Noble colonials: Americans and Filipinos, 1901--1940

The American Era in the Philippines provides a unique opportunity to explore concepts that shaped American imperialism. The nature of imperialism in the Philippines is understood not only in the policy decisions of governments but also in the experience of particular social groups who lived there. Therefore, this study emphasizes the cultural and economic interchange between American colonists and Filipinos from 1901 until 1940. American colonialism in the Philippines fostered complex cultural relationships as seen through individual identity. To some extent Americans developed a transnational worldview by living within the Philippines while maintaining connections to America. Filipinos viewed American colonialism from the perspective of their Spanish traditions, a facet often undervalued by the new regime.;Many Americans who lived in the Islands engaged in commerce. Trade served as a natural domain for foreigners as it had over the centuries. Filipinos retained ownership of large tracts of the countryside supported by Washington's policies that limited American investments, especially through tariff structures. The emphasis on business in the Islands followed a broader trend during the 1920s of rejecting progressive regulation in favor of the free market. These men and women developed a mentality of Americans in the Philippines, an important distinction. They lived in the Islands while confining social contacts to their peers by means of restrictive clubs and associations.;Filipinos actively engaged with Americans, often welcoming modern ideas and programs that broke with Spanish colonial traditions. The effects appear most clearly in popular culture where American entertainment overlaid Spanish, Malay, and Chinese customs. European traditions prepared Filipino musicians to perform American music. Mass entertainment permeated society through live venues, cinema, and radio. Political independence during the Commonwealth period facilitated shifts from Filipino performance to production. A transformed identity, based to a large extent on popular culture, developed in the islands that altered colonists and Filipinos vision of their world, complicating the meaning of colonialism.