The American Period and the Commonwealth Government

1. Economic

2. Military

3. ideological factors.

The rapid expansion of the US in Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific during the late 19th century was motivated by

severalfactors:

massive economic growth

After the Civil War (1861-1865), the US experienced ______ , which led to the rise of prominent businessmen and companies. 

Manufacturing

became a crucial component of the country’s economy.

 sugar, coffee, tobacco, and abaca.

Philippines supplies to the US:

China

where the US wanted to access  but would only be possible with the establishment of a trading base in Southeast Asia.

the strongest armed forces.

• The US wanted to become a world superpower to be able to exert influence on international affairs. This was to be achieved by forming ____

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Created a strategy that the US should create the most powerful navy, in his book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1960-1783

1. The lengthy coastline of the Philippines - made it a desirable military base for the Americans

2. Archipelago - very near china

Reasons why US wanted the PH

racist concepts

A number of related and often ____ were also crucial driving forces in the territorial expansion of the US

Manifest Destiny

refers to the widespread belief among Americans that they deserve, and it was their fate to expand westwards and beyond to spread their culture.

White Man’s Burden

1. whites have the moral obligation to civilize the non- whites such as the Filipinos.

Benevolent Assimilation

• The entire colonial enterprise of the US in the Philippines is hinged upon this concept 

President McKinley in December 1898.

Benevolent Assimilation first uttered by

Libel law (1901)

• The colonial government implemented strict policies that were meant to extinguish Filipino nationalism (3)

• prohibited malicious defamation

Sedition Law (1901)

• The colonial government implemented strict policies that were meant to extinguish Filipino nationalism (3)

• banned uprisings against the US

Flag Law (1907)

• The colonial government implemented strict policies that were meant to extinguish Filipino nationalism (3)

• prohibited the display of Philippine Flags

First Philippine Commission

• Headed by Jacob Schurman, the president of Cornell University

 Jacob Schurman,

headed the First Philippine Commission

1. civil government to replace military rule;

2. establishment of a bicameral congress

3. improvement in sanitation and health care

4.  creation of a public school system.

Suggestions of the First Philippine Commission: (4)

Second Philippine Commission

Carried out the suggestions of the First Philippine Commission

William Howard Taft

• Led the Second Philippine Commission

• Later served as the first American civil governor-general of the Philippines. 

Partido Federalista (1901)

Two oldest Parties in the Philippines Under Taft

• Wanted the statehood of the Philippines

Partido Nacionalista  (1907)

Two oldest Parties in the Philippines Under Taft

• Advocated Philippine Independence

Philippine Organic Act (Cooper Act)

Was enacted by the US Congress, becoming the first American-written organic law or institution of the Philippines

Philippine Commission

Philippine Legislature Upper house

Philippine Assembly

Philippine Legislature Lower House given to Filipino Lawmakers

Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Act)

• Replaced the cooper act giving Filipinos more political autonomy

Upper house - all- Filipino Philippine Senate

Lower house - House of Representatives

• Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Act)

• Reorganized the Philippine Legislature by making the _____the upper house. The lower house was the _____

Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Act)

Promised to grant Philippine independence in the future without giving specific provisions such as a fixed date

Manuel Quezon

First Senate President

Sergio Osmena

Speaker of the house of representatives

System of Education

• is often considered the most significant contribution of the US to the Philippines.

pacify their colonial subjects.

• System of Education

• Historians argue that the US aimed not to educate but to _____

Public Schools

• Americans had been building this since 1898 which employed American soldiers as teachers. 

100,000

By late 1900, despite the war, the Americans had already enrolled _____ Filipino children in public schools.

Department of Public Instruction

set up to manage schools and to open new ones

English

used as the medium of instruction.

1. Manila

2. Cavite

3. Pampanga

Some of the oldest schools were established in:

Thomasites

600 American volunteer teachers who arrived aboard the USS Thomas.

Philippine Normal School

Established in Manila to train the Filipinos to become teachers

Pensionado System

• A scholarship program established by the US 

•  Carlos romulo

• Encarnacion Alzona

• Tomas Mapua

• Jose Abad Santos

Notable alumni of the Pensionado system:

University of the Philippines

Capstone of the american legacy of the philippine education.

