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.