PH UNDER THE UNITED STATES

• US objective in colonizing the Philippines was to use it as a base to control the entire Pacific Ocean and other countries like China and Asian countries
• US claimed they colonized the Philippines to civilize and teach Filipinos "democracy" and "governance"
• US expected to use Filipinos and colonial workers for their production
• American economic policies in the Philippines

  • Expanded the production of raw materials (sugar, products, tobacco, minerals and embroidered fabric and clothing)
  • Increased Philippine exports by fully implementing free trade between the US and the Philippines in 1913
• American firms in the Philippines

  • Multiplied and became dominant in the economy
  • Built and profited from infrastructure projects (bridges, streets, expansion of railways, development of postal service and installation of electric and telecommunication services)
• American government pushed for the cultivation of more farmlands in the Philippines
• Homestead Act


  Filipinos could avail of titles for lands they had cleared and started to farm
• Torrens Act


  Old farmlands were issued title
• American military government established a local government in every town and province that their armed troops had invaded
• Elections were only applicable to the educated and well-off who could elect and get elected
• President William McKinley sent two Philippine Commissions tasked to establish civil government
• The First Philippine Commission failed because the Filipino-American war was still raging at that time
• The Second Philippine Commission, also known as the Taft Commission, was successful because by then, the US troops had already invaded some Philippine towns
• American civil government in the Philippines was proclaimed on July 4, 1901
• William Howard Taft


  The first civil governor replaced the military governor, General Arthur McArthur
• Taft's objective was "To hold the Philippines for the benefit of the Filipinos"
• Philippine Organic Act of 1902 (Cooper Act)


  First Congressional law about the Philippine government, provided for the extension of the US Bill of Rights to the Filipinos
• The Philippine Commission passed the Sedation Act on November 4, 1901, which imposed imprisonment and death penalty to anyone advocating freedom or separation from the US even through peaceful means, and forbade writing, publishing and dissemination of "libelous statements" concerning the colonial government
• The 1907 Flag Act outlawed the public unfurling of the Philippine flag and declaring illegal the expression of nationalist thoughts
• The Philippine Assembly was established in 1902 in accordance with US laws for the Philippines, with members selected through an election
• The Partido Nacionalista was established by Pascual Poblete in August 1901, with Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmena as part of it
• The Nacionalista slogan was "Immediate, absolute and total independence"
• The Gabaldon Law was the first bill passed by the Philippine Assembly, appropriating one million pesos for barrio schools
• The Philippine Organic Act of 1902 provided for two Filipino resident commissioners to represent the Filipino people in the US Congress
• The Jones Law of 1916 provided for a bicameral Philippine legislature with an upper house called the Senate and a lower house called the House of Representatives
• The Jones Law encouraged the retirement of American bureaucracy and the eventual villainization of the bureaucracy
• The US colonials formed the Philippine Constabulary in 1901 from the remains of the much hated Guardia Civil of the Spanish era, and used it to violently crush the people's resistance
• Alongside laying the foundation for US colonial control in the economy and politics was the so-called "Americanization" of the Filipino social life
• The Americans established the public educational system to spread the use of English and mould Filipinos to suit their agenda
• The Americans gave away free books and school supplies to win the people over and encourage them to attend and listen to lectures
• On August 21, 1901, 540 American teachers (Thomasites) arrived in the Philippines and established a modern school system
• English replaced Spanish as the language of instruction in all schools
• Protestant Christianity was introduced by the Americans
• During American colonialism, the people were permitted to honour and celebrate the anniversaries of Filipino national heroes, and the Americans also added their own holidays such as Valentine's Day
• The Filipino people adopted the American mode of dressing, including polo shirts, coat-and-tie, skirts, high-heeled shoes, nylon stockings, artificial eyelashes, make-up, and perfumes
• The Philippine Constabulary School was established in 1904, later becoming the Philippine Military Academy, the first military officers school in the country
• The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) at Taft Avenue was established in 1901 for indigent patients
• The American era marked the improvement of infrastructure, transport and communication facilities as well as community services in the Philippines
• The American government organized the civil courts, including the Supreme Court, with Cayetano Arellano as the first Filipino Justice
• The first official and clear response to the call for independence was the Jones Law of 1916