THE AMERICAN RULE

American colonial policy

• American colonial policy in the Philippines
was unique in the world of colonialism
because of the following reasons:
1. The Americans said they would go as
soon as the Filipinos could stand on their
own as a fee nation. From the beginning,
American officials did not want to hold on
to the Philippines as a colony forever.
 American colonial policy
2. The Americans were kinder and more
generous than other colonial powers of
the same era (Germany, Netherlands,
France or Britain). The American shared
power with the Filipinos in government.
3. The Filipinos adopted American ways
very well. No other former colony like its
other country as much as the Filipinos
liked the United States
 American colonial government
• The Philippines was ruled by the
Americans in the following ways:
1. Military government (August 14, 1898 –
July 4, 1901) This government was run
by military generals appointed by the
American president. There were three
military governors: Gen. Wesley Merritt;
Gen. Elwell Otis; and Gen. Arthur
McArthur.
 Gen. McArthur
Gen. Merritt
Gen. Otis
 American colonial government
2. Civil government (July 4, 1901-August
1902) This government was run by
American civilian officials appointed by
the American president. But later it was
run by Filipino officials elected by
Filipinos.
 American colonial government
• There were several kinds of civilian
governments during the American era.
These were: The Philippine Commission;
the American Governor-General together
with the Filipino people; and, the
Commonwealth of the Philippines.
WAR OF PHILIPPINE
INDEPENDENCE FROM THE
UNITED STATES
• Manifest Destiny
• Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation
issued on Dec. 21, 1898 – the US shall
exercise sovereignty over the entire
archipelago
• Aguinaldo issued a counter-proclamation
on January 5, 1899
• January 20, 1899 – Pres. McKinley
appointed the First Philippine Commission
to make recommendations in the
administration of the country; this
commission was headed by Dr. Jacob
Schurman
• February 4, 1899 – Private Willie Grayson
shot and killed a Filipino soldier. This
event triggered the Philippine-American
War (1899-1906)
• Bates Treaty – signed by John Bates and
Sultan Jamalul Kiram II of Sulu on August
20, 1899. The Muslims remained neutral
in the war.
• February 5, 1899 – the American fleet
bombarded the Filipinos fort north of San
Juan del Monte killing Major. Jose Torres
Bugallion.
• February 22, 1899 – Antonio Luna burned
American occupied houses in Tondo and
Binondo
• Gen. MacArthur and his troops arrived
from the US; they aimed to capture
Malolos
• March 31, 1898 – Malolos was captured
• March 6 , 1898 - Apolinario Mabini met
with the Schurman Commission to request
for a cease-fire but he was refused. Mabini
resigned in the Aguinaldo cabinet and was
replaced by Pedro A. Paterno as the head
of the new cabinet
• “Peace Cabinet” headed by Felipe
Buencamino negotiated peace with the
Americans.
• Antonio Luna met a tragic death
• October 12, , 1898 – a full-scale offensive
was launched to capture Pres. Aguinaldo
• Gregorio del Pilar defended Tirad Pass
• Januario Galut guided the Americans in
Tirad pass which lead to the death of del
Pilar
• The whereabouts of Aguinaldo was
discovered; Gen. Funston employed the
Macabebe scouts to capture Aguinaldo
• April 9, 1898 – Aguinaldo took the oath of
allegiance to the United States
• Pacificados (Pacifists) led by Pedro
Paterno and Felipe Buencamino which
later became Partido Federal headed by
Trinidad Pardo de Tavera wanted to make
the Philippines a part of the US.
• July , 1898 – Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
declared that the Philippine-American War
was over
A Government Under America
Timeline:
Philippine Philippine
Bill Assembly
(1902) (1907)
Hare- OSROX Jones Law
Hawes- Mission (1916)
Cutting (1931)
Law
(1932) Philippine
Tydings- Constituti
Commonw
McDuffie onal
ealth
Law Conventio
• March 16, 1899 – Pres. McKinley
appointed the Taft Commission and gave it
legislative and executive power to put up a
civilian government
• July 4, 1901 – Judge William Howard Taft
became the first civil governor
• His policy “Philippines for Filipinos” laid
the foundation of a democratic
government
 Taft’s achievements
• The sale of huge tracts of friar lands to
Filipinos on installment terms
• Cooper Act/Philippine Organic Act of 1902
– extends the US Bill of Rights to Filipinos
• First official census was held on March 2,
1899.
