How The US Stole The Philippines 

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Filipinos after Spanish-America War: You have freed us! US: *Oh, I wouldn't say "freed" more like "under new management*

The fact that a majority of Filipinos can speak English but not Spanish here in the Philippines shows just how much influence the US had shaped our history both for good and the bad.

I’m Puerto Rican so it’s wild to watch this and see how connected my peoples history is connected to all the folks from the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii, and other COUNTRIES

I am Colombian and I felt very touched by this video. I've met many people from the Philippines and they are outstanding. Truly hardworking and decent. Cheers.

0:09 Thank You for mentioning the the Philippines already had cultures and civilizations before colonization. One of the most frustrating things learning about Filipino history is that it always starts with the "Arrival of Magellan" completely disregarding centuries of pre-existing history. It's sad that even Filipino history today still remains very "western-centric". The Spanish and American period still occupy the bulk of our history books meanwhile our pre-colonial ancestors appear as a mere side note. As a Filipino I always felt our history was misunderstood. Grossly oversimplified as an afterthought to Spanish and American history. It feels like we were left behind and even intentionally ignored. Videos like these really shed light on our history and culture and I'm glad we Filipinos are taking control of our own narrative!

Johnny waited years to do this video, just to say "Exactly 500 years ago". 😆

As a Filipino, this made me emotional. Thank you for sharing this history to millions.

Nice, you share more here than my history class about the Philippines.

The most forgotten war in US history, funny how all of my Filipino friends always mention how crucial US involvement in their nation has been, yet in the US most seem to not know that the Philippines was once under American control.

The fact that we get free documentaries on RU-vid by Johnny Harris is truly a gift 👍 By the way, may I also remind you the fact that our Native American population in our motherland, the Continent of America before the European Colonizers arrived, was around 15 millions, while the European population in their motherland, the Continent of Europe was around 25 millions. Today, Native American population is 15 million, while the European population, in the Continents of America + Europe, is a staggering TWO BILLION! A shocking sad truth. 😔 In my humble opinion, it's about time to decolonize the Colonized lands, and return it to rightful owners Native American people. Notorious global cardinal crimes the Christian West has committed, and benefited a great deals, such as Slavery & Colonialism had long been over, why on earth is notorious Colonization still lingering on, may I ask? 😔

Even as a Filipino myself, I was even confused about your mentioning of the Treaty in Paris and shocked by the mentions of the atrocities that Americans committed during the Philippine-American War. Thanks for opening my eyes again.

Your channel is highly educationnal , we barely studied anything about history at school, and i was always curious about all sorts of things ,so i ve been searching subjects about anthropology ,and the real history hardly spoken about anywhere The way you narrate and show facts is very intersting, and makes me excited to know more about the world ,and how it became the way it is , and research things more thoroughly I can t wait to see your other videos , i hope you keep up the great work and have a nice day

Filipinos: You’re going to help us win independence? US: Filipinos: You’re going to help us win independence, right? US:

Next video on Afghanistan please... Whole 20 years history till now

yep.. this was actually taught at my high school in the Philippines.. our teacher didn't spend too much time with it but basically said USA & Spain (made-a-deal) to liberate us even though our heroes such as Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio with his itak welding army was already in the verge of winning against Spain..

I absolutely love these "History" / "Educational" videos..!! Ive spent my weekend off work going back and binge watching your Videos, Thank you Johnny. I know alot of hard work goes into making these videos. So I'm ery grateful and appreciative.!

Correction: Ma-I was only one of the sovereign states that existed in pre-colonial Philippines. There were many other states such as Tondo, Namayan, Maynila, Caboloan, Madjaas, Samtoy, Ibalon, Maguindanao, Lanao, Cebu, Dapitan and Sulu...

For a Filipino who loves his nation's history particularly during the American colonialism, this video is true to our hidden past. Thank you Johnny Harris.

“And as for a flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily managed. We can have a special one--our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones.” Mark Twain

I was born and raised in Pampanga Philippines for 10 years, moved to the US after. Thank you so much for this amazing video.

