haha.. i did this back in 8th grade.. took me forever.. if u people dont wanna read.. lyk.. 13 pages.. then dont bother look at this O_o..
BUT.. I WROTE ALL OF THIS..
Intro
What were the short and long term affects the U.S. had on the Philippines.
“Isang magandang senora, libot na libot ng espada.”
[Translated] “There is a beautiful lady surrounded with swords.” (Avakian 121-122)
This was the way many Filipino people described their immigration experience in the U.S. They first went to the U.S. at the turn of the century because of economic opportunities they couldn’t get at the Philippines. Some went to start a new life, and some planned to come back with money for their family back home. The three main places they went to were Hawaii for the farming, Alaska for the fishing, and California for farming, too. Even though they found jobs, they were looked upon as the most suited for the hard and straining “stoop” work. They were short, and didn’t complain about the itchiness unlike the white people. It wasn’t the fact that they weren’t itchy, it was the fact that they didn’t want to lose their job. Several times in the 20th century, the Filipino immigration experience went back and forth—some times it was the beautiful lady, and sometimes the sword. At first they were welcomed, then they were discouraged and discriminated against, and during World War ii, they were welcomed back.
At the end of the Spanish-American war, Spain and America signed the treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Spain would give up Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines and in return, the U.S. gave them $20,000,000 for the Philippines islands. Negotiations did not include representatives from Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, or Philippines. Without having any say in the matter, the Philippines became a part of the U.S. Because they were now apart of the U.S., even though they weren’t granted U.S. citizenship, they were considered “American nationals.” This meant that they could emigrate to the U.S. and Hawaii, which was also possessed in 1898. They left there homelands by the thousands in the early 1900’s to Hawaii for the sugar plantations, and then later in the 1920’s they started to go to California because of the orchards fields, and fished in Alaska. In some ways, people from the Philippines where better prepared than some of the other Asian immigrants that went to the U.S. Because they were ruled by the Spanish for centuries, they had been in contact with Western culture for a long time through the Roman Catholic Church. They were trilingual. They spoke tagalog (native language in the Philippines), Spanish, and English. They spoke English because Americans went to the Philippines and founded schools. Thousands of teachers went to the Philippines to Americanize the Filipinos. Many of the Filipino’s that went to the U.S. were young; teenagers or men under 30. Also, there were far more Filipinos (men) then Filipinas (women) that went to the U.S. In 1929, there was a ship that carried 300 men, and only 2 women. Many Filipina’s went to Hawaii then to the mainland, because it was different work than in California. In California, you could move from farm to farm, to one temporary camp to another, and sometimes even move from one state to another. This was not what most men wanted their wives and families to face. Because of the Spanish and catholic traditions of Filipino culture, many Filipina’s were discouraged from leaving the Philippines. It was very rare for them to leave by themselves, and was usually going the U.S. with there husband or father. In addition, some Filipino men planned on coming back to the Philippines with money for their family, planning of just staying in Hawaii or in the mainland, not as a permanent settler. Other went there in the intention of not coming back because there were in a very economic struggle back in the Philippines.
The work in the U.S. paid way more than pay back in the Philippines. They said that “Hawaii was like a land of glory” (24 Takaki), and called California “Eldorado –the legendary land of gold” (25 Takaki). They could make a grand sum of $2 a day compared to the measly sum of only 15 cents a day back in the Philippines. Many Filipino’s signed labor contacts that would have them transported to Hawaii, paid $18 a month, and had housing, water, fuel, and medical care. More than 1/3 of the Filipino’s that sailed, went to the mainland’s. they went to Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Colorado, Kansas, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Montana, Idaho, Texas, and Arizona. Though, a majority of Filipino’s went to California. The Filipino population in California went from only 5 in 1910 to over 30,500 in 1930. ¼ of the Filipinos on the mainland in 1930 had simple jobs that didn’t really require any skills. They were janitors, valets, kitchen helpers, pantry men, dishwashers, bellboys, houseboys, elevator boys, door boys, and busboys. Those were the only kinds of jobs they could have in the mainlands. They were expected to behave in an especially lowly manner. They had to submissive and servile and eternally patient. They had to serve others wit all there heart—or else! About 1/10 of the Filipinos worked in the Alaska salmon fisheries. Alaskeros , (what they were called), cleaned salmon and packed them into boxes, worked 6 days a week, from 6 am to 6 pm. Though, it didn’t pay much, or sometimes you came there with some, and came back broke. This was because they subtracted large amounts from the Filipinos pay check because of food, an other expenses in Alaska. They barrowed money from contractors to go to Alaska, but then when they came back broke, they were in debt, and ended up having to go work again in Alaska. More than half of the Filipinos in the U.S. worked in agriculture. They traveled from place to place in “crews”. Most of the Filipino workers were men, but there were few women and even some children. In California, they moved from Salina to Manteca, Stockton, Lodi, Fresno, Delano, Dinuba, San Luis Obispo, Imperial, and Sacramento, cutting spinach here, picking strawberries there. The field work was horrible. They worked long hours and it got very hot. One Filipino quoted:
“It was one hundred and thirteen degrees. I used to get two gallons of water to pour on my head. By the time it reached the ground, I was dry” (Takaki 36).
