How The US Stole The Philippines

Summary

The script narrates the historical account of the United States' colonization of the Philippines, beginning with Spain's influence and the subsequent American conquest. It discusses the US's strategic military actions, the fabricated battle for Manila, and the Filipinos' fight for independence against American rule. The script also addresses the legal and political implications of US territorial acquisitions, the concept of 'unincorporated territories,' and the lasting effects on the rights and representation of inhabitants in these territories, drawing parallels to current issues faced by US island territories.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The Philippines, a cluster of 7,000 islands, has a rich history of its own with over 30,000 years of human habitation and cultural development.
• 🏰 The islands were colonized by Spain, which left a lasting impact on the culture and identity of the Filipino people, including the adoption of Spanish names and religion.
• 🇺🇸 The United States, once a colony itself, became an empire, expanding beyond its mainland borders and engaging in wars of conquest, starting with the Spanish-American War in 1898.
• 🎭 The U.S. used the narrative of 'liberation' to justify its wars and colonial expansion, particularly in the Philippines, despite the locals already fighting for their independence from Spain.
• 🤝 The U.S. and Spanish militaries orchestrated a fake battle to maintain the appearance of the U.S. liberating the Philippines from Spanish rule, excluding Filipino fighters from the final stages of the conflict.
• 💵 The U.S. paid Spain 20 million dollars as part of the Treaty of Paris, effectively purchasing the Philippines and establishing a new colonial relationship.
• 🏳️ The Filipino people resisted U.S. colonization, leading to a bloody conflict known as the Philippine-American War, which resulted in numerous civilian casualties.
• 🏛️ The U.S. Supreme Court created the category of 'unincorporated territories' for places like the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, where inhabitants had limited rights and no voting representation.
• 🍊 A legal dispute over tariffs on oranges from Puerto Rico brought the status of these territories into question, highlighting the contradiction between American ideals and its colonial actions.
• 🕊️ The Philippines was granted independence in 1946, but the precedent set by the Supreme Court continues to affect the status and rights of residents in U.S. territories today.
• 🌐 The script challenges the viewer to reconsider the narrative of U.S. history, acknowledging its role as an empire and the ongoing implications of colonialism on contemporary society.

Q & A

What are the 7,000 islands referred to in the script?

The 7,000 islands refer to the Philippines.

How long have people been living in the Philippines?

People have been living in the Philippines for over 30,000 years.

What was the original name of the Philippines?

The original name of the Philippines was Ma'I.

How did the Spanish influence the Philippines during their rule?

The Spanish brought their religion, language, and culture to the Philippines, which is why many common last names are of Spanish origin, such as Reyes or Del Rosario.

How did the United States justify going to war with Spain in 1898?

The United States justified the war by claiming they were liberating the people of Spanish colonies, including Cuba and the Philippines, from Spanish rule.

What was the role of Teddy Roosevelt in the war against Spain?

Teddy Roosevelt, then the assistant secretary of the Navy, played a key role in pushing the United States to go to war with Spain and directed the Navy to attack Spanish territories, including the Philippines.

What was the outcome of the fake battle between the US and Spain in Manila?

The US staged a fake battle with Spain in Manila, resulting in a US victory. This allowed the US to claim sovereignty over the Philippines, rather than recognizing Filipino independence.

What was the Filipino reaction to US sovereignty over their country?

Filipinos, who had been fighting for their independence, rejected US sovereignty and continued to fight for their freedom in a bloody war against the United States.

What were the Insular Cases, and what did they determine?

The Insular Cases were a series of Supreme Court cases that determined the status of US territories. The court ruled that these territories, including the Philippines, were 'unincorporated territories' where inhabitants did not have full constitutional rights.

How does the US's treatment of its territories contradict its founding beliefs?

The US's treatment of its territories as 'unincorporated' and denying their residents full rights contradicts the founding belief that 'all men are created equal' and highlights the country's imperial actions.

How does the legacy of US colonialism still affect territories like Puerto Rico today?

The legacy of US colonialism affects territories like Puerto Rico by denying residents full representation and rights, leading to inadequate responses to crises and treating these territories as separate from the mainland US.

Outlines

00:00

🏝️ The Conquest of Ma'I

The narrator begins by describing the beautiful and historically rich cluster of 7,000 islands known as Ma'I. People have lived there for over 30,000 years, developing a unique culture. Meanwhile, another group in Europe with different values and methods, including a penchant for conquest, would soon arrive to colonize these islands, renaming them after the King of their conquerors. This story reflects the uncomfortable history of the US, once a colony, turning into an empire, and the ongoing colonial influence seen in US territories today.

