AMERICAN

COLONIZATION
The Arrival
 American Colonization in the Philippines

01 02 03 04
America’s War and The Marcos Reform and
Colony Independence Years Rebellion
1898 – 1933: America’s Colony
The Philippines become a reluctant part of a
new empire
America's involvement in the Philippines started with a bang. On the morning of
May 1, 1898, an American flotilla commanded by Commodore George Dewey sailed into
Manila Bay and, without losing a single sailor, promptly sank a Spanish squadron that
was anchored there. President William McKinley would later admit that when he first
heard the news of the victory, he "could not have told where those darned islands were American troops pose
within 2,000 miles.“ victoriously on the ramparts of
Manila, circa 1899.

When the Spanish-American War ended in December 1898, Spain sold the entire Philippine archipelago to
the United States for $20 million. The Philippines had acquired a new colonial ruler. The United States had
acquired a colony the size of Arizona, located more than 4,000 miles away across the Pacific.

But in the purchase, the United States also had received control over ancient Muslim sultanates still angry
about the Spanish takeover centuries earlier. More urgently, it confronted a separate Catholic nationalist
rebel movement, led by Emilio Aguinaldo. War soon erupted between the nationalists and the American
troops stationed in the islands. The outgunned Filipinos adopted guerilla tactics; the U.S. army responded
by rounding peasants into "reconcentration camps" and declaring entire areas battle zones, in which no
distinctions were made between combatants and civilians. At least 4,200 American and 16,000 Filipino
soldiers are thought to have been killed in the fighting. Historians have debated the scale of civilian
deaths, with estimates ranging from 200,000 to almost 1 million.
Back in the United States, a newly formed anti-imperialist movement protested the war as an act of criminal
aggression against the Filipino people. But self-described imperialists insisted that America had a duty to bring order
and civilization to what Indiana senator Alfred Beveridge called a "barbarous race." As the senator insisted, "The
Philippines are ours forever. We will not repudiate our duty in the archipelago. We will not abandon our duty in the
Orient. We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee under God, of the civilization of the world.“

Aguinaldo was captured in March 1901 and eventually pledged allegiance to the United
States. The Philippine-American War was declared to be over a year later, though
Muslim fighters in the southern Philippines continued to resist until 1914.To run
America's new possession, President McKinley implemented a policy of "benevolent
assimilation," under which the United States would control the Philippines temporarily
while it oversaw the transition to self-rule and independence. The colonial
Filipino insurgents, led by Emilio administration, headed by future president William H. Taft, set up local governmental
Aguinaldo (seated third from the
right), waged a guerrilla campaign
bodies and a system of universal public education. But it did little to reform the land
to expel Americans from the tenure system, which gave a few wealthy landlords control over the rural areas where
islands. U.S. soldiers captured most Filipinos lived.
Aguinaldo in 1901. (National
Archives)

Filipino nationalists suspected the United States of postponing independence indefinitely while exploiting the islands'
economic resources and using their country as a military base. A 1910 editorial in a Manila journal summed up the
first decade of American colonial rule as "10 years of bitter deception."
1934-1964: War and Independence

During the 1920s and 1930s, prominent Filipino nationalists like Manuel Quezon took
their case for independence to Washington, D.C. Their breakthrough came in 1934, when
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill that made the Philippines a commonwealth until
1946, when it would become fully independent. Quezon was elected president of the new
commonwealth. World War II interrupted the transition to independence. Within minutes of
the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes bombed Manila
and nearby American military bases. The American forces in the islands, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur wades
General Douglas MacArthur, were unprepared for the invasion that followed. After escaping to ashore on Leyte in 1944, two years
after Japan had defeated American
Australia, MacArthur told reporters, "I have come through, and I shall return." and Philippine forces.

Japan claimed to have liberated the islands from the "oppression and tyranny" of
American rule, but replaced it with something far more brutal and exploitive.
Guerilla groups formed to harass Japanese forces and the Filipino puppet
government they installed. The most powerful group was the Hukbalahap, or Huks,
a 25,000-strong peasant army based in Luzon. The communist-influenced Huks
not only attacked the Japanese but also seized land from landlords. "If I worked in
those sugar fields, I'd be a Huk myself," MacArthur said sympathetically.

Moro traders approach an American Coast MacArthur and the U.S. army returned to the Philippines in 1944. After a bloody
Guard vessel, 1945.
battle for Manila, the islands were declared liberated once more. 
More than 1 million Filipinos had died during the war. As promised, the Republic of the Philippines became a sovereign
and independent nation on July 4, 1946. After witnessing the handover, MacArthur announced, "America buried
imperialism here today."
The United States, however, was far from gone. It still played a major
military role in the new republic. Under a 1947 agreement, the United States
was permitted to operate a naval base at Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base
outside Manila -- the largest American overseas bases in the world, and
crucial to the U.S. military's Cold War strategy in Asia.

And the United States continued to keep a close watch on domestic affairs.
The Huk guerrillas resurfaced in the late 1940s, fueled by peasants'
continuing desire for agricultural reform. With military aid and covert President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with
assistance from the United States, the Philippine government quashed the General MacArthur and Admiral Chester
Nimitz to discuss war strategy, 1944. Ten
Huks by 1954. years earlier, Roosevelt had signed the law
that laid the groundwork for the hand over of
the Philippines.
1965-1986: The Marcos Years

Today, the name Ferdinand Marcos conjures up images of oppressive rule and
of his wife Imelda's huge collection of shoes. Marcos was elected president of
the Philippines in 1965. His early accomplishments in developing rural areas
were overshadowed by his eventual descent into crony capitalism and
dictatorship. In 1972, he declared martial law: Constitutional rights were
suspended, the legislature was closed and Marcos held on to power for another
14 years.

