spain in the Spanish-American War, the Treaty of Paris was signed, forcing Spain to cede its colonies to the U.S. After war was declared, many decisive battles followed between the U.S. and Spain, but it was was when the U.S. Navy defeated the Spanish Caribbean squadron in Cuba on July 3rd that declared the U.S. as the victors of the war. (Gay 53) As an official conclusion to the war, the Treaty of Paris was signed by the U.S. and Spain on December 10th, 1898. The treaty allowed the U.S. to hold Manila until the ownership of the Philippines had been determined. (https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Paris-1763) President McKinley had decided that the U.S. must take possession of the Philippines. Spain accepted this decision, but declared that the U.S. would have to pay $20 million nominally for public buildings and works created by Spain in the Philippines. (Dumindin).
The U.S. was motivated to imperialize the Philippines because they believed that they would be able to grow their economy using direct rule of the Philippines. Direct rule is defined as when a country’s internal government by an outside foreign power. By using direct rule, the U.S. believed that they could freely take advantage over the Philippines since it was just a “puppet” under the U.S. One way the U.S. took advantage of the Philippines was by taking control of Filipino ports to expand their trade with major trading powers like China to increase profit. (Macasaet) Moreover, trade regulations set by the U.S. in the Philippines would help the U.S. gain inexpensive raw materials as well as markets in the Philippines for finished U.S. goods, growing the U.S.’ export economy (Kramer, 1097)
The U.S.’ beliefs based on Social Darwinism and racism led them to believe that they must spread progress to civilize the Filipinos. Social darwinists believed that industrialized nations must bring their progress to help those who are not as adapted. Thus, President McKinley, a darwinist, believed that the U.S. should bring their advancement to help the Filipinos progress. He concluded that the Filipinos “were unfit for self-government—and they would soon have anarchy and misrule…there is nothing left for [the U.S.] to do but to uplift and civilize…them”. (Rusling) Moreover, racist beliefs against the Filipinos for their skin color were common as the U.S. frequently called them “little brown brothers”. (Foster) These racist beliefs caused the U.S. to assume that they were superior to the Filipinos, therefore, justifying how the U.S. wanted to imperialize the Philippines to spread progress to the inferior Filipinos.
After the U.S. betrayed the Philippines in the Spanish-American War, tensions between the the two increased. The Filipinos, who were led by the Philippine leader of the movement for independence, Emilio Aguinaldo, fought with the U.S. against Spain in the Spanish-American War under because they believed that the U.S. was going to liberate them as they were liberating Cuba. (Paterno) However, when the U.S. did not grant the Filipinos their independence at the end of the war, they felt betrayed. This led strain to form between the U.S. and the Philippines, causing the Filipinos to feel strongly opposed toward U.S. imperial rule. (Deady, 54)
After the U.S. refused to acknowledge newly acclaimed Filipino independence, Aguinaldo launched an unsuccessful bloody resistance war against the U.S. Still determined, the Filipinos proclaimed independence for themselves after the U.S. failed to. (Paterno) However, after the Treaty of Paris was signed, and both the U.S. and Spain dismissed Philippine autonomy, Aguinaldo denounced the treaty and declared a revolutionary government. The tension between the Philippines and the U.S. finally gave out after the U.S. fired the first shot at the Filipino army, launching the Philippine-American War (Ambeth). Aguinaldo led the Filipino forces using savage guerrilla tactics, however, they were still no match to the U.S.’ superior technology. After many casualties and destruction, Aguinaldo was captured in 1901 by U.S. forces, and most Filipino resistance of imperial rule had dissipated, leading to U.S. victory. (Dumindin)
Filipinos and U.S. manufacturers who wanted to abolish Filipino goods competition demanded independence from the U.S. The Filipinos, whose independence was overdue, was buzzing from impatience. Many laborers had revolted against factory owners in mass movements to show their desire for freedom. (Kramer, 1095) In addition to the Filipino desire for independence, U.S. manufacturers facing the Great Depression also favored U.S. separation from the Philippines as a protectionist measure against competing goods of the Philippines. (Williams)
As a reaction to the growing request for autonomy, the U.S. gave the Philippines eventual independence by gradually transferring governmental power to the Filipinos. The increase in Filipino voice in government began with a new Filipino majority in the legislature, the Philippine Commission. The 1916 Jones Act stated that the U.S. would “withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands as soon as a stable government can be established therein.” However, the Tydings Mcduffie Act gave the Philippines a tangible date of independence of July 4th, 1946 after a 10-year transitional stage of democratic government. (Smith) For the next 10 years, the U.S. transitioned to indirect rule of the Philippines where internal affairs were handled by the Filipinos, but the U.S. still oversaw monetary matters and foreign affairs from the outside. Finally, as promised, the Filipinos were given their official independence from the U.S. when the Treaty of Manila was signed, electing the first Filipino president, Manuel Quezon. (Press)
U.S. imperialism was disadvantageous for the Filipinos, for U.S. exploitation of Filipino resources hindered the Philippines’ political, economic, and social growth. When U.S. companies wanted to secure Filipino resources for themselves, the U.S. government used their direct rule over the Philippines to establish the Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909 which set yearly quota limits for Philippine exports to the U.S. (Williams) Thus, the Filipinos were forced to abide by this U.S. law in which they had no say in, displaying how the Filipinos were denied political power concerning trade regulations. Additionally, even after the U.S. transitioned to indirect rule, they still had some form of control over monetary matters and trade, displaying how the U.S. continued to hinder Filipino political growth even after they were given almost complete independence. (Press) Moreover, when U.S. companies bought large tracts of land in the Philippines to gain resources, the majority of the profits made from the expropriation of the land would go directly to the U.S. rather than going to the rightful owners of the land, the Filipinos (Bailey). Therefore, the Philippines’ economic growth was stunted, demonstrating that U.S. imperialism failed to benefit the Philippines economically. Lastly, the Filipino laborers that U.S. companies exploited were put through severe working conditions that resulted in many mass movements. (Kramer 1097) This exhibits how U.S. imperialism created social instability all throughout the Philippines and failed to be beneficial to the Filipinos.