As a Filipino thank you for spreading this information. It always surprises me when I hear many Americans say that the US never colonize any country. And I'm sitting like wtf?

Fun fact: when Spain "surrendered" the Philippines to the US, the news took some time to get around - to the extent that the last Spanish garrison on the island spent years defending their fort, unaware that the war was over. When the local Philippinos told them about it, the Spaniards laughed it off as a poor attempt at deception and kept defending their position. This led to a bizarre yet amusing siege of the fort and a last stand... for nothing. There are plenty of books and even some films about it - probably easiest to find these by searching "los últimos de Filipinas" (lit.: "the last ones on the Philippines"), which is the phrase we use in Spain to refer to this event. That is actually a frequent idiom in modern Spanish, used to describe people fighting for a lost cause, or more generallly, the last people at a given location.

I just found your channel today and I've been nothing but marathon watching. help me your content is so good

I learn so much from your videos! Thanks for sharing!

In filipino schools, you are taught that americans were the good guys who saved us from spains savagery. A lot of my filipino friends wished they were american or wish they live in america.

Correction: There was no such thing as a country of Ma'i. Ma'i was only one of many kingdoms, chiefdoms, sultanates or rajahnates that came to rule the different islands of the Philippines. Ma'i only came to rule the island of Mindoro, and parts of Southern Luzon. Take note that the Philippines was, and still is, comprised of different ethnic groups, tribes, and societies, that not one thing "united" us other than we were a colony under Spain. There was no single unified governing state that was able to control or unite the archipelago until the Spaniards came. This is why it is so hard to let go of the name "Philippines", even though we no longer identify with how its name came to be as there is no other alternative. Our shared history and common identity as one country really only began when we were all under Spanish rule, and later the Americans, and so on. We were a colonial project who some argue is a failed state.

Sensational video! Wow such great research! Thanks you so much for these type of documentaries!

I first saw your coming out of LDS (Mormon church)... And second video was this. You followed a better path, a more meaningful journey. Congratulations! And for opening this documentary on Philippines (my country) I salute your sincerity and courage! More power

"The conqueror writes history, they came, they conquered and they wrote. You don't expect people who came to invade us to tell the truth about us" -mariam makeba

filipinos: " You took everything from me" US: "I don't even know who you are"

Thank you for the lost/hidden details about the History of the Philippines. As I grew older and with the internet. New and old details of histories are now available to be researched. Thanks again John.

I've just stumbled upon the channel, I watched a couple of crypto videos made by guys from the Philippines, and I've always wondered why they had Spanish surnames. Now I've found the reason behind that. Thank you so much

I’m a pinoy and been watching johnny since his borders day, he just doesn’t disappoint

I don’t know why but the “LIBERATE” animation is so funny

I am Uruguayan and my grandmother was Spanish, she told me that her father had fought the americans in the philippines. I was too young to ask more but the feeling was it was a made up war with the fake ship sinking. Her father came back with the Spanish flag from his ship which he salvaged from the sinking ship and it was seized years later by Francos regime when it was being displayed at their home. Glad great grandpa survived so that I gotto exist.

Really good video! And since you mention 'therapy', I'll leave a suggestion for another intriguing video you could make: The story how Freud and Jung lifted "modern psychology" from the *Tibetan* *book* *of* *the* *dead* - or at least those parts they could comprehend, producing something rather fragmented...

As a Filipino, I thank you for making this video. Many of my countrymen still looks upon the United States as our ally and partner, I have no problem with that, but the American colonisation really made an atmosphere of reliance upon the US. Some have probably forgotten of the atrocities the US committed in the Philippine-American War.

The history of the Philippines is more about the "betrayal of the elites". It was then and it is now. said by Ambeth Ocampo

Honestly, I have learnt more about world history watching this channel than all of my time in history class in school. Keep up the awesome work 👍🏻 I’m in Ireland btw

Thank you for making these videos: I’m so glad to keep learning about the true history!

