The American Colonial Experience in the Philippines

America became involved with the Philippines because they seen it as the gateway to the Asian markets. Prior to the American Colonial experience with the Philippines, Spain had colonized the Philippines using Manila Bay as their great seaport, trading silver and rich spices with other countries for over 300 years. The American connection with the Spanish ended in 1898 after the Spanish-American when America wanted to control the Philippines through the Treaty of Paris because they wanted to “Christianize” the Filipinos although most were already Christians. Americans did not feel guilty about taking over the Philippines because they believed if they had not taken over, some other country would. This was not known by the Filipinos and Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for 20 million dollars which ended the long span of Spanish Colonization of the Philippines. America had made the Filipinos believe they were free therefore the Philippines celebrated their independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 and declared their Emilio Aguinaldo their president. However, the Filipinos realized that they were not free and that America was its new ruler so that was the beginning of the Filipino American War which began right after the U.S colonization which is known as “Philippine Insurrection.” This lead to what was known as a bloody precursor to Vietnam. The war lasted from 1899 to 1902. In these three years, many lives were lost, which included 70,000 Americans and close to 2 million Filipinos being killed. American soldiers were ordered to shoot anyone over 10 years of age and kill them. Anyone age 10 or older was seen as Criminals because they were born before America took over the Philippines. The Colt 45 which was known as the “Philippine Model” was designed specifically to kill the Filipinos. Over time all of the Filipinos were seen as the enemy. After the war had ended William Howard Taft became governor of the Philippines. American school teachers were also sent and known as “Thomasites” to establish a school similar to American Schools.
The definition of an empire mean political control is exercised by one organized political unit over another unit in order to separate it. I believe by hiding everything from the Filipinos it makes the United States an Empire. The United States could have been honest with the Filipinos instead of viewing them as enemies. All the United States were trying to do was benefit themselves and assimilate the Filipinos to our ways of life. I believe the U.S is still an empire because they continue to hide important information from the citizens. The United States has also continued to grow greedier over time; always seeking the lowest price to produce something where they can make a larger profit.

A Hairdresser's Experience in High Life

A Hairdresser’s Experience in High Life

After reading A Hairdresser’s Experience in High Life which is a book on an African American lady that works in numerous jobs allowing her to travel but ultimately she ends up being a hairdresser allowing her access to some interesting gossip. This book shows the reader how race, class, and gender can shape your day to day experiences.
From the beginning of the book the reader gets a feeling that the author does not see herself as the African American woman, working for upper class families; which is actually the situation she is in. For the most part the author gives you the impression that she belongs with these people and that she mingles with higher class people even when she is not working and is on a break to travel. There are a couple areas in the book that gives you a look that occasionally she does have an inner struggle. For example, when she was about to sit and eat with the higher cartel of people she worried about her use of language compared to theirs. There were only a couple of instances where you got a slight glimpse of these inner struggles while the most observed behavior she possessed was that she believed she was as good as they were or better.

The author being an African American affects her life and the events that took place. During this time period African Americans were hired helped for the wealthy to help them in their daily tasks. The author goes on to tell about her many experiences as a hairdresser and about the many things she hears over the years. The author probably would not have heard all these stories if she would have not been a female and a African American because she would not have had access to all these women’s stories. Also, there is a matter of trust because the higher class women more than likely viewed the “hairdresser” as an inferior woman who had the obligation to be loyal to them. A person could also question did the classy women even go as far as to pretend that she was not even actually there. I believe the author was also trying to show that she was better than the wealthy people because of the gossip she knew and that their lives were not perfect.

In conclusion, this shows that there are conflicts in society about race, class, and gender. Each one of these could affect people differently depending on which group you were or are associated with. The author’s story may not have been the same if her race, gender, or class had been different. Although, these are totally different areas most of the time they are linked together to form opinions about whom you are. Gender, class, and race are a major part of a person’s life and the experiences they have.

The Gilded Age

“The Gilded Age”
During the late 19th Century America started transforming into Modern America. The growth of industry and a wave of immigrants marked the period in American history known as the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age gets its name from the many great fortunes created during this period and the way of life this wealth supported. Mark Twain actually termed this period because he believed that the period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. This period was viewed as a time of greed. A couple of the businessmen that benefited from this wealth were John D. Rockefeller who benefited from oil and Andrew Carnegie who benefited from Steel. These businessmen were known as robber barons which were considered people who got rich through ruthless business deals.
In my opinion, we are living in a “Gilded Age” today. The American people are still consumed with greed and the material things they have. In society, it is still about defeating and taking over the market you are in. These people want to put their competitors out of business where they can have the power over their market. Andrew Carnegie figured out a way to produce his product at a cheaper rate which would give him a lead on his competition. He did this with a technique called vertical integration. Vertical Integration is a technique which the company owns all means of production. This gave them the upper hand because other companies had to pay higher prices to get the things they needed from other companies. While Carnegie owned the companies of everything he would need which allowed him to get these items at a lower price which was actually the cost to produce the items.
We still live in an industrialized nation today. Factories continue try to do things bigger, better, quicker and at a cheaper price. This has cut out the need for all of the skilled workers in trades because now it is done by the machines so the person is there just to make sure the machine stays on track. This has caused the people to get paid less while the companies are able to produce more goods at a cheaper rate. While are society has chosen to stay with this because of the greater quantity they can produce we have had to adjust to a lower quality item. The positive is we are able to go replace the item at the cheaper price. In conclusion, although we have adopted industrialism in our society which started during the Gilded Age we have realized you will still be faced with the positive and negative effects.