America & the Philippines   Term Paper ID:27409 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Overview of American involvement in the Philippines. Ignores the U.S. role in liberating Filipinos from Spanish & Japanese oppressors, attacks the U.S. involvement as racist & destructive with no redeeming characteristics.... More...

11 Pages / 2475 Words 6 sources, 22 Citations, TURABIAN Format $44.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Overview of American involvement in the Philippines. Ignores the U.S. role in liberating Filipinos from Spanish & Japanese oppressors, attacks the U.S. involvement as racist & destructive with no redeeming characteristics. Paper Introduction: INTRODUCTION The United States recently closed its Naval Base at Subic Bay in the Philippines and thus ended nearly a century of direct (and often military) involvement in the affairs of that country. Colonization of the Philippines began in 1898 as part of the Spanish-American War and extended into the 1930s. The actions of the United states in joining in a partnership with the people of the Philippines has been viewed differently by different commentators. This image of the relationship has changed over the decades since it began. At times, the people of the Philippines have been supportive of U.S. efforts toward the Philippines and at other times have been quite opposed to those efforts. American involvement in the Philippines has left a lasting impression on that nation, but that impression Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. By the summer of 1898 the region was also becoming a site of rivalrybetween the U.S., the Filipinos, and the European powers, and Manila Baywas now filled with the warships of Great Britain, Germany, France, andJapan. One senator stated: "Would not the peopleof the Philippines prefer the just, humane, civilizing government of thisRepublic to the savage, bloody rule of pillage and extortion form which wehave rescued them?" (157). One of these was the idea that the colored citizens ofthe Philippines were inferior to the white citizens of the United Statesand that therefore the Americans were bound to run the affairs of theFilipinos for the immediate future: "Taft said, more than once, that theFilipinos as he found them were incapable of self-government, but heexpressed this white supremacist attitude in a new way, combining militarysuppression with friendly condescension and patronizing guidance. The authors find thatthose who sponsored the colonization of the Philippines had acomplished twothings with far-reaching impact: they helped form a Filipino elite that wasfor years to come a reliable social and political base for the exercise ofU.S. Though the United States hadasserted that the Philippines would be free one day, but by 1931 protectingthe status quo was still the general intent of U.S. The commission acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independencebut declared that they were not ready for it. Boston: South End Press, 1987.Schirmer, Daniel B. ACTION Clearly, there were many supporters of the U.S. The British, French, and Dutch had limiteddomestic economies and perceived colonial markets and sources of rawmaterials as vital to their prosperity. They restricted thevote to the educated class, but they also encouraged elections soon aftertheir arrival so that the Filipinos had a national legislature, the firstin Asia, in 19 7 (12-13). Such an emotional argument wasdifficult for the anti-imperialists to counter. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1961.----------------------- 1 Businessmen who generally had preferred peace to war now began to view the Philippines as the gateway to Asiatic markets jeopardized by recent European leases in China. Bunge notes: "From the beginning, United States presidents and theirrepresentatives in the islands defined their colonial mission in terms oftutelage: a process of preparing the Philippines for eventual independence. Theimmediate objective was the capture of Manila, and it was thought best toaccomplish this without the help of the insurgents. The tenancy question was one of the sources ofdissension. This newemphasis brought him into conflict with old-style imperialists,particularly those in the U.S. Thus,the weight of U.S. imperialists who favored traditional methods, butTaft, with his neo-colonialist leanings, did share certain concepts withthe imperialists. ACTIONS Wolff (1961) notes the arguments between the imperialists and theanti-imperialists at the time of the conclusion of the war with Spain. This was little more than anacquisition of territory for America, even though it was undertaken withsome reluctance. control was always exercised. The racist attitudes of thetime were the most serious problem, creating in the American leadership asense of patronizing beneficence toward the colored people of the globe andleading to many problems that could have been avoided without thatattitude. influence, and they helped create a neocolonial psychology thataffected both the Filipino elite and the mass of the Filipino people,creating enduring attitudes of subservience to the United States. was in