Then there were the horrendous clouds of dust. No matter how tight your shoes were, no matter if you wore high tops, you will get dust in them. When the sun beats down on their backs, the perspiration combined with the dusk makes this almost unbearable itch. They were looked upon as the most suited for the painful “stoop labor”, such as cutting asparagus and planting cauliflower. In 1930, the editor for the California newspaper said that white men cant do the work as well as the Filipino’s and they don’t complain as much. After all the work, it was impossible to not take a shower before they went to sleep. But it took over 6 hours to heat up enough water for about 100 men. When they went to bed, many Filipino’s slept restlessly. They were sore all over from all the stoop work. The houses they lived in were run down. They slept in cots, their blankets were never washed, and the food was filled with flies. One grower explained that he liked to hire Filipinos, because they could be house inexpensively, compared to Mexicans and Spaniards, who brought their families over. Sometimes they were housed in a cluster of tent, and sometimes they weren’t even housed! They had to make there down house, and cook there own food. In the Great Depression, 1930, it was a hard time for everyone and they paid the Filipinos 20 cents an hour. Filipinos and Mexicans field-workers went on strike in 1930, but the police authorities arrested more than 100 workers. Despite that Filipinos in Stockton and Salinas formed the Filipino Labor Union (FLU). Over 4000 Filipino workers joined the Flu to fight low pay. In1934 the FLU demanded 40-45 cents an hour. A total of 6000 workers went on strike, because white people also joined with the Filipino workers. But later the white strikers left, and so the Filipinos were left to do it by themselves. The growers used other Filipino laborers as scabs to replace the strikers. They brought in Mexicans laborers to break the strikes and spread rumors that the Filipino leader was a communist. A sign in Salinas warned the strikers, “This Is a White Man’s Country. Get Out of Here if You Don’t Like What We Pay” (Takaki 42). Finally, the growers were forced to give in to the demand, and the Filipino workers were now paid 40 cents an hour. No matter now long a Filipino person lived in the U.S., no matter how ‘American’ they tried to be, they were still looked upon as a stranger in the eyes of the white people. They were mistaken for other races and were discriminated against because of there own race. On hotel doors, it read “Positively No Filipino People Allowed”, and sometimes they were kept from entering the theaters or forced to sit in segregated sections. Finding a place to live was also hard. In some communities, the landlords did not except oriental people to live there. They thought that they would soon be overcrowded wit other nationalities. They also couldn’t own land. A federal law dating from 1790 declared that only “white” immigrants could become citizens, and since Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipino, and other Asian immigrants weren’t “white”, they cant become a citizen, therefore, they cant get there own land. The white people thought that Filipinos were “criminally-minded”, and were willing to “slash, cut or stab at the least Provocation.” They were thought to be “headhunters”, and “untamed,” primitive savages. There were anti-Filipino groups that went and messed with, or beat up, Filipinos. In Reedley, California, while 100 Filipinos were asleep, people in cars droved by them with dynamite. A few months later, in Imperial, there were another bombing at a barn. It killed a laborer and wounded several others. The white people were furious about Filipino men dating, or marrying white women. Unlike other Asian races, Filipinos has a “problem”. In 1924, the congress passed a federal law that banned all Asian immigration. But it didn’t apply to the Filipino because the Philippines are American territory. In 1934, they passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act. It gave the Philippines its independence. Under the new law, Filipino immigration was limited to only 50 people year, but they were allowed to go to Hawaii when ever the sugar planters needed them. Now that they were stated as aliens to the U.S., they were denied from welfare programs, and so thousands of Filipinos were left hungry and poor, and unable to receive federal aid. The number of Filipinos that went to he U.S. dropped from 11,400 in 1929, to only 1,300 in 1932. But white people still wanted the 45,000 Filipinos that were already in the U.S. to leave. In LA, they officially called for 7,000 poor Filipinos to be deported. The congress responded to the demand of the exclusionist by passing the Repatriation Act. This offered Filipinos to be shipped back to