 Other political parties
• These parties were organized to
counteract the pro-American activities of
the Partido Federal
• Partido Nacionalista ,Partido
Independencia, Partido Democrata
• Partido Conservador
• Gen. Vicente Lukban ambushed American
soldiers in Balangiga, Samar
• Gen. Jacob Smith ordered the massacre
of all men and children about ten years of
age
• General Miguel Malvar continued to fight
for Philippine independence
• He surrendered to the Americans on April
16, 1902.
 Anti-nationalist laws
• Sedition Law – imposed death penalty or
long prison term to those who advocated
separation form the US even through
peaceful means
• Brigandage Act – punished with death or
with a prison term of not less than 20
years for members of an armed band
• Reconcentration Act – this gave the
governor general the power to authorize
any provincial governor to reconcentrate
in the towns all residents outlying barrios
if outlaws operated in these areas.
• Flag Law – prohibited the display of
Philippine flag and other symbols used b
the resistance against the US
 How the Filipinos carried on
their fight for freedom
• Theater and literature
• Peasant revolts and the Communist Party
of the Philippines
• Peaceful pressure by the Filipino
politicians ending in the
establishment of the
Commonwealth of the
Philippines in 1935.
 Arts and Literature Resistance
• American authorities enacted “Sedition Law” in 1901.
Any Filipino advocating independence or separation
from the United States would be punished severely by
death or imprisonment.
• Plays and drama’s advocating independence were
labeled “seditious plays”
• Filipinos employed a variety of subterfuges: allegorical
verses, talinhaga, double-meanings, etc..
 Tanikalang Ginto
• Juan Abad’s “Tanikalang Ginto” first produced on July 7,
1902 and banned on May 10, 1903 after performance
in Batangas and was fined $2,000.
• The supreme court later on reversed the decision.
 Tanikalang Ginto
The play revolves around Liwanag (“light,” “the new
Pilipinas after departure of Spain), who is promised to the
hero Kulayaw (“loyal,” the Filipino freedom fighters, also
the penname of Abad).
Her adopted father Maimbot, (“avaricious” the U.S.),
approves the proposed marriage. However, he later
withdraws his consent and bans Kulayaw from his house.
He entreats Liwanag to abandon Kulayaw and tries to
bribe her with gifts. He uses Nagtapon (worthless Filipino
collaborators who see a life at ease under the Americans)
to spy on his brother, Kulayaw.
 Tanikalang Ginto
Nagtapon disowns their mother Dalita (poor and suffering
Mother Country and the masses). Dalita dies abandoned
by her sons.
Maimbot’s gifts fail to move Liwanag so he ties her to a
balete and leaves her to Nagtapon. Kulayaw searches for
Liwanag and once he finds her, Nagtapon kills her.
Diwa (“spirit” persistence in struggle) takes Liwanag to
heaven. Diwa promises to Kulayaw that Liwanag will
return to him after she has circled the universe. The play
ends with a tableau: Nagtapon is possessed by demons
while Kulayaw is crowned by spirits after delivering an
emotional speech.
 Other Dramatists
• Aurelio Tolentino – master of subterfuge; was able to
weave in the national anthem and the flag in his plays.
• He wrote, directed and played the lead in “Kahapon,
Ngayon at Bukas.” He was arrested 9 times and
sentenced to life imprisonment. His sentence was later
on reduced to 15 years.
• He also wrote poems, short stories, sarswelas, essays,
editorials in Talgalog, Spanish and Pampango
• He fought in Bicol during the Fil-Am war
• The play delved on intense love of country exposing
foreign economic control, and a call for armed struggle.
Kahapon, Ngayon, at Bukas

Aurelio Tolentino
• Hindi Aco Patay (I am not Dead) by Juan
Matapang Cruz was closed on May 8, 1903 at
Teatro Neuva Luna in Malabon
• The red sun on the Katipunan flag that rose
behind the stage caused the riot inside the
theater
• Cruz was arrested and later imprisoned, which
he served in full.
 Resistance groups
• General Lucio San Miguel – Rizal and
Bulacan; they were captured on March 28,
1903 after some Philippine Scouts
discovered his headquarters in Caloocan
and Marikina.
• Macario Sakay, Julian Montalan, and
Cornelio Felizardo established in
Philippine Republic or the Tagalog
Republic which was the continuation of
the Bonifacio Katipunan
• General Simeon Olas was the last
revolutionary general to surrender tot the
Americans on September 25, 1903.
• Ola took the oath of allegiance to the
United States. They surrendered to the
Americans to save the people from
brutality and hunger.