Successive American administrations tolerated and supported Marcos in spite of President Ferdinand Marcos
his authoritarianism, seeking his help to maintain a sizable military presence in and his wife Imelda became
infamous for their political
the country. America's bases in the Philippines played a vital role during the corruption and lavish lifestyle.
Vietnam War, and after the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, they served as a Marcos first made a name for
himself in Philippine politics by
counterweight to the Soviet naval base in Cam Ranh Bay. successfully defending himself
against charges that he had
But the U.S. bases were a contentious issue for many Filipinos, who saw them shot a political rival.
as further evidence of America's enduring colonial meddling. While the bases
did create jobs and boost the local economy, they also fueled crime and
prostitution in adjacent communities.
 In the early 1970s, a Maoist rebel group called the New People's Army
(NPA) and a Muslim separatist group called the Moro National Liberation
Front (MNLF) formed in the southern part of the country. The NPA
expanded to include as many as 25,000 members while the MNLF received
aid and arms from Libya and Iran. The United States, fearing communist
insurgency, sent advisors to train the Philippine army, as well as millions of
dollars in military aid and weapons.
The United States barely protested when
President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Ferdinand and Marcos used the struggle against
Imelda Marcos during a conference in Manila, 1966. insurgents as an excuse to crack down on
all political opponents. Asked about the
situation in the Philippines in 1984,
President Ronald Reagan replied, "I know there are things there in the Philippines that
do not look good to us from the standpoint right now of democratic rights, but what is
the alternative? It is a large communist movement.“
Corazon "Cory" Aquino is sworn in as
president, 1986. Aquino entered politics
By the mid-1980s, Marcos's unpopularity among Filipinos was impossible to after her husband, a prominent
opposition leader, was assassinated by
ignore. He faced not only a guerrilla war but also widespread public unrest. the Marcos government.
Hoping to placate his critics, Marcos announced a "snap" presidential election to
be held in February 1986. Despite the government's attempts to fix the results,
Marcos lost to Corazon Aquino, the wife of assassinated opposition leader
Benigno Aquino. But Marcos stubbornly refused to concede defeat, even as
senior members of his military defected and thousands of unarmed Filipinos
took to the streets in an unprecedented display of "people power." The tense
standoff ended when, at the urging of the United States, Marcos stepped down
and went into exile.
1987-2003: Reform and Rebellion

The popular movement that helped topple Marcos spawned optimism that a
more democratic, autonomous era in Philippine politics was beginning. A new
constitution, ratified in 1987, was designed to prevent a repeat of the abuses of
the Marcos years. Clark Air Force Base was closed after being damaged in the
1991 explosion of Mount Pinatubo, and the naval base at Subic Bay was closed in
U.S. troops arrive at Clark Air Base
1992 after the Philippine government rejected an extension of the U.S. lease. in the Philippines, April 2003. Since
2002, the United States has sent
hundreds of soldiers to the southern
However, the high-level corruption and the mass poverty of the Marcos era were Philippines to support and train the
Philippine army. The Philippine
not so easily eradicated. President Corazon Aquino and her successors inherited constitution prohibits foreign soldiers
many of her predecessor's problems, including the ongoing conflict with the NPA. from fighting in the country.
Aquino declared "total war" on the rebels, and the United States has continued
to supply and train the Philippine army. The NPA today is much weakened, but
negotiations remain stalled.
The southern Philippines, meanwhile, has become a flashpoint for new
Philippine President Gloria hostilities. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which broke off from
Arroyo meets with the MNLF nearly 20 years ago, continues to fight under the leadership of a
Secretary of State Colin
Powell, 2002. Arroyo has
cleric named Hashim Salamat. After massive military campaigns by the
pledged her country's Philippine government in Muslim areas, current president Gloria Macapagal
support for the U.S. war Arroyo agreed in 2001 to peace talks with the MILF. But the violence has not
on terrorism. In turn, the
abated. The Philippine government has accused the MILF of having ties to
Bush administration has
offered military support the terrorist group that blew up a Bali nightclub in October 2002 (although
for the Philippines' the MILF denies this). Currently, the MILF is thought to have 12,000 fighters
ongoing battle against in its ranks.
Muslim separatists.
Concerned with possible links between various rebel groups and international
terrorists, the United States continues to support the Philippine government's
current anti-insurgency campaigns. The U.S. government recently added the NPA to
its list of terrorist groups and also says that a smaller rebel group, Abu Sayaf, has
links to al Qaeda. Abu Sayaf split from the MNF in 1991 and made its name by
taking Filipinos and foreigners hostage on the islands of Jolo and Basilan. Though
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is
Abu Sayaf claims to be fighting for a Muslim state, MILF has distanced itself from the one of several insurgent groups
group. fighting for a Muslim state in the
southern Philippines. To some
Filipino Muslims, they are freedom
In November 2001, President George W. Bush announced that the United States
fighters. To the Philippine
would support President Arroyo's campaign against Abu Sayaf. "President Arroyo government, they are terrorists.
understands now is the time to make a stand against terrorist activity, whether it be
in Afghanistan or in the Philippines or anywhere else al Qaeda exists," Bush said
after meeting with the Philippine president at the White House. American and
Philippine troops have since conducted joint training operations, and the United
States has sent nearly 600 troops to the southern Philippines.