control of the islands, protecting this status quo situationbecame more important. The declared purpose was to make the Filipinos ready forself-government, but in truth U.S. Ultimately American legal and actual control wasconfirmed over the city of Manila. Throughout the193 s, tenant movements in central Luzon became more active, articulate,and better organized, and in 1938 the Socialist Party joined in a unitedfront with the Philippine Communist Party: "This united front was prominentin supporting the demands of tenants for better contracts and workingconditions. "The Conception and Gestation of a Neocolony." in Schirmer and Shalom, op. The Philippines and the United States. . It was in the field of politicsthat the neocolonial aspects of American policy in the Philippines showedup most clearly. Filipinos were thusspared exploitation of the kind practiced by the Europeans. interests and the interests of the Philippines.U.S. McKinley termed thepolicy "benevolent assimilation" (Karnow 14). There was also a formidable host of able intellectuals of both parties and of many professions who were strongly anti-imperialist (Grunder and Livezey: 28-29).SUPPORTERS OF U.S. . Karnow writes: The movement virtually disappeared after McKinley's landslide reelection in November 19 , yet its demise testified to the validity of its cause. Aguinaldo bided his time. Republicans controlled the House ofRepresentatives and dominated the Senate, and they did what McKinleywanted. Relationscontinued to deteriorate, however, as it became clear to Filipinos that theAmericans were in the islands to stay" (Bunge 23). He notesthat they never achieved their goal of transforming the Filipinos intofacsimile Americans, but "in contrast to the Europeans, they were uniquelybenign, almost sentimental imperialists" (12-13). Grunder and Livezey (1951) characterize the American position at thetime as "one which sought the maximum of Filipino assistance with theminimum of American commitment" (25). Specific recommendationswere made, including the establishment of civilian government as rapidly aspossible, the creation of autonomous governments on the provincial andmunicipal levels, and the organization of a system of free publicelementary schools. policy in the Philippines was to "guide the Filipinos to self-development." It was Taft who would be responsible for the elaboration ofthis policy in its concrete applications to the military, political,economic, and educational spheres. . Once it had been established that theU.S. The Philippines Reader. This image of the relationship has changed overthe decades since it began. The leaders of the League had been described by Theodore Rooseveltas figures of a "bygone age" who were out of tune with the mood of thenation. Hewas urged to return to the islands at once, which he did, assuming controlof the revolutionary forces. and Spain had moved toward warover Cuba. . In Our Image. Washington, D.C.: 1983.Grunder, Garel A. The League would later attractimportant Republicans to its position: "Some were even of the Old Guard,elderly abolitionists and their heirs, who waved Lincoln's banner of anti-slavery for Filipino and Negro alike" (Wolff 159). The result was poor living conditions, agrarian unrest, andperiodic peasant uprisings and laborers' strikes in the 192 s and 193 s"(37). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951.Karnow, Stanley. Themunicipal governors were completely Filipino, but they were under thesupervision of the provincial government (Schirmer 41-42). Many interested Americans began to predict that Manila would become the chief commercial metropolis of the Orient. It was in Luzon where the traditional messianicmovements gave way to secular, revolutionary movements. has been noted by many commentators whenlooking at the Philippines and criticized for its nature and its hypocrisy. Resistance movements developed within the Philippines as well, andthe tradition of rural revolt, often with messianic overtones, continuedthrough this period. increased thesuffering of the growing numbers exploited farmers and workers in thecountry. All this changed, albeit slowly, with Dewey'svictory. The imperialism of the U.S. Expeditionary forces sought information about the islands as abasis for making decisions as to what to do with them, and as thisinformation was disseminated, the lines began to form: While the administration was studying the Philippines, it was forming an estimate of public opinion. and Stephen Rosskamm Shalom. ACTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES In the last days of 1897, the U.S. In the beginning, American knowledge ofthe Philippines was limited and American interest in the Philippinesvirtually nonexistent. It was believed that the country disliked the idea ofacquiring territory so far away but also that the American people wouldnever be happy giving it back to Spain. involvement was a matter ofimperialism in the Third World, and for this reason the U.S. Karnow notes the racism inherent in the U.S. There were many justifications offered for thismove. The U.S. INTRODUCTION The United States recently closed its Naval Base at Subic Bay in thePhilippines