the Philippines for free, in exchange to never come back to the U.S. But only 2,190 Filipinos accepted the offer. This was because there wasn’t a job back at the Philippines, and there sense of pride wouldn’t let them go back to the Philippines in defeat. They were expected to go the U.S. and come back rich, but if they come back jut as poor as they started as, it would be a humiliation. But during the time, because of the Great Depression, it was very hard to raise enough money. Only about four-fifths of the Filipinos who went to the U.S. to seek prosperity never returned. This was because there wages were severely cut. Unlike the Chinese and their Chinatowns, and the Japanese with their Japan towns, Filipinos didn’t develop their own neighborhoods in American cities. They also didn’t own that many businesses. Filipinos were much more likely to provide service rather than goods. They opened up restaurants and barbershops, as to store or trading companies. This was because Spain had concurred the Philippines for centuries. Also, since they arrived near the time of the Great Depression, it was a bad time to start a business. Finally, unlike Chinese or Japanese, most Filipinos could speak some English. Other Asian immigrants were driven to create their own ethnic economies by the language barrier, but Filipinos didn’t face that problem. Another reason why they didn’t make a business was because their work made them move from place to place, with no fixed homes. Most of them were single men who worked as migratory workers. Because of the 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act, wives and children from the Philippines weren’t allowed to go to the U.S. to join their husbands and fathers. The Filipino exclusion act was even more severe than the restrictions on Chinese and Japanese. In 1882, the Chinese exclusion law allowed Chinese merchants to bring there wives to America, and the Japanese exclusion law of 1908 allowed family members to join immigrants as well. In World War II, the Philippines became the scene of some of the most bitter and important battle fought in the Pacific. On the Bataan Peninsula of Luzon Island, the Japanese invaders met determined resistance from American and Filipino troops. Four months later, on April 9, 1942, a new correspondent described the fall of Bataan:
“The gallant United States of Philippines forces in Bataan peninsula surrendered today after enduring the tortures of hell…. They were beaten, but it was a fight that ought to make every American bow his head in tribute… The Americans fought for everything they loved, as did the Filipinos, WITH THEIR FIERCE LOVE OF LIBERTY.”(Takaki 96)
In her tribute to the brave men of Bataan, Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wife, spoke of the interracial brotherhood forged on the bloodstained battlefield. She said that the battle of Bataan was an excellent example of what happens when two different races come together, fighting side by side, and praised each other’s heroism and courage. At Bataan, thousands of Filipino had fought side by side with American soldiers. In the U.S., they treated Filipinos more respectfully. Back in America, Filipinos were worried about there homeland, and tried to volunteer of the armed forces. But because they weren’t citizens, they couldn’t sign up. But then President Franklin Roosevelt listened to their pleas and promptly changed the draft law so that Filipinos would join the armed forces. On February 19, 1942, the secretary of war announced the organization of the First Filipino Infantry Regiment. In California alone, 16,000 men—two-fifths of the state’s Filipino population—registered to enter the military. In 1942, the First and Second Filipino Infantry Regiment were formed. More than 7,000 Filipinos served these two regiments. This was is a personal grudge. The Filipinos wanted to protect there homeland from the invaders. They were a valuable contribution to the war effort in the Pacific. They operated behind enemy lines and destroyed Japanese communications. When they joined the army, they became a citizen of the U.S. On February 20, 1943, 1,200 Filipino soldiers became a citizen to the U.S. After the war, in 1945, the congress passed a law that allowed Filipinos to immigrate 100 each year, as to only 50. And on 1946, the Philippines received full independence. During this time, there were either two options; 1) to go back to the Philippines and help out construction, or 2) spend the rest of your days in America. Because of the war, the status of Filipinos went up. Because the Japanese were kicked out, Filipinos bought land from them, and job opportunities expanded. But even though all of these good things were happening, Filipinos were still uneasy weather or not the white will accept them. If they’ll just be classified as “Orientals”.