“Americans didn’t know if the Philippines were islands or canned fruit” Guess the average American public was as good at geography then as they are now.

This is like the elephant in the room. Everyone knows about this(or at least in the Philippines) but no one even dares to speak about it. This has been erased in the history books in the U.S. but every Filipino knows about it. So, thank you for bringing this topic up.

very good documentary! keep up the good work!

Excellent video mate.

One thing - The Philippine Islands wasn't a unified state called "Ma-I" before. There were several Barangay States, Polities, Confederations, Sultanates, and indigenous tribes all over the islands but not one of them were even close in unifying the islands as a whole. In fact, Ma-I is just one of these polities and we don't even know where it really is (some say Mindoro, others say it's in Laguna Bay).

It’s amusing that America avoided using the word colony when everyone else was proudly doing so; almost like they were convincing themselves or at least their citizens that what they were doing was completely different.

You're work is critical and incredible.

@Johnny Harris allow me a correction in your 15:21 map...some of the colonies you pointed out were from Portugal (Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Indian cities) not from Spain. Your videos are just awesome...keep ongoing!

I'm from the Philippines and just literally came across this video right now. I could not say how truly impressed about how this video is so well done to a point that it gave me jitters. Fast forward a little bit and now I am a subscriber who is watching your other videos. More power to you and may you educate more people about history.

My Filipino family moved to Guam where I currently live, so this hits close to home. I can confirm that Guam has been westernized, with the CHamoru culture slowly dying off. The right to vote and all those topics are mentioned often in school, but it’s out of our control so we can only debate and accept it.

I am half Filipino and half white. My mother is from the Philippines. I have always been proud of it. Thank you for sharing this history lesson.

Thanks for the information and sharing this video.

Correction though Ma'i is not representative of the entirety of Filipinas, it was most likely located in Mindoro or Bay, Laguna. Philippines was never in precolonial times a united nation, but a archipelago filled with diverse cultures. There's Tondo, Sugbo, Namayan, Dapitan, etc etc, so please do not make the mistake of grouping all of these together.

As a Filipino, I didn't know the spain was in the brink of losing already, and that we could've won the independence ourselves. I mean. That could've been a great piece in our history if it weren't the Americans interfering! Thank you for this video, very informative!

