Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: For 48 years, the United States (US) implemented a colonial project that extended beyond mere territorial control to fundamentally reshape Pilipino identity and cultural self-perception.Resulting in the defeat of Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War.The Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, 1898, and the United States formally acquired and annexed the Philippines due to Spain's loss.The United States then entered the imperialist game, competing with other countries, such as Spain, China, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and the Russian Empire, to expand and benefit from its occupied territories.In places like the Philippines, the United States imposed its culture and influenced certain aspects of these places to align with its values.This paper examines the critical question: "To what extent has the United States' colonization of the Philippines impacted Pilipinos' perception of their culture following the Spanish-American War to Philippine independence from 1898 to 1946?" Using a framework informed by postcolonial theory, this investigation analyzes sources from both the United States and the Philippines from people like American official Jacob Gould Schurman, US historian Michael Salman, Philippine revolutionary Apolinario Mabini, and cultural historian Bienvenido Lumbera.By juxtaposing the "benevolent assimilation" narrative against the lived experiences of colonized Pilipinos, this paper reveals how US imperialism enacted not only territorial annexation but a profound epistemic violence that continues to shape Pilipino cultural identity well beyond formal independence.This analysis contributes to broader postcolonial discourse by illuminating how imperial power operates simultaneously through explicit force and the subtle manipulation of cultural consciousness.
DOI: 10.5070/h310165507
Author: Janelle Amores Perez
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413561669