The United States After The Spanish-American War

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To what extent has foreign influence by the United States after the Spanish-American War affected the Philippines politically and socially? The Spanish-American War lasted three months in 1898. It originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, which began in February 1895. The war was a conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba and the Philippines. After the United States acquired the Philippines, the Filipinos revolted leading into the Philippine-American War. The war was a continuation of the Filipino struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution. The main source being analyzed …show more content…

This contributed to the start of the Philippine-American War. The first piece of legislation that attempted to establish a government was the Organic Act in 1902. The Organic Act created a system of government that was headed by an American executive, “a bicameral legislature with an elected lower house and an appointed supreme court.” (Sherrill). The congressional bill also established a Bill of Rights for the Filipinos. This first organized government “set the stage for establishing a Filipino government modeled after American democracy.” (Sherrill). In 1916, the Jones Act was implemented to give even more control to Filipinos in the national legislature, improve the Bill of Rights, and “expressly promising independence for the Philippines ‘as soon as a stable government [could] be established therein.’” (Sherrill). The Bill did not however, grant American citizenship to the people, a major concern of political leaders, because it included the promise of independence. Independence became even closer with the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934. This was the last congressional act that had the purpose of reforming the Philippine government. The act stated that the Philippines would be granted independence within 10 years if they could draft a new constitution that the people can agree on, seat a fully Filipino government, and get the approval of the US that the new government was stable enough for independence. “The new government consisted of a three branch system similar to the United States, and included public education, labor rights and women’s suffrage in the constitution” (Sherrill). It was this government set up that would continue until the start of WWII and lead the nation to independence. After fighting with the Japanese, the Philippines had a major recovery from the devastation of the war. As the aftermath was being dealt with, the Philippines were

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