One of your best Jonny You're sarcasm and wit at it's peak

Extremely unbiased view on Spain and the Spanish monarchy, starting by the background music choice to deceive your audience, to the nonsensical statements about Spain. 1) Spanish advancements were not achieved through "expansion" as you portrait it, they did it through technology and science development in the process of the so-called "La Reconquista", which led them to accomplish (arguably) the greatest feats in human kind given the historical context: the discovery of the American continent-first nation to map it scientifically with respect to the rest of the known world. There's only one thing close to that in terms of exploration, the first circumnavigation of the Earth also by the Spanish monarchy. Neither the space race nor the moon landing came close to it; nothing impacted so much positively to all disciplines of human knowledge as the discovery of the American continent. 2) They made the natives participate in their military, technological, scientific, philosophical, human, medical, social, economic and political achievements from the very beginning of the conquest of the new continent. Natives were in fact as Spanish as the Spanish from the Kingdom of Spain, and even there were natives with more privileges than the Spanish themselves. The Spanish monarchy encouraged and made legal the mixed-race marriages from the very beginning, and these quickly became an integral part of the emerging Hispanic nation-a mixed of Spanish, Amerindian and Sub-saharan African ethnicities and cultures. Keep in mind, the natives made around 90% of the Spanish army in America, so the conquest was done mostly by them. The Spanish set the pillars of the Hispanic civilisation, but the Amerindians and Sub-saharan Africans contributed greatly to it so to build something even greater than the Spanish alone. 3) Religion was not imposed, but rather encouraged through Jesuit missions and public schools and universities, quite a big difference compared with the Anglo-Saxons' predatory way-genocide, colonisation, and exploitation. Catholicism was (and still is) the most advanced and rational religion within the context of religions. So, Catholicism represented a big step forward compared to Islam, Judaism, or even Protestantism in subsequent centuries. And no, they didn't want to just conquer, that's plain nonsensical. Their main purpose was to find an alternative trading route with India and China. The Turks and Portuguese controlled the monopoly of the other two trading routes available at that time, the Turks through land, and the Portuguese through sea. Once they bumped into the new continent (they took some time to realise it was so), the main objective was to make the routes between the two continents profitable, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible to repeat the journey in the future. They went step by step, taking decisions along the way, but together with the profitability was also the Christianisation and civilising process of the lands found along the way. That was a key part of the contract signed between the explorers/conquerors and the Spanish monarchy to support the organisation of exploration and conquest expeditions. And as I said, the involvement of the natives through alliances were a fundamental part of the process. 4) The Filipinos and their culture were not absorbed by the Spanish and their culture, that's another fallacy. The Spanish replicated in the Philippines the formula used in America, which is a mixture of many things: trade, diplomacy, alliances, conflicts, wars, cultural assimilation and integration, etc. Not everything happens in an imposed and violent way as the Anglo-Saxons usually do-"a thief believes everyone steals". Keeping people in their "original" culture is basically sentencing people to illiteracy, poverty and underdevelopment. The key is not whether to bring civilisation to others or not, but rather the way to do it: predating like the Anglo-Saxons or generating like the Spanish. 5) The US managed to defeat the British Empire thanks to the support of France and especially the Kingdom of Spain, which supported the most with huge shipments of money, weapons, ships and experienced soldiers through France... only to be betrayed years later by those that they had helped. The US presence in the Philippines can't be compared to the Spanish one. The Americans committed a planned genocide for racist and supremacist reasons. They created concentration camps to exterminate all Catholic/Hispanic vestiges, where they placed the population over 14 years of age. According to them, anyone over the age of 14 was contaminated by Hispanic Catholic culture and should be exterminated. We're talking about a Nazi-style genocide, but 40 years earlier. Between 1.5 (more conservative figures) and 3 million Filipinos were exterminated. 6) Cuba, like the Philippines and all other Spanish territories, was not a colony but an integral province of Spain with seats in the Spanish parliament. So, again, there was not such a thing as "liberation" or "independence", but rather civil war and secession. Anglo-Saxon categories to analyse Spanish history are completely wrong. You can't analyse non-predatory empires by the lenses of a predatory empire like the British or US, you won't be able to understand a thing. 7) The Spanish empire was actually way superior to US in term of military strength at that time and could easily win the Cuban war. Recent research published in Spanish has shown that there was a conspiracy between the US and the Spanish elites (through Freemasonry, as was also the case with many of the Hispanic secessions in America) to sell Cuba to US, but they needed to sell it as a war in which they had lost so as not to turn the entire Hispanic nation against them. Of course, the president Sagasta and his ministers received enormous amounts of money in exchange for such farce. 8) It's also not true that the Filipinos had been fighting against the Spanish for years because, as I've already said twice about all citizens of Spanish territories, the Filipinos were also Spanish. There was a part of them that wanted secession from the Spanish monarchy, but that doesn't mean that all Filipinos wanted the same thing. That's why a great percentage of them fought for the monarchist side. 9) What you say about the surrender of "the last ones of the Philippines" in the Siege of Baler is also false. The Spanish decided not to surrender in any way or form-determined to fight until the end-and the Americans had to reach an agreement in which the Spanish could leave the fort without surrendering and brandishing their weapons. Perhaps the money thing could have been true, as part of the agreement, but the Spanish soldiers didn't know or seen a dime of that. It probably ended up in the hands of the corrupted Spanish elites. 10) 99% of what you say about the Spanish monarchy and Spain is part of what is called the "Black Legend", one of the first political propaganda in history and a long-lasting one even to this day.

"Every empires and superpowers come and go, only the locals remain." - Afghanistan

I invite everyone to read the book, "America's Double-cross of the Philippines," by Salvador Araneta.

Thank you for this 🎉

Thank you for your amazing, educational, eye opening document work. 👏🏻

Johnny Harris has finally summoned the Filipinos.