By using the system of war capitalism to its own advantage, the U.S. was able to exploit Filipino resources and land. War capitalism is defined as the violent expropriation of land and labor by private institutions. Since the Philippines was rich in natural resources such as copper, gold, silver, iron, and timber (Sumangil, 1) (See Appendix B), many private U.S. companies believed that using war capitalism on the Philippines would help exploit Filipino resources. This is demonstrated in the American Sugar Refining Company who bought many large regions of land in the Philippines and subjected Filipino workers to harsh terms. By expropriating the land and workers, the American Sugar Refining Company was able to almost effortlessly gain and use Filipino resources for themselves, thus exploiting the resources. (Linn 3)
The natural resources from the U.S.’ extractive institutions in the Philippines greatly benefitted the U.S.’ industrialization, military, and companies. Extractive institutions are defined as private political or economic institutions that focus on exploiting the resources of other countries. Many U.S. companies created extractive industries such as mining, factories, and mechanized agriculture in the Philippines. (Kramer 1098) These industries provided U.S. companies with inexpensive raw material which the U.S. could exploit by making them into finished products. This was especially valuable as a source of war supplies during World War I, thus helping with both U.S. industrialization and the military (Bailey). Moreover, the finished products made from the resources were also used by U.S. companies to sell in the U.S. and trade with other countries, therefore, also providing a dependable source of profit for U.S. companies. (Brands) The U.S. companies can also be seen as capitalistic since many of these companies privately owned means of production where buyers and sellers decided what to make, how to make it, and for whom. Additionally, the companies were motivated by their own self-interest and did not care much for Filipino laborer who were treated rather cruelly. (Linn 3)
The U.S. forcibly imposed their culture upon the Filipinos in order to fulfill their “white man’s burden”. “White man’s burden” is defined as the obligated task where colonizers imposed their advancement on those who are inferior. The U.S. did this by introducing a free public school system in the Philippines which emphasized the English language. Although, the implementation of a school system promotes Filipino education, the U.S. had other selfish intentions in mind. The U.S. used the education system and the English language as a way to brainwash Filipinos into prioritizing American culture and products. (Gems) By doing this, the U.S. was able to both spread their civilization and lessen the tension between them and the Filipinos. Another way the U.S. imposed their advancement on the Filipinos was through the spread of Christianity. After Filipinos were converted to Christianity, many of them also began to follow the steps of their colonizers by enslaving their own countrymen for labor, making other Filipinos think that imperialism was acceptable. (Barreto 95) Therefore, the U.S. was able to make the Filipinos promote U.S. imperialism.
The spread of U.S. culture was resented by many Filipinos for it caused many Filipinos to abandon their native culture. Before the Philippines was imperialized by the U.S., they had their own well-developed cultures with multiple religions, languages, and literature. (Weslin) However, after the U.S. took control, U.S. culture was prioritized while Filipino culture was neglected since it was seen as backwards by the U.S. Thousands of Filipinos set aside their own culture, leading for parts of it to disappear, and showing how U.S. culture failed to benefit the Filipinos. Many Filipinos even showed resentment of the integration of U.S. culture by holding on to their pagan religion or indigenous language and ignoring Christianity and English. (McFerson)
Ultimately, U.S. colonization of the Philippines was harmful to the Filipinos because the U.S. took advantage of their resources by implementing extractive institutions for their own benefit, and used their “white man’s burden” to spread their civilization. The U.S. exploited FIlipino resources by using the system of war capitalism. Extractive institutions established in the Filipinos only supported capitalistic U.S. companies and industrialization. The integration of U.S. culture in society brainwashed Filipinos into prioritizing U.S. culture and abandoning their own. Although the harsh conditions of imperialism on the natives are clearly emphasized through the way the U.S. controlled the Philippines, one also has to consider how the U.S. perceived their actions to achieve a better understanding. It was an opportunity for them to expand the influence of their country. This idea can be applied to anything in history. In order to receive a richer understanding, one must look at history through multiple lenses.