 The Colorums
• They were the remnants of Hermano
Pule’s Cofradia de San Jose
• During the American occupation, the term
colorum was used by the authorities to
refer to rebel organizations with mystical
characteristics.
• In Tarlac, the colorums worshipped Joses
Rizal and Apo Ipe Salvador
• Pedro Kabola – he founded a secret
society called Kapisanan Makabola
Makarinag (1923). They planned to
assault the municipal building f San Jose,
Nueva Ecija and execute all the town
officials, equally divide the land among the
masses, and expel the Americans from the
country.
• Pedro Calosa – he organized a colorum
group in 1929.
• He and his group marched in Tayug,
Pangasinan to spark a revolution. But he
was captured.
• He said that many of the colorum
members were tenants who were ejected
by hacenderos or small farmers deprived
of their lands by land grabbers
 The first labor groups
• Isabelo de los Reyes organized the first
labor union, the Union de Litografos e
Impresores de Filipinas, in January 1902.
• After its founding, the members decided to
reorganize themselves into the Union
Oberera Democratica, with its organ La
Redencion del Obrero
• Lope K. Santos became the leader of
U.O.D.
• May 1, 1903 – Labor Day was first
officially celebrated in the country
• Congreso Obrero de Filipinas approved
the resolutions demanding eight-hour
labor day, child and women labor laws,
and an employer’s liability law.
• Vicente Sotto established Asamblea
Obrero which he used to support his
candidacy
• Joaquin Balmori founded the Federacion
del Trabaho to support the Democratic
party while Congreso Obrero del Filipinas
backed the Nationalista Party candidates
• Union ng Magsasaka was formed in 1917
to fight the evils of tenancy and usury.
• Partido Obrero de Filipinas was founded
by Crisanto Evangelista, Domingo Ponce,
and Cirilo Bognot in 1924. Its platform
showed a strong Marxist influence.
 The Communist Party of the
Philippines
• Evangelista established the Katipunan ng
mga Anak-pawis ng Pilipinas or KAP.
• KAP wanted unity among workers, peasants
and the exploited masses. It advocated
struggle against America imperialism in the
Philippines, immediate and complete
independence of the country, unity among
revolutionary movements all over the world,
and an establishment of a Soviet system in
the Philippines
• Antonio Ora was arrested and died
reportedly due to an accident while being
taken to prison. The CCP members were
skeptical about it and they staged a
demonstration on January 25, 1931.
• Evangelista and other CCP leaders were
arrested and imprisoned.
• The Supreme Court declared the CCP an
illegal organization on October 26, 1932.
 Sakdal Uprising
• The Sakdalista (coming from the Tagalog word sakdal, meaning
"to accuse") movement was founded in 1930 by a right wing
leader, Benigno Ramos, a writer and discontented former
government clerk. The name of the movement was based on
Émile Zola's 1898 letter criticising the French government,
J'accuse.

• Sakdal began as a fortnightly populist tabloid, with articles

tackling issues which were of interest to the Philippine masses:
corruption and mismanagement under the American-sponsored
Nacionalista administration, immediate independence for the
Philippines, and the land reform problem.
 Sakdal Uprising
• Investigators concluded that the motive behind the
uprising was the worsening economic condition
• The elite bitterly criticized the uprising; MLQ called its
leader (Benigno Ramos) “and irresponsible and crafty
demagogue.”
• Colonial authorities and media described the
Sakdalistas “astonighingly ignorant,” “economically
helpless,” “victims of the local cacique,” and “the
remorseless usurers.”
 What they believe in (Sakdal)
• They believe that the country’s God-given riches was
controlled by the Catholic church, foreigners and a few
rich Filipinos.
• They see politicians’ lack of will to achieve
independence
• This task should not be left to those who had lost the
ability to suffer and work hard for the sake of the
country.
• They are living examples of honor, being oppressed and
poor, and possessing pure hearts capable of humility,
compassion and sacrifice.
 What they believe in (Sakdal)
• They emulate the life of Jesus Christ and the heroes of
1896 revolution particularly Jose Rizal.
• They considered their work as a mission with a heavy
cross to be borne.
• Upon occupying the municipal building, they destroyed
the stars and stripes; there was no looting or burning.
• They confiscated pistols and issued receipt; they fed the
passengers of the buses they stopped.
• They did this because of their belief that they must be
honorable, true representatives of the people and heirs
of the 1896 struggle for independence.
