THE IMPACT OF AMERICAN

RULE
(1898-1935)
GROUP 4
ALGIE REῆON

PRINCESS VIA QUIῆONES

CAMILLE RAVANILLA
MARIA LUISA REAZON
• COMPARED WITH THE IMPACT OF SPANISH COLONIAL RULE, MOST ANALYSTS
WOULD SAY THAT THE UNITED STATES IMPROVED THE ECONOMY AND SYSTEM
OF GOVERNMENT, WHERE FILIPINOS HAD GREATER POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
AND MORE ECONOMIC GAINS.
• MOST FILIPINOS WOULD ALSO AGREE THAT PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION,
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION AND LITERACY GREATLY
IMPROVED UNDER AMERICAN RULE.
• IT IS IN THE REALM OF VALUES AND CULTURE THAT MORE NEGATIVE EFFECTS
APPEAR TO BE STRONG AND MORE EVIDENT.
• THE AMERICAN RULE CAUSED GREAT MARKS OF “COLONIAL MENTALITY” AND
THE MATERIALISTIC AND INDIVIDUALISTIC WAYS AMONG FILIPINOS.
 EDUCATION AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM
• AMERICA’S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF THE
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
• IT EMPHASIZED HONESTY, CIVIC CONSCIOUSNESS, COOPERATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT
IN ITS WORK ADVANCING THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE, MUTUAL HELP, LOVE OF LABOR,
AND ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.
• THE CHURCH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM BECAUSE THE
AMERICANS MADE SURE THAT THE CHURCH AND THE STATE WERE SEPARATED. THIS MEANT
THAT THE STATE HAD NO RIGHT TI INTERFERE IN RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS AND SIMILARLY, THE
CHURCH HAD NO RIGHT TO INTERFERE IN PURELY GOVERNMENTAL OR SECULAR AFFAIRS.
• THE FIRST AMERICAN TEACHER WERE AMERICAN SOLDIERS. THEY TREATED THE
PUPILS KINDLY AND GAVE FREE BOOKS, PENCILS AND WRITING PAPER.
• DUE TO ABNORMAL CONDITIONS OF FIGHTING, THESE EFFORTS DID NOT
IMMEDIATELY SUCCEED.
• AFTER THE AMERICAN WAR, THE AMERICAN TEACHERS CALLED THOMASITES
WERE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN THE CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE THE FILIPINOS.
• BOYS AND GIRLS OF SCHOOL AGE, AND EVEN ADULTS WHO WANTED TO LEARN
ENGLISH, ENROLLED IN THE DAY AND NIGHT CLASSES. THE RESULT WAS THAT
WITHIN A FEW YEARS, MANY FILIPINOS LEARNED THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
WERE QUALIFIED TO TAKE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS.
• BY 1904, THE AMERICAN COLONIAL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES WAS ABLE TO SEND
THE FIRST GROUP OF FILIPINO PENSIONADOS OR SCHOLARS TO THE UNITED STATES.
• THESE FILIPINOS STUDIED LAW, MEDICINE, ENGINEERING, EDUCATION, AND OTHER
PROFESSIONS.
• IN 1903, WHEN THE FIRST CENSUS WAS TAKEN, THE LITERACY RATE WAS 44.2%. THIS ROSE
TO 49.2% IN 1918, WHEN SECOND CENSUS WAS TAKEN.
• ASIDE FROM SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AND THE UNIVERSITY OF STO. TOMAS, WHICH
CONTINUED TO OPERATE DURING THE AMERICAN REGIME, MORE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES WERE FOUNDED.
• THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY FOUNDED UNDER THE AMERICANS WAS SILIMAN UNIVERSITY IN
DUMAGUETE CITY, FOLLOWED BY CENTRAL PHILIPPINE UNIVERSITY IN ILOILO CITY.
• THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES WAS FOUNDED IN 1908 MANILA.
 PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
• NEXT TO THE EDUCATION AS AMERICA’S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN THE
PHILIPPINES WAS IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE.