Filipinos were more ‘American’ than some other Asian immigrants. Many Filipinos were taught in schools that were founded by Americans. Back in the Philippines, they saluted to the American flag, in their classrooms.
“From the time of kindergarten on our island, we stood in our short pants and saluted the Stars and Stripes which waved over our schoolyards” (19 Takaki).
They looked at pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They studied the Declaration of Independence and read English-language textbooks about the America. A Filipino woman who came to the U.S. in 1923 recalled having to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag every morning, and sang The Star Spangled Banner. All classes were taught in English. Many American teachers went to the Philippines to Americanize the Filipinos. But despite all of it, white people still treat, and discriminate on Filipinos like any other Asian immigrant.
“I have been four years in America, and I am still a stranger. It is not because I want to be, I have tried to be as ‘American’ as possible. I live like an American, eat like American, and dress the same, and yet everywhere I find Americans who remind me of the fact that I am a stranger,” (Takaki 45).
The white people thought of Filipinos as inferior. President William McKinley said that it was America’s duty to educate and uplift the Filipinos. Filipinos need to become civilized, and were thought of as little brown brothers who needed the guidance of the more advanced white Americans. But within the states, white people said that “He is not our ‘little brown brother.’ He is no brother at all!—he is not our social equal,” (Takaki 45). They were sometimes mistaken for other Asian groups. A Filipino going to get his haircut would be mistaken for a Japanese person and refused service. They had signs that said “Positively No Filipinos Allowed” on hotels. A Filipino would go to a restaurant, but then be complete ignored by the waiters. Even sometimes other people would move to the table where that Filipino is waiting, and the waiter will take their orders, and just completely ignore the Filipino. They couldn’t own property because they weren’t citizens, and they couldn’t become citizens because only white immigrants could become immigrants. During the Great Depression, having a job was hard for a Filipino because the pay was cut, and then not to mention all of the harassment from white people. They would threaten the planters by saying that should fire all of there Filipino workers—or else, and they would drive by the workers, while the Filipinos slept, with dynamite. Unlike other Asians, who went for their own ethnicity, Filipinos went after white women. But then because of this, anti-Filipino groups were made, and they would cause problems for Filipinos. Filipino men were scared to be out in public with there white wife or girlfriend. They were scared because if anyone saw them together, they would be harassed, and probably beat up. The Filipino was in danger of harassment and physical abuse from white men. Since 1880, there was a law that said white and Negroes, mulattoes or Mongolians weren’t allowed to marry. Since they thought Filipinos were Mongolians, they were “obviously” prohibited from intermarrying with whites. Things started to look better during World War II because Filipinos were finally starting to be accepted by white people. Though, even still, some still clung to the notion that Filipinos were below them. Filipino soldiers in there uniforms went out to a restaurant to have dinner. They waited for half an hour, and when one of them get up and asked for service, they told him that they don’t serve Filipinos here. Filipino soldiers were turned away from theaters or were forced to sit in a segregated side, and wives who visited them were refused rooms at the hotels. When the colonel of the regiment heard about this, he said to lay down the law of cooperation with the army—or else. White people let them into there places, but there was still that “we hate you” sort of glare…
America had a very big involvement with the Philippines. Because they won the Spanish-American war, America won over the Philippines from the Spanish, and they let Filipinos go to the U.S. for farming. First, they were welcomed, but then when they got to America, they were discriminated against. Next during the Great Depression, the white people did what ever they could to get Filipinos deported, and in the end, they made it so that only 50 Filipinos were allowed to go to the mainland. But when World War II was over, white people began to acknowledge Filipinos. It was kind of Americans to invite Filipinos over to go and farm, but it was cruel because they discriminated against us when we got there. I think white people during the time were unjust, and did horrible things to innocent immigrants just because they were different. They didn’t treat us like equals, and they harassed and bullied us. Because of what they did back then, it greatly influenced Filipinos today, and where they live. When I went to Hawaii a couple year back, everywhere I looked, there were pinoys, and I felt at home. I’m really happy that I was able to do this history essay about the Philippines, because there is no other topic I would rather do.
