UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

UST – Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy A.Y. 2018 – 2019

Historical Context
Social Condition
During the American regime, racialization in accordance to their Manifest Destiny
was mainly dominant for they believe that their white blood and race are the qualifications of
a formidable conqueror. The Monroe Doctrine was also America’s guide to imperialize the
west for this document exclaims that the Western Hemisphere belonged to the American race.
Because of this societal mantra, Filipinos were downgraded by the Americans labeling them
as ignorant, uneducated and uncivilized living entities. They also branded Filipino soldiers as
bandits or ladrones because of a plethora of insurgencies persisting. As “charismatic” and
“superior” liberators, it is their utmost responsibility to educate, enlighten and guide the

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Filipino people through their “benevolent assimilation”. This self-righteous ideology

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rationalizes Uncle Sam’s credibility as leaders and conquerors while simultaneously

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depriving Filipinos of their rights, liberties and dignity.

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Economic Condition
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The US economy did grow by leaps and bounds during the period of imperialism and
colonization. They were eyeing on a market expansion overseas in countries like China,
which was being partitioned into spheres of influence by the Western powers and the
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Philippines, which was recently liberated from the Spanish conquest. American leaders did
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envision the Philippines as a possible colony and base from which their claims in China could
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be launched. Along with America’s economic policies is its civilizing zeal in conquering
lands and territories.
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Political Condition
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The political context highlights America’s sovereignty and imperial prowess. While
Emilio Aguinaldo and his subordinates were busy crafting an independent Republic in the
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Philippines, the Treaty of Paris occurred. The United Sates acquired the Philippines, Guam,
Puerto Rico, Samoa and Hawaii for 20 million dollars from the Spanish conquerors. This is to
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settle its imperial and “benevolent” mission and vision through its formidable political power
and deceitful conquering tactics.
Moreover, President William McKinley’s Benevolent Assimilation speech is an
authentic and credible example of America’s political strategies in dominating the “inferior”
others highlighting its overriding mantra of shielding rights and liberties and prioritizing
benign tutelage for the Filipino people.

Religious Condition

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 The moral underpinning of Manifest Destiny emphasizes that the United States had a
divine mission to rule the world and eventually spread their notion of Christianity to its target
lands and territories.

Opposing Views: The Benevolent Assimilation Controversy

Opposition
Paradoxical Benevolence: Not the Ideal Mantra
 Historical amnesia propagates in America’s intents and policies. Because of
propagandas emulating the truth, USA strongly contradicts their so-called
benevolent assimilation; their ideal mantra dismantled by their plans and
actions.
 Propaganda, which is used to justify a colonial war, is understood here as the

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deliberate falsification, distortion or tendentious portrayal of events to justify a

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political cause to the wider public. The New York Sun amplified the devised

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justification.

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o The civilizing goals of Benevolent Assimilation was dismantled due to

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a superior firepower incident where in American assaulted Aguinaldo’s
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army on the first day. Filipinos suffered 3,000 deaths while the
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Americans lost 60. The incident was presented in most American
newspapers. On the contrary, the Chicago Times- Herald’s editorial
exclaimed “The slaughter at Manila was necessary, but not glorious.
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The entire American population justifies the conduct of its army at

Manila because only by a crushing repulse of the Filipinos could our
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position be made secure…We are…the trustees of civilization and

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peace throughout the islands” (Vaughan 1994).

 Successful propaganda requires symbolic self-interpretations of a national
community. It does not possess the characteristics of rationality and
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verifiability.
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 Fraud. Erasing alternative interpretations of events from the official records

persisted.
o The contrary perspective was barred from journalists who tried to
cover it.
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 Benign tutelage, the protection and guidance without harm is America’s

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overriding benevolent objective yet this was shattered by their cruelty and
apathy.
America, the deceitful liberators: Accentuating Racism
 Dehumanizing Filipinos as a truism in war to rationalize killings.
o Racialization persists in the military and public discourse of the
American-Filipino relationship. This was the reason as to why the
future Philippine governor and US president, Wiliam Taft, labeled
Filipinos as American’s ‘little brown brother’ (Tebbel 1996, 341).
o Munsey's Magazine, which was popular during 1898, pointed out
Filipinos as relatively low on the ‘scale of civilization’ (Vaughan
1994).

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 o During that American regime, cartoons and comics include an image of
a Filipino as an ‘ignorant or somewhat petulant child in need of
America’s stern but benign tutelage.’ In June 1898, Liberal Journal
Nation labeled Filipinos as ‘big children, who must be treated as little
ones’ (Vaughan 1994).
o General Joseph Wheeler devised tales of ‘Fiendish Filipinos’ and
‘Aguinaldo’s Dusky Demons’ addressing the Filipinos being barbaric
and uncivilized)
 The notion of Manifest Destiny, a social theory of the USA in the 19th century
exclaims that America and its white, Christian citizens were chosen by
God. Because of this notion, they initiated imperialism- dominating lands and
territories under their flag. Its overriding purpose is to spread their religion of
Christianity and their concept of civilization to the other inferior people of the
world. This is a substantial evidence to support America’s racist mantra not
only emphasizing the manifesto’s purpose but also uplifting their superior
bloodlines, the omniscient liberators.