• BEFORE 1900, THE FILIPINOS SUFFERED FROM RAVAGES OF SMALLPOX,
DYSENTERY, TUBERCULOSIS, CHOLERA, MALARIA, AND OTHER DEADLY DISEASES
WHICH KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE EVERY YEAR.
• IN 1901, THE AMERICAN CREATED THE BOARD OF PUBLIC HEALTH, WHICH LATER
ON BECAME A BUREAU.
• ITS DUTIES WERE TO INSTRUCT THE PEOPLE IN HYGIENE AND SANITATION AND
TO COMBAT THE PEOPLE’S IGNORANCE AND SUPERSTITIONS WHICH WERE THE
GREATEST ENEMIES OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH.
• HOSPITALS, LEPROSARIA, AND DISPENSARIES WERE ESTABLISHED SO THAT SICK
PEOPLE COULD BE TAKEN CARE OF PROPERLY.
• THEY ALSO IMPROVED THE FILIPINO DIET. THE AMERICANS TAUGHT THE FILIPINOS
NUTRITION. BALANCE DIET, CONSISTING OF LARGE AMOUNT OF ALL KNOWN
VITAMINS AND MINERALS WAS INTRODUCED.
• AS A RESULT, THE FILIPINOS BECOME HEALTHIER AND TALLER. IT IS ESTIMATED AND
THAT THE HEIGHT OF THE AVERAGE FILIPINO IN 1900 WAS FIVE FEET AND THREE OR
FOUR INCHES. BY 1920, THE AVERAGE HEIGHT MAY BE ESTIMATED AT FIVE FEET AND
SIX INCHES.
 IMPROVEMENT IN TRADE AND INDUSTRY
• THE FREE TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE UNITED STATES LED
TO ARTIFICIAL PROSPERITY.
• FREE TRADE RELATIONS MEANT THAT FILIPINO PRODUCTS ENTERING THE UNITED
STATES WERE NOT TAXED, AND AMERICAN PRODUCTS ENTERING THE PHILIPPINES
WERE LIKEWISE, FREE OF DUTY.
• AS A RESULT OF THIS FREE TRADE RELATION, PHILIPPINE EXPORTS TO THE UNITED
STATES INCREASED.
• IN 1909, PHILIPPINE EXPORTS AMOUNTED 60.9 MILLION PESOS.
• IN 1910-1914, IT ROSE TO 94.7 MILLION PESOS.
• IN 1914-1918, THE AMOUNT OF EXPORTS AMOUNTED TO177.3 MILLION PESOS.
• IN 1925-1930 THE EXPORTS AMOUNTED TO 279.9 MILLION PESOS.
• EXCEPT DURING WORLD WAR I, FROM 1914-1918, PHILIPPINE FOREIGN TRADE ENJOYED A
FAVORABLE BALANCED OF TRADE. THIS MEANT THAT PHILIPPINE EXPORT WERE BIGGER
THAN IMPORTS.
• IN INDUSTRY, THE PHILIPPINES ALSO PROSPERED UNDER THE AMERICANS.
• COCONUT OIL MILLS, CIGAR AND CIGARETTE FACTORIES, ROPE FACTORIES, FISH AND FISHING
CANNING, ALCOHOL DISTILLERIES, AND SUGAR CENTRALS WERE ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT
THE PHILIPPINES.
• MORE LABORERS WERE EMPLOYED AND FILIPINO CAPITAL, ALTHOUGH SMALL AND TIMID,
BEGAN TO INVESTED IN INDUSTRIES.
• MINING, WHICH THE SPANIARDS DID NOT IMPROVE AND EXPLOIT WAS ENCOURAGED AND
BECAME AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY.
• IN 1929, GOLD MINING PRODUCED ALMOST 7MILLION PESOS WORTH OF GOLD.
• IN 1935, THE YEAR OF COMMONWEALTH, IT PRODUCED ALMOST 32 MILLION PESOS WORTH
OF GOLD.