05:01

💬 The Influence of Spain and the US

The script shifts focus to the 1800s, detailing the decline of the Spanish Empire and the rise of the US as a superpower. The US's interest in expanding beyond the mainland leads to involvement in the Cuban-Spanish conflict, and eventually, the Philippines. Teddy Roosevelt plays a key role in pushing the US to engage in the Pacific, leading to a 'fake battle' orchestrated with Spain to claim the Philippines. The narrative highlights the US's transition from liberator to colonizer, emphasizing the strategic and commercial motives behind their actions.

10:01

🇺🇸 The Philippine-American War

The story intensifies as the Filipinos, who have long fought for their independence, now face the US as their new colonizers. A brutal and bloody war ensues, resulting in significant Filipino casualties and the eventual establishment of US governance in the Philippines. This period marks a critical moment in US history, where the question of whether newly acquired territories and their people are considered part of America arises, leading to the controversial classification of 'unincorporated territories'.

15:02

🌍 The Legacy of Unincorporated Territories

The script concludes by exploring the lasting impact of the Supreme Court's decision to classify places like the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam as 'unincorporated territories.' This designation denies their residents full representation and rights within the US. The narrative draws connections to modern-day issues, such as the inadequate response to natural disasters in these territories, highlighting the ongoing colonial mentality and the exclusion of these populations from the American democratic process.

Keywords

💡Ma'I

Ma'I refers to the indigenous name for the Philippine archipelago before the arrival of European colonizers. The term is significant in the video as it represents the original identity and culture of the people living on the 7,000 islands, which was later overshadowed by the influence of foreign powers. The script mentions Ma'I to establish the historical context of the region before colonization.

💡Colonization

Colonization is the process by which a more powerful nation takes control over a less advanced territory, often leading to the imposition of the colonizer's culture, religion, and political systems. In the video, colonization is a central theme, illustrating how the Philippines was first colonized by Spain and later by the United States, resulting in the suppression of the indigenous culture and the establishment of new political and social orders.

💡Cultural Erasure

Cultural erasure refers to the deliberate or unintentional suppression and disappearance of a culture, often as a result of colonization or conquest. The video discusses cultural erasure in the context of the Philippines, where the local culture was overshadowed by the dominant cultures of the colonizers, first Spanish and then American, leading to a loss of indigenous identity and traditions.

💡BetterHelp

BetterHelp is an online platform for accessing professional therapy and counseling services. In the video, it is mentioned as the sponsor of the video content, highlighting the importance of mental health support. The script uses BetterHelp as an example of how therapy can be made more accessible, which is a significant issue in contemporary society.

💡Unincorporated Territories

Unincorporated territories are areas controlled by a country but not considered part of the country's domestic jurisdiction. The video explains that the Supreme Court of the United States designated the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam as unincorporated territories, which means they are subject to U.S. laws but their inhabitants do not have the same rights as citizens living in the states, such as voting rights and full representation in the government.

💡Liberation

Liberation, in the context of the video, refers to the narrative used by the United States to justify its military interventions, particularly in the Spanish-American War. The U.S. claimed to be liberating Cuba, the Philippines, and other territories from Spanish rule. However, the video challenges this narrative by showing that instead of true liberation, the U.S. established its own form of control over these territories.

💡Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between the United States and Spain, which resulted in the U.S. gaining control over several Spanish colonies, including the Philippines. The video uses this war as a pivotal event in the history of U.S. imperialism, illustrating how the U.S. transitioned from a colony fighting for independence to an empire itself.

💡Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, is mentioned in the video as a key figure in the Spanish-American War and the subsequent acquisition of the Philippines. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he played a significant role in advocating for war and the expansion of U.S. influence in the Pacific, which contributed to the establishment of the U.S. as an imperial power.

💡Imperialism

Imperialism is the policy of extending a nation's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means. The video discusses the transformation of the United States from a nation that fought against colonial rule to an imperial power with its own colonies, challenging the founding principles of equality and freedom.

💡Philippines Independence

The Philippines' independence refers to the country's struggle to gain autonomy from foreign rule, particularly from the United States. The video highlights the Filipinos' fight for independence after the U.S. claimed control over the islands, which led to a bloody conflict known as the Philippine-American War. The Philippines was eventually granted independence in 1946.

