THE IMPACT OF AMERICAN RULE

When the Americans colonized the Philippines, they introduced many American
institutions. One of these was the system of political parties and elections. The municipal
election, the provincial election and finally the national elections, first held in the year 1907 to
elect the delegates to the Philippine Assembly.

In 1903, there were less than 200 kilometers of railway. in 1935, it rose tom more than
1000 kilometers. the Manila-Dagupan railway, founded during the Spanish period, was acquired
by the government and became the Manila Railroad Company.

President McKinley's principles of American policy toward the Philippines were rooted
in the recognition of human rights as the foundation of an democratic system.

The United States of Amerca’s greatest achievement in the Philippines was the
introduction of the public school system. In contrast with the Spanish system of education, this
system was open to all.

The oldest university founded under the Americans was Silliman University in
Dumaguete Ciy, followed by Central Philippine University Manila. Education under the
Americans advanced rapidly and was not equaled by any other colonizing power.

One of the most lasting influences of the 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 ten years of the
American occupation, some Filipinos began to write in English. Some of the Filipinos who srote
in English during the first ten years of American rule were Juan F. Salazar, Maximo M. Kalaw,
Francisco M. Africa, Justo Juliano and Bernardo P. Garcia. They have wrote poems, essays and
stories.

After the Philippine-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. By 1904, the American colonial
government in the Philippines was able to send the first group of Filipino scholars to the United
States.

Next to education as America's greatest achievement in the Philippines was the

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. Public Health and sanitation were very poor during the Spanish
regime. They became worse during the revolution and the Philippine-American war.