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
• ALONGSIDE THE IMPROVEMENTS OF HEALTH AND SANITATION, THE AMERICANS
ALSO IMPROVED THE VARIOUS MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION AND
COMMUNICATION.
• IN 1989, WHEN SPAIN WAS OUSTED FROM THE PHILIPPINES BY THE FILIPINOS,
THE PHILIPPINES HAD LESS THAN 2,000 KILOMETERS OF ROAD. THE LENGTH WAS
INCREASED TO MORE THAN 20,000 KILOMETERS WHEN THE COMMONWEALTH
WAS INAUGURATED.
• DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD, BRIDGES AND CULVERTS NUMBERED LESS THAN
3,000.
• IN 1935, THIS NUMBER ROSE TO MORE THAN 8,000. THE RAILWAY LINE WAS
LIKEWISE EXTENDED.
• IN 1903, THERE WERE LESS THAN 200 KILOMETERS OF RAILWAY.
• IN 1935, IT ROSE MORE THAN 1,000 KILOMETERS.
• THE MANILA-DAGUPAN RAILWAY, FOUNDED DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD,
WAS ACQUIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND BECAME THE MANILA RAILROAD
COMPANY.
• THE RAILWAY LINE WAS EXTENDED TO THE PROVINCES OF NORTHERN AND
SOUTHERN LUZON, THEREBY BRINGING THEM CLOSER THAN BEFORE.
 DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

• PRESIDENT MCKINLEY’S PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD THE

PHILIPPINES WERE ROOTED IN THE RECOGNITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AS THE
FOUNDATION OF ANY DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM.
• IN CONTRAST, THE SPANISH REGIME DID NOT RECOGNIZE IN PRACTICE THE
VALUE OF EQUALITY AND FREEDOM.
• THE AMERICAN REGIME RECOGNIZED THE EQUALITY OF MEN BEFORE THE LAW
AND THE RIGHT OF EVERY MAN TO ALL THE FREEDOMS-FREEDOM OF RELIGION,
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, FREEDOM TO COMPLAIN, AND
FREEDOM TO CHANGE ONE’S DOMICILE.
• THE AMERICANS, HOWEVER, DID NOT INTRODUCED DEMOCRACY IN THE
PHILIPPINES, FOR THE FILIPINOS ALREADY KNEW WHAT DEMOCRACY WAS
BEFORE THE COMING OF THE AMERICANS AND EVEN BEFORE THE SPANIARD
CAME.
• THE NUMEROUS REVOLTS AND UPRISINGS AGAINST SPAIN AND THE WAR
AGAINST THE U.S OCCUPATION- ALL SIGNIFY THE PEOPLE’S DESIRE TO BE FREE
FROM FOREIGN CONTROL.
• THE MALOLOS CONSTITUTION PROVIDED FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS WHICH
RECOGNIZED HUMAN DIGNITY AND FREEDOM.
 POLITICAL PARTIES
• WHEN THE AMERICAN COLONIZED THE PHILIPPINES, THEY INTRODUCED MANY
AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. ONE OF THESE WAS SYSTEM OF POLITICAL PARTIES
AND ELECTIONS. THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION, THE PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS AND
FINALLY THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS, FIRST HELD IN 1907 TO ELECT THE
DELEGATES TO THE PHILIPPINE ASSEMBLY, RESULTED IN THE FORMATION OF
POLITICAL PARTIES AMONG THE FILIPINOS.
• IT IS TRUE THAT THERE ARE WERE TWO FACTIONS DURING THE TEJEROS
ELECTION OF 1897, BUT THEY WERE NOT POLITICAL PARTIES WITH DEFINITE
POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
• IT WAS AFTER THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION THAT REAL POLITICAL PARTIES CAME INTO EXISTENCE IN
THE PHILIPPINES. THE PARTIES THEN HAD A POLITICAL PLATFORM, WHICH THE FILIPINOS LEARNED
FROM THE AMERICANS. THUS, THE FEDERAL PARTY HAD A DEFINITE PLATFORM, WHICH WAS TO
WORK FOR THE INTEGRATION OF THE PHILIPPINES INTO THE AMERICAN UNION. ON THE OTHER HAND
THE NACIONALISTA PARTY HAD PLATFORM OPPOSITE THAT OF THE FEDERAL PARTY NAMELY,
IMMEDIATE AND ABSOLUTE INDEPENDENCE FOR THE PHILIPPINES.