💡Voting Rights

Voting rights are the rights of citizens to vote in political elections and are a fundamental aspect of democratic participation. The video discusses the lack of equal voting rights for citizens living in U.S. unincorporated territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam, which is a result of their colonial status and the Supreme Court's rulings on unincorporated territories.

Highlights

The Philippines, a cluster of 7,000 islands, has a rich history of culture and trade that dates back over 30,000 years.

The islands were once a country named Ma'I, with a distinct identity that was later threatened by European conquest.

The Spanish conquest introduced a new religion and culture, significantly influencing the islands' identity, including common surnames like Reyes and De la Cruz.

The United States, once a colony itself, transitioned into an empire with colonial ambitions, impacting its own founding beliefs.

The story of the US and the Philippines offers a perspective on the complexities of colonialism and its lasting effects.

US citizenship is granted to all born on US soil except in unincorporated territories, highlighting a disparity in rights.

The narrative of the US as a liberator was used to justify military actions, including the war with Spain and the acquisition of the Philippines.

Teddy Roosevelt played a pivotal role in escalating the conflict with Spain, advocating for US involvement in both Cuba and the Philippines.

A secret agreement between the US and Spain resulted in a staged battle to maintain the appearance of US liberation of the Philippines.

The Filipinos' fight for independence against the US was a brutal conflict, resulting in numerous civilian casualties and a US victory.

The US established a government in the Philippines, but the territory's status and the rights of its people remained in question.

The Supreme Court's decision on unincorporated territories set a precedent for territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to be exploited for revenue without full representation.

The Philippines' struggle for independence and its eventual granting in 1946 marked a significant chapter in the country's history.

The legacy of colonialism is still evident today in the status of unincorporated territories and the lack of full rights for their inhabitants.

The US government's response to natural disasters in territories like Puerto Rico reflects the ongoing impact of their colonial status.

The story of the Philippines provides a critical lens through which to examine the moral and ethical implications of US imperialism.

Transcripts

(Johnny breathes heavily)

(soft music)

- There is a cluster of 7,000 islands

that looks like one of the most beautiful places on earth.

People have been living here for over 30,000 thousand years,

traveling between these islands,

trading with each other and with the region,

and developing religion, identity, and culture.

It eventually became a country called Ma'I.

And while all of these advancements were happening here

on these islands, another group of humans

had been evolving in another part of the world,

over here in Europe.

(techno music)

But this other group had a different culture,

a different religion.

Many of their advancements were achieved

through expansion, not collaboration.

And their religion thrived when they stomp out others.

They wanted to conquer.

This island, these people,

this culture would soon be swallowed,

stripped of what made them, them.

And soon, their name would be changed,

after the name of the King of their conquerors.

This isn't a story just about a big powerful military

taking over new lands.

We know that story pretty well.

The story of these people offers a new perspective

to anyone who will listen.

It's a perspective that has being wiped

from our history books,

because of the inherent discomfort and tension

with this fact that the United States,

once a colony that heroically threw off an empire

to become independent,

soon became an empire itself.

It contradicts our founding belief that it is,

quote, self-evident that all men are created equal.

And this story isn't just history.

That empire still exists today,

with colonial possessions and subjects.

It's all wrapped up in the story

of these 7,000 islands and their people.

So, I wanna tell you the story

of how the US stole the Philippines.

- There are still American citizens today

who do not have equal voting rights.

These are citizens of America's island territory.

(upbeat music)

- The US Constitution grants a citizenship

to everyone born on US soil

except in one jurisdiction.

- Quick pause, because I wanna tell you

about something that is important to me

and happens to also be the sponsor of today's video,

which is BetterHelp.

I'm a big believer in therapy.

I've been in therapy for almost two years now.

And it has changed my life.

For many years, I didn't think therapy was for me.

I thought it was for everyone else.

And so, I sort of avoided it.

But when I finally started going last year,

I really started to realize that there was so much

that I could be working on day in and day out

that could dramatically reshape

how I think about the world,

and ultimately make me more happy.

BetterHelp is a platform that is trying

to make therapy more accessible to people.

It's a virtual platform.

So you have access not just to the therapists

that are in your town,

but to a huge network of 15,000 thousand therapists.

So you can find the right fit for you.

Finding the right therapist is sometimes difficult.

And with BetterHelp, you can, for free,

switch to a new therapist as many times you need to

until you find the right fit.

Your therapist is in touch with you.

You can message them right in the app

throughout the week if needed.

