The American

Period
Political
Cartoon
• The United States of America, following Spain,
occupied the Philippines between 1899 and 1946.
The archipelago was the largest among the
territories that the US took over from Spain,
including Puerto Rico and Cuba.
• In spite of the dominance of American
imperialistic acts, the development of publishing
industry and newspapers brought out innovative
expressions of protest from liberal-minded
Filipinos.
• The period saw the rise of editorial cartoons in many
news papers, magazines, and other publications,
making caricature of the political and social
conditions of the times.
• Even in the United States at the time, American
satirical cartoonist were unforgiving. Criticizing the
American acquisition of the Philippines at the turn
of the 20 th century, some magazines denigrated new
colony but some also exposed the hypocrisy of the
America political establishment in its policy towards
the Philippines.
The blackboard contains the lessons learned from Great
Britain on how to govern a colony and bring them into the
civilized world, stating, “... By not waiting for their
consent she has greatly advanced the world's civilization.
— The U.S. must govern its new territories with or
without their consent until they can govern themselves.”
Veneration of Britain’s treatment of colonies as a positive
model attests to the significant shift in the American
world view given U.S. origins in relation to the mother
country. Even the Civil War is referenced, in a wall
plaque: “The Confederate States refused their consent to
be governed; but the Union was preserved without their
consent.” Refuting the right of indigenous rule was based
on demonstrating a population’s lack of preparation for
self-governance.
The image exhibits a racist hierarchy that places a
dominant white American male in the center, and on
the fringes, an African-American washing the windows
and Native-American reading a primer upside down.
China, shown gripping a schoolbook in the doorway, has
not yet entered the scene. Girls are part of the obedient
older class studying books labeled “California, Texas,
New Mexico, and Arizona.” The only non-white student
in the older group holds the book titled “Alaska” and is
neatly coifed in contrast to the unruly new class made
up of the “Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Cuba.”
All are depicted as dark-skinned and childish.
The Forbidden Book
It caricatures how the US military, through President
William McKinley, banned the American media in
covering and reportage of Filipino Activities, especially
rebellion and insurgency, during the protected
Philippine-American War. For the American
government, actually, what was transpiring then was
not war but insurgency.
Lipang Kalabaw is a satirical-political entertainment
weekly Tagalog magazine that circulated in the
Philippines in three different periods: 1907-1909, 1922-
24, and 1947-48.

Owned and edited by Lope K. Santos, the Lipang

Kalabaw of 1907-09 tackled the relevant issues of
politics, society, and culture of the day. The caricatures of
the famous personalities of the era made it a very
controversial magazine. According to art historians, this
early Lipang Kalabaw caricatures were drawn by Jorge
Pineda. The magazine folded in 1909, as a result of
pressure from the government.
 “Progresista Voters”, it
shows how the
Progresista Party
(formerly Federalista
Party that advocated for
Philippine sisterhood
under US) changed stance
when rural voters tipped
the vote for the party to
support Philippine
Independence.
Campaign for
Philippine
Independence
• February 23, 1919 – Then Senate President
Manuel L. Quezon headed the First
Independence Mission, left Manila for United
States.
• The first Independence Mission submitted a
memorial to both houses of the US Congress
requesting America to grant independence to the
Philippines because the Filipinos were certainly
ready for it.
Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
• The first US law passed for the decolonization
of the Philippines. The law promised
Philippine independence after 10 years, but
reserved military and naval bases for the
Unites States as well as imposing tariffs and
quotas on Philippine exports. It was passed by
the US Congress on December 1932, but was
vetoed by US President Herbert Hoover.
Congress then overrode the veto on January
17, 1933.
Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
• Senate President Manuel L. Quezon urged the
Philippine Senate to reject the bill, which it
did. The Philippine Senate advocated a new
bill that won the support of President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. The result was the Tydings-
McDuffie Act of 1934.
Tydings-McDuffie Act
• It provided for the drafting of guidelines of the
Constitution for a 10-year “transition period”
which became the Commonwealth of the
Philippines before granting of Philippine
Independence.
• The US will maintain military forces in the
Philippines, furthermore, during this period, the
American President was granted the power to
call military service to all military forces in the
Philippine government.
Tydings-McDuffie Act
• It permitted the maintenance of US naval bases,
within this region, for two years after
independence.
• The act classified all Filipinos that were living in
the United States as aliens for the purpose of
immigration to America. Filipinos were no longer
allowed to work legally in the US, and a quota of
50 immigrants per year was established.
Relevance
• Illustrations and photographs play a large part
in the study of history. These sources have
stories to tell and enable us to distinguish
details that give us insights into something
beyond the text.
• They are also record of the past useful for
historians.
Relevance
• Photographs and illustrations reflects social
conditions of historical; realities and everyday
life and indicate the situation of past societies.
• Editorial cartoons, on the other hand, are
sources of political expressions or propaganda in
the historical era which they came out.