• IT WAS ON THE BASIS OF POLITICAL PLATFORM THAT THE FILIPINOS CAME TO KNOW ABOUT THE
PARTY SYSTEM AS PRACTICED IN THE UNITED STATES. IN TIME, THE GOOD AS WELL AS THE BAD
CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICAL PARTY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES WERE ADOPTED BY FILIPINOS.
• THE RESULT OF THIS SYSTEM OF POLITICAL PARTIES WAS THE INCREASE IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF
GOVERNMENT MACHINERY AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS BY THE WEALTHY AND EDUCATED FILIPINOS.
• THIS TYPE OF POLITICS, IRONICALLY WAS DEEPENED DURING THE TIME OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL
HARRISON, WHEN MORE FILIPINOS CAME TO CONTROL THE LAWMAKING BODY AND GOVERNMENT
BUREAUCRACY.
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
• ONE OF THE MOST LASTING INFLUENCES OF AMERICANS IN THE PHILIPPINES WAS THE
TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE TO THE FILIPINOS.
• MCKINLEY ORDERED THAT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BE MADE AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION
IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
• WITHIN 10 YEARS OF THE AMERICANS OCCUPATION, SOME FILIPINOS BEGAN TO WRITE IN
ENGLISH.
• SOME OF THE FILIPINOS WHO WROTE IN ENGLISH DURING THE FIRST 10 YEARS OF AMERICAN
RULE WERE JUAN F. SALAZAR, MAXIMO M. KALAW, FRANCISCO M. AFRICA, JUSTO JULIANO, AND
BERNARDO P. GARCIA. THEY WROTE POEMS, ESSAYS, AND STORIES. WITH THE TEACHING OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO THE FILIPINOS, AMERICAN CULTURE BECAME POPULAR IN THE
PHILIPPINES.
• FILIPINO STUDENTS LEARNED THE WORKS OF AMERICAN WRITERS AS LONGFELLOW, BRYANT, POE,
WHITMAN, LANIER, AND MANY OTHERS, MORE THAN FILIPINO LITERARY WORKS.
• BY 1935, MANY FILIPINO WRITERS IN ENGLISH HAD DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES IN POETRY, SHORT
STORIES, AND ESSAYS. A FEW WROTE DRAMAS AND NOVELS. SOME OF THE POEMS AND SHORT
STORIES OF FILIPINO WRITERS IN ENGLISH WERE PUBLISHED IN UNITED STATES.
• THE CONTACT BETWEEN FILIPINO AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESULTED IN THE ADOPTION OF ENGLISH
WORDS AND PHRASES IN THE MAJOR PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE.
• IN TAGALOG, IN PARTICULAR, HUNDREDS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES HAVE BEEN ADOPTED
AND ARE NOW PART OF THE LANGUAGE. WORDS LIKE PUTBOL (FOOTBALL), BASKETBOL
(BASKETBALL), PAWL (FOUL), BOKSING (BOXING), BISTIK (BEEFSTEAK), KENDI (CANDY), AND MANY
OTHERS ARE NOW PART OF THE TAGALOG VOCABULARY.
• UP TO THIS DAY, MANY ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES ARE STILL BEING INCORPORATED INTO
TAGALOG. HENCE THE RISE OF WHAT IS CALLED “TAGLISH” OR A COMBINATION OF TAGALOG AND
ENGLISH, OR “ENGALOG” WHICH IS COMBINATION OF ENGLISH AND TAGALOG HAS BEEN
SIGNIFICANT.
 NEGATIVE RESULTS OF AMERICAN RULE
• THE PHILIPPINES BECAME DEPENDENT EXCLUSIVELY ON THE UNITED STATES TO CONTINUE
PROSPER ECONOMICALLY.