and thus ended nearly a century of direct (and often military)involvement in the affairs of that country. Americans, on the other hands, sawtheir fortunes at home in tapping their own resources. to control the situation. But the dream of foreign trade, particularly with Asia, lured Americans as much then as it does today, and it militated in favor of the strong U.S. The first Philippine Commission was appointed by President McKinleyin 1899. Soon there were some12, American troops in the region, and relations between these forcesand those of the rebels deteriorated rapidly. elections wereestablished for members of various boards and for leaders in the municipalregions. and William E. At the time, highly sensitive negotiations began between Unitedstates officials and Emilio Aguinaldo in both Hong Kong and Singapore.Aguinaldo was a revolutionary who, once war was declared between the U.S.and Spain, would be a partner, if not an ally, of the United States. At the time, though Aguinaldo was displeased that the United States wouldnot commit on paper an assertion of support for Philippine independence.In fact, the Navy Department had ordered Admiral Dewey to distance himselffrom Aguinaldo and not to make any untoward commitments. TheSpanish cause was clearly doomed. had to beejected if at all possible. . The war withSpain continued, and the future of the Philippines remained uncertain. President McKinley set the tone in 19 when he said that the goalof U.S. Each group was ostensibly there to protect its own interests. America's mission was to export itsvirtues, not its sins" (19). . military, who were accustomed to giving ventto racism in hostile and discriminatory ways alone" (Schirmer, 1987: 4 ). Theimperialists insisted that there was a need for intervention and for theU.S. attitude toward thePhilippines, noting how Taft had launched his effort to make the people ofthe Philippines have the same values as Americans - integrity, civicresponsibility, and respect for impersonal institutions: "No matter thatthe United States at the time as itself riddled with corruption, racism andappalling economic disparities. Much ofthe good that was done could have been accomplished at less cost and withgreater effect in a different manner, while the harm could have beenavoided altogether if the U.S. The imperialist banner was carried by Taft, and critics noted how hiswords and his policies were often at odds. workers could be sent to the Philippines to produce from themines and forests of that country. cit., 38-44.Wolff, Leon. American intervention in the economy and elite dominance ofthe Filipino political system were such that the status quo in terms of therelationship between landlord and tenant would be maintained, even ifcertain of its traditional aspects changed. At various times, thepositions of the farmers would worsen and lead to trouble. At times, the people of the Philippines havebeen supportive of U.S. Schirmer and Shalom note that at the turn of the century, the miseryand suffering of the people had been an essential impulse and base for thearmed nationalist struggle against both Spain and the United States: "Therepetition of these conditions of peasant life under U.S. public, more and more appalled by the war in the Philippines, had by now largely lost interest in acquiring new dominions overseas, thus obviating the need for protests against expansion. Still othersonly wanted a naval base. The anti-imperialistforces were headed by the Anti-Imperialist League. Bunge (1983) notes: "In theeyes of Filipinos, their relationship with the United States was that oftwo nations joined in a common struggle against Spain" (22). . colonial rulesome decades later was to have a similar result: the emergence of an armedFilipino guerilla resistance of nationalist inspiration, especially inCentral Luzon, during and after World War II" (37). Under his control, these forces quicklydemoralized the Spanish garrisons around the capital and established linkswith other movements throughout the islands. The status quo perspective was that the U.S.should remain involved and that this was necessary for the protection ofboth U.S. A judicial system was established. Some saw commercial opportunities, while others wantedto change the structure of the island and make it democratic. had taken a less proprietary attitude andhad shown more understanding of the dynamics of Filipino society and of theproblems associated with its own imperialism. Philippines: A Country Study. From a left perspective, U.S. Even the Taft approach arousedopposition from U.S. This is precisely what took place,and clearly there had been a major and significant shift in roles: "At thebeginning of the war, Americans and Filipinos had been allies against Spainin all but name; now Spanish and Americans were in a partnership thatexcluded the insurgents. domination and to maintain thestatus quo: "The political parties of the elite during the colonial period- all more or less identical variants of the leading party, theNacionalistas - reflected these attitudes and interests, while at the sametime declaring for independence because of public pressure" (62).CRITICS OF