Chapter 11: Building a Colony 1899-1910
Chap 11, pg 1
Even before the United States began a bloody war against the Filipinos,
President McKinley knew that a colonial government would be needed to
rule the islands once the Americans had gained control.
What kind of colonial master did the United States intend to be?
Americans did not want to be like the Romans or Spanish, whose brutal
colonial rule was seen as inconsistent with American democracy. They
admired the British, who had a huge global empire; but the British ruled
harshly, and established unequal trading relationships with their colonies.
The United States could borrow some ideas from other colonial powers,
but also use “Yankee know-how” to create a uniquely American colony.
...while American Exceptionalism (Chapter 2)
provided the comforting belief that the United States
would be an “exceptional” colonial master.
On Dec. 21, 1898, even before the Filipino-American War began,
President McKinley issued the Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation.
It proclaimed America’s “altruistic” mission in acquiring the Philippines, and said that the United States had “Come, not as invaders or
conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in
their employment, and in their personal and religious rights.”
Moreover,the Proclamation stated that the United States wanted to
“win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of the
Philippines by assuring them in every possible way that full measure
of individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of free peoples,
and by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of
benevolent assimilation substituting the mild sway of justice and right
for arbitrary rule.”
How could President McKinley talk about
Americans coming to the Philippines as
‘friends’ when they were about to begin
killing thousands of Filipinos?
First Philippine Commission (Schurman Commission)
Chap 11, pg 2
In January 1899 President McKinley appointed the First Philippine Commission (the Schurman Commission),
to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations for creation of an American colonial administration. McKinley said “The Philippines are ours, not to exploit, but to develop, to civilize, to educate, to train
in the science of self-government.”
Commission head Dr. Jacob Schurman, writing about the Filipinos, tried to justify
American imperialism: “Their lack of education and political experience,
combined with their racial and linguistic diversities, disqualify them, in spite of
their mental gifts and domestic virtues, to undertake the task of governing the
archipelago at the present time.“
The Schurman commission interviewed Filipinos, virtually all of whom were
members of the elite ilustrado class. The primary concern of this group was
that a successful Philippine rebellion might well lead to a full social revolution, which would challenge their landholdings and leadership positions at
the top of the social pyramid. They were thus interested in cooperating with
the Americans so as to assure their own interests in the future colonial state.
In its report to President McKinley in 1900, the American commissioners
acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence but declared that the
Philippines was not ready for it. They recommended:
* Establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible to replace the
current military governor;
* Creation of a bicameral legislature;
* Autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels;
* A system of free public elementary schools.
Second Philippine Commission (Taft Commission) 1900
Chap 11, pg 3
In 1900, President McKinley decided that another commission was
necessary to continue the work of the Schurman Commission: administration of the colony. The President wanted to give this next group
stronger powers, including the power to write laws. This became the
Second Philippine Commission. It was composed of five members
who were American attorneys and ex-military officers.
William Howard Taft, a law professor, was appointed as president of the commission.
He was ambitious, optimistic, diligent, and above all, big (he weighed 325 pounds.)
The new group became known as the Taft Commission.
Taft stayed in the Philippines four years: first as head of the Philippine
Commission and then as Governor-General of the Philippines. Like his
predecessor Jacob Schurman, Taft believed that the Filipinos were not
ready for self-government and supported the American colonial project.
By modern standards, many of William Taft’s views seem racist: for example, he referred to Filipinos as “our
little brown brothers.”
For his era however, he had a relatively progressive attitude. For example, unlike General Arthur MacArthur
who viewed all Filipinos as inherently hostile to the United States, Taft believed that Filipinos could be taught
the “possibility of the honest administration of government.”
As commissioner, Taft outlined a comprehensive development plan that he described as “the Philippines for the
Filipinos . . . that every measure, whether in the form of a law or an executive order, before its adoption, should
be weighed in the light of this question: Does it make for the welfare of the Filipino people, or does it not?”
Taft saw three primary tasks to accomplish:
1. Economic development;
2. Creation of a public education system;
3. Establish representative institutions, modeled after those of the U.S. government.
New Laws and Amendments
Chap 11, pg 4
Spooner Amendment 1901
In 1901 the U.S. Congress passed the Army Appropriation Act, which included the
Spooner Amendment. It gave President McKinley permission to establish a civil government in the Philippines.
What was a “civil government”?
Civil Government
From 1899 to 1901, the Philippines was administered by a military
government, headed by a Military Governor (a soldier) appointed by
the US President.
Beginning July 1, 1901, the Philippines was administered by a civil
government, composed of civilians rather than soldiers. William H.
Taft was the first Civil Governor of the Philippines (soon, his title was
changed to Governor-General.)
Philippine Organic Act 1902
In 1902, following President Roosevelt’s declaration of the end of the Philippine “insurrection”.
The U.S. Congress then passed the Philippine Organic Act, also known as the Philippine Bill of 1902. This law
served as the guideline for the administration of the Philippine Islands.
The Philippines was now firmly a colony of the United States.