• THE PHILIPPINES RELIED TOO HEAVILY ON THE AMERICAN MARKET. THIS MADE THE FILIPINOS
HELPLESS ECONOMICALLY.
• BEING THE ONLY MAJOR TRADING PARTNER, THE AMERICANS HAD THE UPPER HAND IN
DICTATING THE PRICES OF PHILIPPINE COMMODITIES.
• THE AMERICAN AUTHORITIES IN WASHINGTON, D.C, IN EFFECT, TOLD THE FILIPINOS WHAT TO
DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO.
• THERE WAS NO REAL INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE HANDS OF FILIPINO CAPITAL.
• THE TREND WAS TOWARDS INDUSTRIES CONTROLLED BY AMERICANS, BRITISH, AND OTHER
NATIONALS.
• THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION WAS THE “BRAINWASHING” OF THE FILIPINOS THROUGH THE
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. BECAUSE THE AMERICANS DICTATED THE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES OF THE
FILIPINOS, THE SUBJECTS THAT WERE TAKEN IN THE SCHOOLS LAID MORE EMPHASIS ON AMERICAN
CULTURE AND HISTORY THAN PHILIPPINE CULTURE AND HISTORY.
• THE FILIPINO PUPILS AND STUDENTS UNDER THE AMERICANS LEARNED MORE ABOUT WASHINGTON,
LINCOLN, SANTA CLAUS, SNOW AND OTHER AMERICAN HEROES, SUBJECTS, AND OBJECTS.
• LEARNING ABOUT FILIPINO HEROES AND HEROINES LIKE RIZAL, BONIFACIO, TANDANG SORA, DEL
PILAR, AGUINALDO, AND OTHERS TOOK BACK A SEAT.
• THIS KIND OF EDUCATION INFLUENCED MANY FILIPINO STUDENTS TO ADMIRE EVERYTHING COMING
FROM THE UNITED STATES. CONSEQUENTLY, MANY OF THEM PREFERRED EVERYTHING “STATESIDE”.
THIS IS WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS COLONIAL MENTALITY.
• NUTRITION IN FILIPINO DIET ALSO SUFFERED IN THE LONG RUN. MAN FILIPINOS LEARNED HOW
TO APPRECIATE AMERICAN HOTDOG, HAMBURGER, SANDWICH, CANDY, AND OTHERS, BUT
FORGOT THEIR OWN DELICACIES SUCH AS SUMAN, PUTO, MATAMIS SA BAO OR GINAOK,
PAKASKAS, AND MANY EXCELLENT SWEETS AND DELICACIES. TODAY, THESE DELICACIES ARE
UNKNOWN TO MANY OF THE PRESENT GENERATION.
• THE FILIPINO ATTITUDE OF PLACING MATERIAL THINGS ABOVE SPIRITUAL THINGS IS DEFINITELY
AN AMERICAN MINDSET.
• CAPITALIST VALUES HAVE ENTERED PHILIPPINE CULTURE. THUS, TODAY, ONE IS JUDGED NOT
ACCORDING TO WHETHER OR NOT HE OR SHE IS HONEST AND HARDWORKING, BUT ACCORDING
TO WHETHER OR NOT ONE IS RICH; OR HAS A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE; OWNS THE LATEST MODEL OF
CAR, REFRIGERATOR, TELEVISION SET, MOBILE PHONE, OR AN OTHER OBJECT OF MATERIAL
WEALTH.
• AN HONEST, HARDWORKING INDIVIDUAL WHO DOES NOT HAVE ALL THESE IS OFTEN
CONSIDERED UNFORTUNATE. THIS ATTITUDE HAS BEEN ABSORBED BY FILIPINOS.
• UNFORTUNATELY, SUCH AS MATERIALISTIC VIEW OF LIFE HAS WEAKENED THE FILIPINO'S
COMMUNAL SPIRIT TOWARDS AN INDIVIDUALISTIC AND CONSUMERIST WAY OF LIFE.