 What they believe in (Sakdal)
• They want to show the world they are not accepting
passively the terms of American colonialism
• Political and economic freedom cannot be fully realized
if their souls remained subjects to alien rule.
• Sakdal uprising may be a failure in the eyes of the
outsiders, but to insiders, they were able to show the
true meaning of being Sakdalistas: to be honorable
though poor, to know how to sacrifice, and to live and
die with dignity.
• On May 2, 1935, 15o peasants marched to the
municipal hall of San Ildefonso, Bulacan and
hauled down the American and Philippine flags
and raised the red Sakdal flag.
• The peasants were no match to the
constabulary troops who suppressed the
uprisings. Fifty seven peasants were killed,
hundreds were wounded, and others were
imprisoned.
• Benigno Ramos who was in Japan denied his
involvement on the May 2 incident. Many
peasants withdrew their support for Ramos.
ECONOMIC PROGRESS
UNDER AMERICA
 American economic policy
• In the beginning, American policy was
unselfish. The Philippine Bill of 1902
declared that all public lands and
natural resources were for “the
benefit of the inhabitants.”This pro-
Filipino policy was repeated in the
Jones Law of 1916 and Tydings-
McDuffie Law of 1934.
• Some American officials gave better
treatment to Americans doing
business or working in the Philippines.
• The economy then was developed
largely by American and pro-
American Filipinos.
New prosperity of the Philippines
as a colony of America
• Population explosion
• New land policy
1. Friar lands were resold to Filipino farmers
2. Homestead Act (1924) allowed Filipinos to own
up to 24 hectares of public land
3. All lands had to be registered, and their owners
got the Torrens title.
• Agricultural increase
In 1903, the American Congress sent $3M
emergency fund to import rice and carabao
from other Asian country.
• Free trade with America
– Philippine products (copra, sugar, cigars, hemp,
etc.) were sold to the Americans while American
products (cars, radios, appliances, cigarettes, etc.)
were bought by Filipinos
– Under the free trade agreement, Filipino
products entered the United States without
paying custom tariffs. There was a limit or
quota to the amount of tax-free Filipino
products.
– American products could also enter the
Philippines without paying custom tariffs, but
they were not limited by quotas.
• Business boom – retail trade inside
the Philippines doubled from
1907-1935. Filipinos had more
money to buy food, shoes, clothes,
radios, toys, bicycles, and even
cars. However, the Filipinos liked to
buy more imported goods.
• New industries – The Philippines entered the
Industrial Age (which favored the use of machines
and the mass production of goods in big factories)
– Mining and fishing became big industries
– Household cottage industries boomed
– The Americans developed the coconut and hemp
industries and they took over the sugar and
tobacco industries.
• Improvement in transportation and
communication – The Filipinos enjoyed the
automobile, electric street car (tranvia), roads
and railroads, postal services, airplane,
telephone, wireless telegraph, radio, and
movies.
• Better budget – the Philippine budget was
balanced even during the Great World
Depression in the 1930’s. In the 1930’s, other
governments including the U.S. itself had huge
deficit and problems but the Philippine’s
colonial budge had a surplus.
• New banks
• International exhibitions and
meetings
 Economic problems
• We sold our raw materials cheap and
bought expensive manufactured goods
from America. We did not develop our
own industries enough because we
were spoiled by the free trade with
America.
• Colonial mentality became worse. We wrongly
thought that imported/American products
were high class. It was bad because we forgot
to develop our native product.
• Labor and peasant unrest spread in the 1920’s
and 1930’s. Many strikes in the cities and
violent revolts in the provinces were caused
by radical groups like the Communist Party of
the Philippines.
• American capitalists and businessmen controlled
the new companies. Some of these American
businessmen came to the Philippines as soldiers
or government officials. They used their
connections in the colonial government to
become millionaires in a short time. For example,
by 1935 American companies controlled 335 of
the sugar industry, 53% of hemp, and 60% of
copra. They also controlled the utilities, railroads,
shipping, radio and newspapers.
Our American heritage
• The Bible and religious freedom
• Training in democracy
• Free education
• Better health
• English language
• Free press
• Diet and dress
• Democratic family life and social
classes
• Women’s rights
• Recreation
• Movies and vaudiville
• Music and dance
• Art
• Science
• American blood
 Sources
• Halili, Maria Christine N. (2010). Philippine
History. Second Edition. Manila: Rex Book
Store.
• Zaide, Gregorio F. and Sonia M. Zaide.
(2004). Philippine History and
Government. Quezon City: All Nations
Publishing Co., Inc.
• http://www.slideshare.net