Keep an Open and Critical Mind, Readers!
According to Prof. C, Philippines shouldn't be marginalized ( in terms of history coverage etc. ) because they were present in the beginning of the United States' Empire. Philippines was considered located in the "farthest west" of the United States.
United States as an Empire is easy to be overlooked because most of its colonies are islands (Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines), hence it was known as an Island Empire. Plus, the method used by the United States to build an Empire ( to colonize ) didn't directly follow the definition/standards set by early Empires, such as Rome, France, Britain, et. al..
If you're 100% American and "patriotic," you're probably appalled to hear that the United States, known usually as defender of democracy and freedom, actually COLONIZED/imposed their ways/ took away another country's freedom in order to benefit at the expense of others' suffering.
If you're Filipino ( Fil-Am et. al. ), or Other , you can do a little test to prove the hypothesis above. Go to the nearest Americans you know and ask them about the United States' imperial and colonial history subjugating others instead of spreading democracy and freedom. Most likely, those Americans will be aghast; they'll be so defensive that they'll think you're being either an unpatriotic citizen, a heretic, or a communist/socialist ( or all of the above ).
Prof. C brought up a good point: no country would want to be called "Imperialist" especially a country, such as the United States, which has a reputation for being the harbinger of democracy and freedom. After all, the United States is also considered the 1st ex-colony ( that fought for freedom against British Tyranny ).
Because of this impression management, Prof. C believed that downplaying/ignoring the Philippines' narrative was better than tarnishing/destroying the United States' narrative/self-image as liberators and harbingers of democracy and freedom. In squashing the burgeoning Philippines Republic under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, the Imperial U.S. wanted to destroy the Philippines before this country set an example for other colonized countries to emulate.
To be fair, there were TRUE Americans, who sympathized with the Philippines' plight, and who were against U.S. expansionism, imperialism, and colonialism ( realizing the hypocracy of it all especially in terms of "American" ideals such as democracy and freedom ). I guess they didn't speak up loud enough, and now they HAVE to deal with the mess they made. ( hopefully, history doesn't repeat itself especially with the current situation now in 2011 with Middle Eastern et. al. countries ).
In short, the Philippines-American War is often belittled; nonetheless, this "little" war has BIG consequences:
The U.S. ignored the pleas of Emilio Aguinaldo's government in defending democracy and freedom from Spain and its tyranny. The U.S. was finally prompted to get involved after one of its Naval ships was sunked by a Spanish fleet; the casualties of sailors made National News and caused outrage. The U.S. was hesitant to get involved because of concomittant war expenses. Nonetheless, they were finally convinced when they recognized that its resources wouldn't get wasted as much since there were already "insurgents" or Revolutionaries? providing man power ( all they had to do was step in, and claim the glory ).
After the Spanish-American War, the U.S. bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million dollars. Then President McKinley? received a vision from God telling him to christianize and educate the barbaric Filipinos. In spite of the expenses, the Philippines was an investment and a stepping stone towards the bigger market CHINA ( any connections to current U.S.-China relations? ).
Next to happen was the Philippines-American War, which was never declared because in doing so, the U.S. would be acknowledging Philippines' sovereignty. President Theodore Roosevelt declared that the Philippines-American War was over in 100 days, when in fact, it stretched for 10 more years thanks to guerilla warfare ( any parallels today? Iraq et. al.? ). The Philippines-American War was considered the 1st Vietnam War. Because of this war, the U.S. never formally and publicly declared another colony ( because to do so would be hypocritical and "bad press" ).
Part of the anxiety and fear pervasive in the U.S. and its culture TODAY is that it is in denial of its imperial/colonial history/present/identity? ( sounds like a dissertation topic to me ;)
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