My mom is Filipina and when she speaks: Spanish, English, and Tagalog are all combined in one sentence. I took Spanish class for several years and it helped me better understand her when she speaks.

Salamat. Thank you for doing this.

Thank you. 🙏. This opened up my eyes.

My AP U.S. History textbook had a section within a chapter that discussed the Filipino-American War. I remember reading it the night before class and talking with my parents about it. It was exciting hearing about it from both the book and my parents perspectives. I was eager to hear about how my teacher was going to teach the topic during class the next day, but during the lecture he seemingly skipped over it. I confronted him after class, and he told me "It wasn't important to the curriculum". That's when I realized that the American Education System catered toward White American Perfectionism, choosing to overlook and erase the integral parts of our history to save face and nurture nationalism.

The Philippines finally won a gold medal! Olympics 2021! Everyone was *reminded* that they are here!

Thank you for sharing this video... the explanation is simple enough with a touch of comedy, that made me furious and laugh at the same time. As a Filipino, i feel for my countrymen that suffered. I will never look at the U.S. the same way again...

Thanks for sharing this man....how insightful and really an interesting historical topic of discussion.

That's the difference with winning and losing wars: We Germans know that we were bad, and we get told mostly everything, also we are still seen as bad by some people. The US on the other hand🚬

Awesome video! One note, though: Ma'i was only one of many different kingdoms/states in the Philippines. There are about 180 different ethnic groups, and we were never united until the Spanish forced us all together.

Thank you Johnny Harris for this very well presented and explained.

Let’s not forget how the US was supposed to “help” the Philippines in development for a certain amount of years before granting them independence. However, after the aftermath of WW2 with Manila being the second most destroyed city in the world, the US was like: “You know what? I think you got this! We’ll grant you your independence”. Albeit unfair, the Filipino people accepted it because this is what they longed for, the Philippines for the Filipinos. But sike, foreign policy and trade still affected the country even after the independence and it could be said that it is still affecting the country today.

when an american president says “liberate”, I just roll my eyes.

Grateful for this. Thank you.

Wow thanks for this video. I have read about it.

“All men are created equal.” I think they meant white men 😂

This is the type of content in which “im not wasting my time” kinda content. Keep it up.

Thank you again Jonny! I feel that you seem to talk about sensitive subjects with a certain level of ettiquette, respect and studying related efforts, Raza =)

Fascinating video

Great video as always, Johnny! As a Filipino and also a Teddy Roosevelt fan, I need to add some things: - Teddy Roosevelt's decision to include the Philippines was heavily influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan and his book "Influence of Sea Power Upon History" where it emphasizes that islands have strategic value for navies to project power to other powerful nations, which at that time was the British Empire globally and Imperial Japan in Asia. - The US Navy and the Spanish Navy duke it out at Manila Bay before the what we call here in our history books as the "Mock Battle of Manila" - The Philippine resistance was plagued with internal divisions from regionalism to corruption until the advent of General Antonio Luna. He plans to make the resistance a war of bloody attrition where he will set up formidable defenses in the North. This would increase the number of American casualties, which would lead to anti-War sentiment back home, predating Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But this didn't come to fruition as he was assassinated by a battalion of soldiers, thereby speeding up the war. - The Japanese sent some Army Officers to help the Filipino Revolutionaries with the agenda to "liberate Asia from Westerners". But this was stalled when Teddy Roosevelt mediated between the Japanese and the Russians at the Russo-Japanese War, thereby winning the Nobel Peace Price. This led to some Filipino Generals like Artemio Ricarte fleeing to Japan and would not return until the Japanese occupied the Philippines during the Second World War. - A road in Manila was named after Admiral Dewey which is now Roxas Boulevard near the current US Embassy - The Philippine Resistance also includes the longer Moro (Muslim) Insurgency in the South, though at most times, it's treated as a separate rebellion with the Northern one which was mostly initiated by Christians and Masons. The southern war was so brutal that it lead to the invention of the M1911 .45 ACP Pistol which could stop frenzied Warriors or "Juramentados" from attacking the US Forces, though the legend of "Bullets dipped in Pig's Blood " to stop Muslims is somewhat debatable. - In the 30s, the Philippines was under a Commonwealth status like Puerto Rico today with the guarantee by FDR to be fully independent in 1946. World War Two happened and it totally devastated Manila almost on the same level as Warsaw. The Philippines was given independence after but Puerto Rico is still having issues with it's statehood. Sources: - "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns-Goodwin - "Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris - "Lion in the White House" by Aida Donald - "The True Flag" by Stephen Kinzler - "Honor in the Dust" by Gregg Jones - "For the Common Defense" by Alan Millet and Peter Maslowski - "A Question of Heroes" by Nick Joaquin - "101 Stories of the Philippine Revolution" by Ambeth Ocampo Edit: Formatting