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Assured but not implemented nor approved

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 American conquest and questionable atrocities

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o February 4: US troops –patrolling disputed territory shot unarmed
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Filipino sentries, provoking the skirmish that would justify an all-out
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attack. Philippine insurgents were blamed to be the perpetrators of acts
of ‘firing on the Flag’.
o Most of the atrocities of American troops are: torture of suspected
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rebels, refuse to take prisoners, wholesale massacres of the entire

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villages of men, women, and children, and starvation that results from
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relocating large populations.

o The most notable torture technique that was used to extract information
from Filipino prisoners is the Water Cure. The victims are forcibly
poured with several gallons of water into their mouth until their
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stomach swell in extreme pain. Sometimes, a soldier jumps on their

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stomach to squeeze the water out. (Constantino 1975, 248).

 On the contrary, Central Christian Advocate exclaimed that the
Water Cure is not at all torture as ‘the victim has it in his own
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power to stop the process’

 Series of massacres was commenced by General Jacob Smith in converting
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Samar into a ‘howling wilderness’. He said, ‘I want no prisoners. I want you

to kill and burn: the more you kill and burn the better you will please me’
 The Benevolent Assimilation was made without congressional approval.
 Pacification through brutal genocide persisted.
Affirmative
 In favor and favoring the underdog
 The objective of the imperialist is to raise the reputation of the Philippines
with the aid of the United States thus explaining their “friendship”.
 Assumption of the American Government that the Philippines was incapable of
establishing their independency

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  It is possible that the Americans based their assumptions on the Philippine’s
previous colonizers, Spain who ruled over them for 333 years. This in fact led
them to establish a mindset that the Philippines even under Spain did not have
the sole capacity to stand on their own shoes. If the Philippines was granted
sovereignty over its vicinity, then the Americans would doubt the Filipinos’
ability to rule.

 An Altruistic Mission: USA initiatively offers a hand to the Philippines

 It is USA’s obligation to protect the natives from lawlessness and to diminish
arbitrary rulings. It is them who fought and technically acquired the
Philippines so its their responsibility to protect their imperialized lands.
 America’s intent is a civilizing missionary message. The Americans wanted
the Philippines to be under their influence and control.
 American policy in Imperialism
 The American commanders were put under pressure by Washington to ensure
a swift and total victory.

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Stand: The Opposition Prevails

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The skirmish of false justifications and authentic views is an inevitable notion as it
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propagates along our historical timeline.
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These clashing views diluted by false justifications are the rationale behind the
controversies, in this case, McKinley’s proclamation that sprouted issues revolving the
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propaganda, ideologies and racial discrimination. Opposing the ideas of the proclamation, the
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group would like to discuss the following points:

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The assimilation lost its benevolence. Assimilation had nothing to do with being
benevolent at all. Using the word ‘benevolent’ to describe the assimilation suggests hints of
malice. It was obviously added to soften the negative perspective ‘assimilation’ which led to
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debates on the issue as well as the arguments on justifications for the treaty. U.S. senators
attached various resolutions to deny the assimilation saying that America’s goal is to prepare
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the Philippines for self-government.

However, they did not properly justify the disreputable atrocities committed by
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American troops during their occupation in the Philippine archipelago. With what McKinley
described as punishments ‘without severity’, instead, was a brutal expression of military rule
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which included torture of suspected rebels and massacres. U.S. forces exclaimed that the
reason for such inhumane acts were the Filipinos attempt to spark and commence resistances
and to propagate defiance.
Nonetheless, war is pertinent during the American regime. It is a truism that in war,
governments will continue to dehumanize the enemy to justify their killing. This leads to our
second point which is racism.
Americans have a recurring ideology which implies that they themselves are partakers
of a superior race asserting that the Filipinos are relatively low on the scale of civilization and
are believed to be a barbaric child in need of pacification by the United States. It is hard to
believe the American’s providence of aid to the Philippines whilst this kind of cruelty and
discrimination exists.

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 Lastly, the opposition points out acts of fraud. America exerts effort to cover up the
atrocities committed to the Filipinos. As soon as words reached the public, journalists who
attempted to cover the other side of the spectrum, were barred and prohibited from obtaining
the truth.
Furthermore, the benevolent assimilation was declared without congressional
approval which questions the formality and credibility of the speech. America’s ‘benevolent
assimilation’ may ratify and state acts of camaraderie and goodwill to maintain its reputation,
but the truth prevailed as history unfolds America’s expression of boastful tyranny.

Bibliography
Ablett, P. (2004). Colonialism in Denial: US Propaganda in the Philippine-American War. 22-

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Constantino, R. (1975). A Past Revisited: Volume 1. Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist

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Office of Multi-Cultural Student Services. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2018, from The
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Philippine History Site: http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/filipino/benevolent.html

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Tebbel, J. (1996). America's Great Patriotic War with Spain: Mixed Motives, Lies and Racism
in Cuba and the Philippines, 1898-1915. Vermont: Marshall Jones.
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Vaughan, C. (1994). 1898-1902. The Discovery of the Philippines by the US Press.

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Yu, K., Casuyon, M., Eusores, M., & Daisog, M. (2015). Benevolent Assimilation (Reporting).
University of Makati: https://www.slideshare.net/animated13/benevolent-
assimilation-45646377?fbclid=IwAR3yCXYZj1hJPisxJez_JPzkE9NudZoNoNveTJT-
3jvhgmFuUDMw3dW_724.

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