U.S. The Filipinos were also faced with secular missionaries who werecertain that the United States was the greatest society ever created andwho hoped to infuse the Filipinos with their ideals. Americans werealso more liberal politically than the European powers. Different economicimpulses were involved. dominance would be preserved even after independence wasdeclared and the formal trappings of colonial rule were removed" (37).CONCLUSION The imperialism of the United States in the Philippines had benignintentions but was effectively a negative influence just the same. Thepeople of the Philippines seem to have eagerly desired the involvement ofthe United States in the beginning and perhaps for most of the period ofcolonization. The Anti-Imperialist League was ineffective in stopping the processof imperialism in the early years. . Except for a small group of 'retentionists,' the issue was not whetherthey would be granted self-rule, but when and under what conditions" (27).William Howard Taft was the first civilian governor of the Philippines.The main features of his program included the broadening of representativeinstitutions and also the expansion of a system of free public elementaryeducation and economic policies designed to promote the development of theislands (26-28). BibliographyBunge, Frederica M. A secret agreement was made between theSpanish governor and the American military commanders in early August 1898concerning the capture of Manila so that American forces in their assaultwould not bombard the city and would not allow the insurgents to take part,while the Spanish in their turn would only put up a show of resistance.Both sides would be spared casualties. Colonization of thePhilippines began in 1898 as part of the Spanish-American War and extendedinto the 193 s. Schirmer and Shalom cite the Philippinehistorian Teodoro Agoncillo: "Free-trade reinforced the backward feudalagrarian system carried over from the Spanish regime and. They lived in the countryside as tenantfarmers and farm laborers. The U.S. Tensions werehighest in central Luzon, where tenancy was most widespread and populationpressures were greatest. Little Brown Brother. Livezey. New York: Random House, 1989.Schirmer, Daniel B. The actions of the United states in joining in apartnership with the people of the Philippines has been viewed differentlyby different commentators. The religious press was almost uniformly in favor of acceptance of American responsibility for the control of the islands. The initial groupconsisted mostly of Democrats, liberals who took the Declaration ofIndependence seriously and who insisted that no government could properlygovern without the consent of the governed. presence in the Pacific that McKinley desired (164-165). American involvement in thePhilippines has left a lasting impression on that nation, but thatimpression may have been less distinct than many people have believed. As the depression wore on and prices for cash crops collapsed,tenant strikes and violent confrontations with landlords, their overseers,and the PC escalated" (Bunge 36). The insurgents were not consideredin this equation. Secretary of State Hurley testified on the political situation andthe foreign policy view: "In light of the current political uncertainty inthe Orient, any thought of independence for the Philippines was mostinopportune, Hurley maintained" (Gunder 197). Karnow (1989) finds that the American performance in the Philippinesduring the era under discussion was "neither as brilliant as theirpublicists claimed nor as bleak as their critics contended" (12). action in thePhilippines, mostly after the fact. The colonial period brought wealth to the elite Philippine landownersfrom the free-trade relationship, but it had no such salutary effect on themajority of the Philippine people. was in fact said to be duty-bound torescue the natives. Aguinaldocommanded 12, troops which were able to keep a slightly larger Spanishforce bottled up inside Manila until American reinforcements should arrive. . colonial rule left many Filipinos in the elitesector of society willing to accept U.S. In time, American officials also recognizedthe limitations of their influence, reluctantly accommodating Filipinotraditions, but they continued to claim that America was transforming thePhilippines into a "showcase of democracy" rather than admit that theireffort had fallen short of expectations. Schirmer and Shalom (1987) note that the economic benefits andpolitical privileges of U.S. policymakers.Testimony before Congress in 1931 produced little that was new butreaffirmed the desire of various interests to maintain the situation as itwas. In addition, a commercial message was inherent in thiseffort - U.S. efforts toward the Philippines and at other timeshave been quite opposed to those efforts. American policy was intendedto establish responsible government, economic independence, and anelectorate capable of voicing intelligent opinion on the ultimate positionof the Philippines: "The absence of any plans for the independence periodshowed that these goals had not been reached" (197). . If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.