Imperialism in the Philippines: A Disaster of the Centuries

Imperialism in the Philippines: A Disaster of the Centuries

On December 17, 2006, police estimated up to 50,000 people attended a peaceful gathering to protest President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration (Reuters). The Philippines have been full of political turmoil in the past century, beginning with American Imperialism in December 1899. Before America took over in the Spanish American war the Philippines only had contact with the Spanish. Because of the tyranny of both Spain and the United States the Filipinos pushed back against their oppressors. In the Philippines, a country that was a victim of American Imperialism, economic, political, and religious issues contributed to the devastating effects of White Imperialism.

The economy wasn't fair to the Filipinos and only profited the Americans because they were extracting natural resources and were selling their finished goods to the natives and at the same time using them as cheap labor. The Philippines began trading with the rest of the world in 1834. The Spanish American