Murray Barlett

Envisioned UP to be the “University for the Filipino” to be supported by the people’s money.

Original UP Campus

Established in Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila

Diliman

• Where the majority of the administrative offices of the UP moved to in 1937 which remains as the flagship university of the system. 

1. Philippine General Hospital in Manila

2. Baguio General Hospital 

3. Southern Islands Hospital in Cebu

Hospitals the Americans opened:

1. UP College of Medicine

2. Philippine Quarantine Services

3. Bureau of Science

Scientific institutions hospitals worked with:

• Vaccinations

• Inspection of neighborhoods

• Sources of food and water

• Street sweeping

• Educational campaigns

• Isolated people with mental health issues, leprosy,tuberculosis, etc. (Culion Island)

American Health interventions:

(Culion Island)

Isolated people with mental health issues, leprosy,tuberculosis, etc.

Development of Public Infrastructure

was also an important concern of the American colonial government.

1. Manila

2. Baguio

3. Quezon City - future capital city

Major Cities planned:

Manila Railroad Company

The previous Ferrocaril de Manila-Dagupan and was extended to the Bicol region

Government Buildings

Renovated to reflect American state Architecture

Were also built like the Metropolitan Theater, the Manila Hotel, and the Army and Navy Club

Establishments for leisure and social gathering

Jones Act

vaguely promised Philippine independence

Francis Burton Harrison

The sympathetic governor-general , who allowed Filipinos to be official delegates to the US in 1919 to secure an independence bill for the Philippines.

Woodrow Wilson

• A democrat 

• The president when the first "independence mission” was sent 

Republicans

Rejected the Philippine independence

Independence Bill

• After several attempts, the PH would succeed in securing this in the late 1920’s which witnessed the great Depression

Great Depression

• A period of extreme economic turmoil and poverty

Osmena-roxas (OsRox) Mission of 1931 

Lobbied for the passing of the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act

 Quezon Mission (1933)

Secured a new independence bill called the Tydings-McDuffie Act

Tydings-McDuffie Act

• Act set 04 Jul 1946 as the future date of Philippine independence.

• This was to be preceded by a ten-year transition period from 1935 to 1945.

Philippine Commonwealth Government 

The transitionary government during the ten-year period of the Tydings-McDuffie Act

American high Commissioner

The office of the governor-general was dissolved but this was created to be the personal representative of the US President in the Commonwealth

• Less reliant to the government

• Immigration to the US was limited to only 50 individuals per year

• Filipinos ceased being US nationals

Commonwealth Description

Philippine Constitution of 1935

• Replaced the Jones act

• Created a new Philippine constitution

• Was a republican state

Assembly of Filipinos

• Prepared the Philippine Constitution of 1035

Senator Claro M. Recto of Batangas

Headed the Assembly of Filipinos

1. Executive 

Three branches of the Philippine Constitution

• Headed by a president

Legislative

Three branches of the Philippine Constitution

• Headed by a speaker

Judiciary

Three branches of the Philippine Constitution

• Headed by a chief justice

The president and the Vice President of the Philippine Constitution of 1935

limited to a 6-year term without re-election

Congress / National Assembly

a unicameral body

Nacionalista Party’s ticket

• Formed upon the reconciliation of Quezon and Osmena to prevent other parties from rising to power and grabbing the presidency for the 1935 general elections

Manuel Quezon

• Easily defeated his two opponents in the election

• Won along with Osmena via landslide

1. Emilio Aguinaldo

2. Gregorio Aglipay - a founder of the Iglesia filipina Independiente

Two Opponents of Quezon

Gregorio Aglipay

• a founder of the Iglesia filipina Independiente

15 November 1935 in Manila,

Philippine Commonwealth Government was formally inaugurated on

Quezon

Philippine Commonwealth Government president

Osmeña

Philippine Commonwealth Government vice president