American Imperialism

Excerpt from the "Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation":

“…We come, not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights. All persons who, either by active aid or by honest submission, co-operate with the Government of the United States to give effect to these beneficent purposes will receive the reward of its support and protection.” 

Economics

The United States did not allow Filipinos to foster ideas of industrialization. Because of this, colonizers painted an idealized picture of farm life.4 They taught the FIlipinos that industrialization would bring about social evils and failed to mention pertinent information about leading an agricultural lifestyle. Issues of poverty, disease and other negative results of farming.  

Education

The United States used education as a weapon to colonize the Philippines. The colonizers desired to erase any nationalism that was present among the Filipinos that would possibly lead them to believe that they had the ability to defeat a foreign power. Education was the medium for delivering that anti-resistance message. Filipinos were only taught in English, which led them not only to a new language but an entire new way of life.4 In classes, students were taught that Spain was a deviant and that the US was the savior of the Philippines from Spain. The schools in the Philippines were modeled after American schools, and the ideals taught in these schools were American ideals. Filipino students' heros were American heros. The following is an excerpt from a book entitled "The Philippines" by Charles Burke Elliott: 

“Arrangements were promptly made for enlisting a small army of teachers in the United States. At first they came in companies, but soon in battalions. The transport Thomas was fitted up for their accommodation and in July 1901, it sailed from San Francisco with six hundred teachers—a second army of occupation—surly the most remarkable cargo ever carried to an Oriental colony." 4 

Section Contents

Migrating Home

    Treaty of Paris of 1898

    White Man's Burden

        Philippine American War

        American Imperialism

    Filipino Migration

    Timeline

For Further Reading:

• • Espiritu, Yen Le. "Colonial Oppression, Labour Importation, and Group Formation: Filipinos in the United States." Ethnic and Racial Studies 19.1 (1996): 30-43. Print

  • Lasch, Christopher. "The Anti-Imperialists, the Philippines, and the Inequality of Man." The Journal of Southern History 24.3 (1958): 319-31. JSTOR. 06 May 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/pss/2954987>.

  • "Return to the Phillipines." Life. 19 Feb 1945: 28. Google Books.

4 Espiritu, Yen Le. "Colonial Oppression, Labour Importation, and Group Formation: Filipinos in the United States." Ethnic and Racial Studies  19.1 (1996): 30-43. Print.