Editing History of the Philippines (section)

=== Insular Government (1901–1935) ===
{{Main|Insular Government of the Philippine Islands}}

[[File:Taft Addressing First Philippine Assembly 1907.jpg|thumb|right|[[William Howard Taft]] addressing the audience at the [[Philippine Assembly]].]]
[[File:Manuel Luis Quezon, (center), with representatives from the Philippine Independence Mission (cropped).jpg|thumb|Representatives from the Philippine Independence Mission left to right: [[Isauro Gabaldón]], [[Sergio Osmeña]], [[Manuel L. Quezon]], [[Claro M. Recto]], [[Pedro Guevara]], Jorge Bocobo]]
The [[Philippine Organic Act (1902)|Philippine Organic Act]] was the basic law for the [[Insular Government]], so called because civil administration was under the authority of the U.S. [[Bureau of Insular Affairs]]. This government saw its mission as one of tutelage, preparing the Philippines for eventual independence.<ref name="uslc-16">{{Harvnb|Dolan|1991-16}}</ref> On July 4, 1902, the office of military governor was abolished and full executive power passed from [[Adna Chaffee]], the last military governor, to Taft, who became the first U.S. [[Governor-General of the Philippines]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Ellis|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=phT0ympWgeQC&pg=PA2163 2163]}}</ref>
United States policies towards the Philippines shifted with changing administrations.<ref name="pinas" /> During the early years of territorial administration, the Americans were reluctant to delegate authority to the Filipinos, but an elected [[Philippine Assembly]] was inaugurated in 1907, as the lower house of a [[bicameral legislature]], with the appointive Philippine Commission becoming the upper house.

Philippines was a major target for the progressive reformers. A 1907 report to Secretary of War Taft provided a summary of what the American civil administration had achieved. It included, in addition to the rapid building of a public school system based on English teaching, and boasted about such modernizing achievements as:
:steel and concrete wharves at the newly renovated [[Port of Manila]]; dredging the [[River Pasig]]; streamlining of the Insular Government; accurate, intelligible accounting; the construction of a telegraph and cable communications network; the establishment of a postal savings bank; large-scale road-and bridge-building; impartial and incorrupt policing; well-financed civil engineering; the conservation of old Spanish architecture; large public parks; a bidding process for the right to build railways; Corporation law; and a coastal and geological survey.<ref>Andrew Roberts, ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900'' (2008), p 26.</ref>

In 1903 the American reformers in the Philippines passed two major land acts designed to turn landless peasants into owners of their farms. By 1905 the law was clearly a failure. Reformers such as Taft believed landownership would turn unruly agrarians into loyal subjects. The social structure in the rural Philippines was highly traditional and highly unequal. Drastic changes in land ownership posed a major challenge to local elites, who would not accept it, nor would their peasant clients. The American reformers blamed peasant resistance to landownership for the law's failure and argued that large plantations and sharecropping was the Philippines' best path to development.<ref>{{Cite journal | jstor=10.3098/ah.2016.090.4.459| doi=10.3098/ah.2016.090.4.459|title = From Small Farms to Progressive Plantations: The Trajectory of Land Reform in the American Colonial Philippines, 1900–1916|journal = Agricultural History| volume=90| issue=4| pages=459–483|year = 2016|last1 = Theresa Ventura}}</ref>

[[File:Calle Sebastian Calle Hidalgo Manila.jpg|left|thumb|[[Tranvía]] in Manila during American Era]]Elite Filipina women played a major role in the reform movement, especially on health issues. They specialized on such urgent needs as infant care and maternal and child health, the distribution of pure milk and teaching new mothers about children's health. The most prominent organizations were the La Protección de la Infancia, and the National Federation of Women's Clubs.<ref>Mina Roces, "Filipino Elite Women and Public Health in the American Colonial Era, 1906–1940." Women's ''History Review'' 26#3 (2017): 477–502.</ref>

When Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]] became U.S. president in 1913, new policies were launched designed to gradually lead to Philippine independence. In 1902 U.S. law established Filipinos citizenship in the Philippine Islands; unlike Hawaii in 1898 and Puerto Rico in 1918, they did not become citizens of the United States. The [[Jones Act (Philippines)|Jones Law]] of 1916 became the new basic law, promised eventual independence. It provided for the election of both houses of the legislature.
[[File:Plaza Moraga Manila Philippines.jpg|thumb|Manila, Philippines, ca.1900s]]
In socio-economic terms, the Philippines made solid progress in this period. Foreign trade had amounted to 62 million pesos in 1895, 13% of which was with the United States. By 1920, it had increased to 601&nbsp;million pesos, 66% of which was with the United States.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Reyes| first1=Jose| title=Legislative history of America's economic policy toward the Philippines| publisher=Columbia University| series=Studies in history, economics and public law| volume=106| edition=2| year=1923| pages=192 of 232| url=http://www.questiaschool.com/read/3845789?title=Legislative%20History%20of%20America%27s%20Economic%20Policy%20toward%20the%20Philippines}}{{dead link|date=June 2021}}<!-- goes to a page which does not relate to this --></ref> A health care system was established which, by 1930, reduced the [[mortality rate]] from all causes, including various [[tropical disease]]s, to a level similar to that of the United States itself. The practices of [[slavery]], [[piracy]] and [[headhunting]] were suppressed but not entirely extinguished.
A new educational system was established with English as the medium of instruction, eventually becoming a ''lingua franca'' of the Islands. The 1920s saw alternating periods of cooperation and confrontation with American governors-general, depending on how intent the incumbent was on exercising his powers vis-à-vis the Philippine legislature. Members of the elected legislature lobbied for immediate and complete independence from the United States. Several independence missions were sent to Washington, D.C. A civil service was formed and was gradually taken over by Filipinos, who had effectively gained control by 1918.
[[File:El Hogar building Manila.jpg|thumb|[[El Hogar Filipino Building|El Hogar Building.]] With Manila's Hispanic- Austronesian-Sinic roots. [[Daniel Burnham]] built a plan that takes advantage of its cityscape, possessing the [[Gulf of Naples|Bay of Naples]], the winding river of [[Paris]], and the canals of [[Venice]]. With his [[City Beautiful movement]] style of Urban planning.]]
Philippine politics during the American territorial era was dominated by the [[Nacionalista Party]], which was founded in 1907. Although the party's platform called for "immediate independence", their policy toward the Americans was highly accommodating.<ref name="uslc-17">{{Harvnb|Dolan|1991-17}}</ref> Within the political establishment, the call for independence was spearheaded by [[Manuel L. Quezon]], who served continuously as [[Senate president]] from 1916 until 1935.

World War I gave the Philippines the opportunity to pledge assistance to the US war effort. This took the form of an offer to supply a division of troops, as well as providing funding for the construction of two warships. A locally recruited national guard was created and significant numbers of Filipinos volunteered for service in the US Navy and army.<ref>Page 92, Volume 32 ''The Encyclopædia Britannica'' 1922 edition</ref>

[[Daniel Burnham]] built an architectural plan for Manila which would have transformed it into a modern city.<ref>Moore, Charles (1921). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aR7iAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA162 "Daniel H. Burnham: Planner of Cities"]. Houghton Mifflin and Co., Boston and New York.</ref>

[[Frank Murphy]] was the last [[Governor-General of the Philippines]] (1933–35), and the first U.S. [[High Commissioner of the Philippines]] (1935–36). The change in form was more than symbolic: it was intended as a manifestation of the transition to independence.