I went to school in the Philippines and this is what I was taught. I am filipino-american born in the US. What I was told in america was very very different from my history class in the Philippines. I remember being confused and shocked, and some of my classmates glaring at me (jokingly) when they got to the part of the US buying the Philippines from Spain.

Born and lived in the Philippines till I was 13. Naturalized U.S. Citizen now and have been living in the US for 30 years. I have a son who is half white and half me. I am grateful to the opportunities I have had here in America. It would be nice if any of this would be acknowledged by the US or even mentioned in US Schools. But we all know that would never happen.

Wow, I'm growing because of you guys... To be able to see the big picture is lighting thank you for that freedom... You're making a difference for humanity

as a child born in the Philippines, I was thought that the Americans are the heroes and the good guys that helped us during dark times. yes they did that, but now as I get older and got a better view of the history, now I see America not just the "land of the free", but as well as what I like to call ,"land of hypocrites", "land of people that enslaved the natives and call it liberation", and the land that got corrupted.

"400 years in the convent, 50 years on Hollywood." Said someone...

Im so glad i found you thank you so much.

As a Puerto Rican hearing this always makes me cry. Sometimes it makes me feel less than even though we fight in American wars and are citizens. I want my country to be free.

Yooo I’m a History Student from the University of Santo Tomas!! And I gotta say am a Big Fan of your Work!! Finally someone is willing to shed light on the Over-Exploitation of Foreigners on the PHILIPPINES. Even Mark Twain was against the American Occupation of the Philippines during the Filipino - American War saying it was complete betrayal against the people’s right to Liberty and the very Tenants which America stood for. It really is sad that most Filipinos don’t even bother to realize their own History majority of us are still very Xenocentric. Hopefully that eventually changes with this Video raising more awareness to a History often overlooked.

I’m just glad the Philippines is it’s own sovereign nation after all those centuries of foreign rule. Filipinos who say “we should just be under the US so we can be rich today” don’t know better how sad it is for First Nation peoples and natives in US owned islands. Sure the Philippines is poor and chaotic right now but at least they have their own rightful land and country which is something even Jewish people in Israel or Palestinians would be jealous about. It also helps that the people retained their native language unlike most of Latinoamericans today..

Thnx for this research/documentary.

Bravo for another terrific production! I didn't expect to become emotionally overwhelmed, however the last few seconds of your closing really choked me to tears. ALOHA, Brother.

This is a great straightforward summary of what happened with little to no bs. Honestly if only our education was as good as this video.

The thing I like about this series is that I would have been an ignorant towards the issue until Johnny tells it. Keep going, we have to cover the whole world. ☺

This is so knowledgeable ❤

These videos are brilliant.

Thank you for shedding light on this topic. I’m a Philippine citizen, and even in our own history books in the secondary education, the Americans were painted as heroic & messianic beings. I only got to learn the true history and motives of the Americans outside of school. Great job.

As a Filipino born in the Philippines, I was honestly pretty shocked that other countries didn’t speak English as a first language. Turns out there was a dark reason why.

I have SO MANY Filipino-American friends, I can't believe I never knew any of this. This is sickening.

You hit the center of the dart board, thanks for the great info