1863-1898 1916-1935







The Philippines, 1898-1916


In 1898 EMILIO AGUINALDO returned from his brief exile and he again took the lead of a rebellion. Spain faced another rebellion simultaneously on Cuba, and soon the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR broke out. The Filipino rebels controlled most of the Philippines; in 1898, Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES. On Dec. 10th 1898, in the TREATY OF PARIS, Spain ceded her claims to the Philippines to the US. Spain further sold the Caroline and Mariana Islands. except Guam (U.S.) to Germany. These islands hitherto had belonged to the Philippines, but in reality had been administrated by the Germans since 1884.
The United States did not recognize the Aguinaldo administration and sent troops to 'pacify' the islands. The US forces, with superior arms, were victorious; after two years (1899-1901), the forces loyal to Aguinaldo weree defeated. Resistance lasted longest in the Sulu Islands (until 1906).

The US administration quickly implemented a number of administrative, judicial, educational reforms, thus terminating a several century old Spanish tradition and replacing it by modern institutions modeled after American ones. A bicameral parliament was introduced (1902), church and state were separated, church lands confiscated and later sold. In 1903, the PHILIPPINE PESO was introduced as national currency. In 1906, Spanish was replaced by English as the official language. The first parliamentary elections were held in 1907.
In the US opinions over America's colonies were divided. Conservatives, mostly Republicans, favoured a longer period of US rule in which the Philippines were to be developed economically as well as politically. Progressives, mostly Democrats, favoured an early release of the islands into independence.
Under Governor F.B. Harrison (1913-1921) a Filipinization of the Administration took place, as increasingly Filipinos were appointed to administrative positions until they outnumbered Americans by far.
The Philippines experiences a continued, sustained population growth, from c. 7.6 million in 1903 to c. 10.3 milion in 1918.
The colonial status of the Philippines resulted in access of Filipino products to the US markets, as all trade restrictions quickly were removed. There was some immigration of Chinese and Japanese workers. Unlike the established colonies in South East Asia, the Philippines did not experience the establishment of large plantation by immigrants from the mother country.

In 1901 a network of submarine telegraph cables was laid in Philippine waters. The Philippine Olympic Committee was formed in 1911 and recognized by IOC in 1929.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article National Olympic Committee, from Wikipedia
Spanish-American War / War of Philippine Independence 1898 - 1901 , American Colony and Philippine Commonwealth 1901 - 1941 , from A Centennial History of Philippine Independence, 1898-1998 by Fraser Weir
Article Philippine Islands, from Catholic Encyclopedia 1911 edition; from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911 edition
Timeline Philippine History in the 20th Century, from APSIS
The Thomasites Centennial Project (on US contribution to the Filipino education), from Thomasites 100 Years
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Philippines, by Ben Cahoon
Historical Population Statistics : The Philippines, from Population Statistics (Jan Lahmeyer)
Ferdinand Blumentritt, America and the Philippines, published in the Washington Sentinel in 1900, posted by APSIS
Map : cable laid by CS Burnside in 1901, posted by History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
REFERENCE IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Article : Philippine Islands, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 pp.947-950 [G]
Article : Spain - Colonies, in : Statesman's Year Book 1878 pp.418-420, 1895 pp.959-962, 1898 pp.958-963 [G]
Article : United States - Dependencies : Philippine Islands, in : Statesman's Year Book 1901 pp.1235-1236, 1905 pp.1231-1236, 1910 pp.553-557 [G]
Article : Philippines, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.611-614, 1899 pp.640-644, 1900 pp.722-727 [G]
Article : Philippine Islands, in : New International Year Book 1907 pp.615-622, 1908 pp.550-556, 1909 pp.571-576, 1913 pp.538-541, 1914 pp.541-544, 1916 pp.530-533, 1918 pp.488-490 [G]
Article : Philippine Islands, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1902 pp.534-543 [G]
News from the Philippines, from "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it", Vol.III No.14, April 1899, pp.478-480, Vol.III No.15, April 1899, pp.513-515, 528-531, Vol.17, May 1899, pp.589-596 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted May 11th 2002, last revised on November 2nd 2007

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