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JulioEstrada

CutlerEdwards
Humanities
11/13/15

FilipinosFillininAmerica
TherewerepullandpushfactorsthatbroughtthePhilippinestoAmerica.
Americawaseagertohavemorelandandwaslookingfordifferentwaystoexpand.As
aresult,Americainvadedthephilippinesin1898.That'swhenthephillipinesfelt
betrayedandthePhilippineAmericanwarstartedin1899.AfterU.Stookoverthe
philippines,FilipinoshadthechancetotraveltoAmerica.Agriculturewasabigpull
factorthatbroughtFilipinostoAmericawhichmademorepeopleworkfortheirland.
WhenFilipinosmigratedtotheU.S,theydidnthaveiteasyhere.Theyhadtodealwith
socialdiscrimination,violence,andjudgement.
ThePhilippinesreceivedindependencefromSpainonFebruary4,1899.The
PhilippineAmericanwarwastheresultoftheSpanishAmericanwar.WhenAmerica
washelpingthePhilippinesfightfortheirindependence,theSpanishgotdefeatedin
threemonth.ThesecretaryoftheU.S,JohnHaysaidThiswarwasasplendidwar1 .
WhichmeantthatitwasoneoftheeasiestwarthatAmericahaseverhad.Whenthe
Philippinesgottheirfreedom,theU.Sfoundtheopportunitytohavemorelandandto
expand.ThisleadtoAmericahavingcontroloverthePhilippinesin1899andbecoming
U.Sterritory.

Takakireading:TheSpanishAmericanwar

AmajorpushfactorforthePhilippinesleavingtheircountrywasthedestruction
oftheirvillagesbytheAmericans,duringthePhilippinesAmericanwar.Forexample,
thisquotebyCommodoreGeorgeDeweysaid..Wehavepacifiedsomethousandsof
islandersandburiedthem,destroyedtheirfields,burnedtheirvillages,andtheirwidows
andorphansoutofdoors.2 WhenU.Sarmywasworkingreallyhardtofightfilipinoarmy,
theyalsoweredestroyingtheirvillagesandmakingthepeoplesuffer.Asaresult,they
wouldn'thaveanywheretolivenorwork.Bythishappeningthephilippineshadthe
choicestorebuildorleavetoAmericaalotofthemdecidedtoimmigratetoAmerica.
ThisisthecauseofwhyAmericamadethePhilippinestheirterritorybecause
theydidnthaveanyoneelsetoworkforthereland.BeforetheU.Smadethe
philippinestheirterritory,TheChinese,Japanese,andalsoMexicanswereinthesame
shoesaseveryoneelsethatcametoAmerica.TheU.Spaidthemasmallamountof
moneytoworkfortheirlandbutalsoAmericanswererealizingalotofthese
immigrantsgroupweretakingalotoftheirjobs.AlotoftheseChineseandJapanese
weretakingalotofthesejobsandtakingalltheirgirlstoo.SoAmericadecidedtokick
everyoneoutoftheircountrythatweren'tdocumented.
OncetheUStookoverthePhilippinesasaterritory,Filipinoscouldmoveback
andforthbetweenthePhilippinesandtheUSwithoutdocumentation.Asaresult,the
Philippineswerelookingforbettereducationforthemselvesandtheirchildren.
EconomicopportunitieswereoneofthereasonswhythephilippinesmovetoHawaii
andCalifornia.ThevoyagetoHawaiiwasthecauseofthejapanesebecauseofthe

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3161

striketheymadein1906.Likethisquotesays..TheFilipinoscameintothepictureafter
theJapaneseworkersstagedastrike.3

WhentheyarrivedtoHawaiitheyautomatically
weregivenplantationidentificationtagsanddifferentassignsugarplantations.They
weretwokindsofworkers,Theonewhohadashorttermcontractandalongterm
contract.Shorttermcontractworkerswerepaid2.25to2.50aday.Longtermworkers
werepaid2.40perdayandby1933,itreducedto1.88perday.Althoughtheywere
gettingpaidalittleamountofmoneytheywereconcernedthattheywouldn'tbeableto
bringtheirfamilyhere.
Intheotherhand,TheU.Swascontrollingthembylowpaying,sotheywould
sufferandnevergobacktotheirIsland.Butitdidn'tworkthatwellbecauseoffarm
laborandtheycouldn'tkeepup.Forexample,"Butduetothelowpayingjobsthe
migrantsobtained,atriphomebecamemoreandmoreremoteastheyearswentby"4.
Theyweren'tfreejustlikeU.Ssaidbecauseitwastheirterritory.SowheneverU.Swas
runningoutoffilipinostoworkfortheirland,theyaskmorefilipinostocometotheU.S
becausetheycould.
FilipinoswhowenttohawaiiorwerecomingtoAmericafromthephilippinecame
tothewest.FarmlaborinCaliforniawasextremelybad,filipinoswhoworkedforyears
gotpaidthesameandwhitemengotpaidmore.Forexample,Thedailypayforthe
Filipinosranchlaborerswasfrom30to50centsanhoursomefruitpickerswerepaid
lessthan40centsperhour.5

SotheyhaditreallyroughinCaliforniatomakethelife

VeltisezarBautista,
TheFilipinoAmericans
(FarmingtonHills:BookhausPublishers,1998),117.

http://www.csuchico.edu/ncpaso/filipino.htm

VeltisezarBautista,
TheFilipinoAmericans,127.

theywantit.Whatever,theobstaclestheyhadtofaceoutsideofwork.Social
discriminationwasareallybigone,theydidntallowedanyfilipinosintohotel,
restaurants,bathrooms.TheyalsohadsignsthatsaidNodogsandFilipinosallowed.6
TheFilipinoimmigrantsthatcametoAmericahadsimilarexperiencesandfacedsimilar
obstaclestotheMexicanimmigrants.Theyexperienceddiscrimination,assault,and
intimidation.WhentheFilipinoscametoAmericathecitizensbegantopatronizethem.Atfirst
theywantedFilipinostoworkfortheirlandandgivethemallthefreedom.Butthenthe
populationofAsiansbegantoincreaseandtheAmericansstartedkickingthemout,likeother
immigrantgroupswhobegantoincreasetheirpopulation.Overallthesecircumstancescorrelate
towhatshappeningtodaywithMexicansbeingblamedfortakingjobsorbeingcriminals.But
Filipinos,theUSneedtheirlaborandstilldiscriminationagainstthem.

VeltisezarBautista,
TheFilipinoAmericans,130.

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