And it is an affordable and approachable way

to get in on therapy whenever you want.

And BetterHelp is available worldwide.

Anywhere in the world that you are,

that has an internet connection,

you can get in on counseling.

This isn't a crisis line.

This is a professional counseling and therapy

by certified professional therapists.

Therapy can be expensive.

And with BetterHelp, it is more affordable

than traditional therapy,

and they even offer financial aid when needed.

So they really are trying to make this more accessible,

which is something I deeply believe in.

I think that in our culture,

we don't value therapy enough, and we really should

because I think all of us have stuff we can work on.

Thank you BetterHelp for supporting this channel,

for sponsoring this video.

There's a link in my description.

It is betterhelp.com/johnnyharris.

Going to that link will give you 10% off your first month

of BetterHelp, if you want to get started today.

So, let's get back to the video.

This video could be called how Spain stole the Philippines,

since Spain was the first nation to conquer

and control these islands 500 years ago.

Actually, exactly 500 years ago.

And indeed, Spain left a very deep influence

on these islands, not least of the name itself,

which is named after King Philip.

Spain brought their religion, their language, their culture,

which is why the most common last names

in the Philippines are like Reyes or Del Rosario,

De la Cruz, De los Santos.

But the heyday of the Spanish empire came and went.

And by the 1800s, it was kind of crumbling.

But it was the arrival of a new superpower

that I believe had a bigger imprint,

not just on the Philippines, but on the US itself.

It established rules and behaviors

that we still grapple with today.

And that's why this is the story

of how the US stole the Philippines.

So let's go.

- [News Anchor] To this day, we can see the traces

of the almost 400 hundred years of Spanish rule

over the Philippines.

But even more striking is the more recent influence

of the United States.

- Okay, so it's the end of the 1800s.

Up until now, US expansion sort of looks like this.

It's all happening on this mainland.

And at this point, there sort of became a big debate

of, do we keep going?

Some people wanted to keep expanding the US

outside of this mainland.

The President at the time wasn't a big expansion guy

but he was surrounded by people who loved war,

specifically this guy.

And these people who surrounded the President

had their eye on this Spanish colony,

right off the American coast called Cuba,

where the locals were rising up against Spain.

(suspenseful music)

Wait a minute, isn't this a video about the Philippines?

Why are we talking about Cuba?

We're getting there in just a second, okay?

So anyway, Cuba.

Americans didn't wanna go to war with Cuba.

They're like, we don't need more war.

But thanks to the explosion

of an American submarine in Cuba,

which was probably an accident,

and thanks to some highly unethical journalism

that blamed the explosion on Spain,

and a big thanks to again this guy, Teddy Roosevelt,

who at this point was just a peon,

he was literally the assistant secretary of the Navy,

but he somehow cajoled his boss's boss,

the President of the United States,

to go to war in Cuba to liberate the Cubans from Spain.

So the US declared war on Spain in 1898.

But this begins a new era of war in the United States.

No longer can you just go into war and just take over land.

You need an angle.

You need to sell the war to the American people.

So the angle on this war was liberation.

We're liberating the people.

- The people you liberate will witness the honorable

and decent spirit of the American military.

- No, no, no, that's later.

We're talking about 1898.

But, yes, the whole idea of selling war

to the American public didn't really go away after this.

Why did the US go to war in Iraq?

- [Pres. Bush] In the early stages of military operations...

- So anyway, the US is now at war with Spain,

which is an empire that is deeply in decline,

as I mentioned.

It's not gonna be hard to win.

But soon, it's not just Cuba.

The US, really meaning, Teddy Roosevelt,

who again is just an assistant secretary of the Navy,

he's not a big decision maker,

he somehow maneuvers the situation

to say, let's liberate next door Puerto Rico,

and while we're at it, let's go into the Pacific

and liberate Guam and the Philippines from Spain as well.

Teddy didn't even ask his boss to do this.

He literally sent off a cable to the Navy Commander in Asia

that was George Dewey, go attack the Philippines

where Spain is, that is what your mandate is.

And George Dewey is like, okay.

I've been told to go to war with Spain in the Philippines.

Teddy was sort of the mind like,

better to ask forgiveness than permission.

I mean, I get that but,

kind of nuts that he pulled it off.

Anyway, and now, because of Teddy Roosevelt,

who we literally named the Teddy Bear after, side note,

we are at war not in the Caribbean only,

but also in the Pacific.

The US arrives to the Philippines

and sees that the locals had already been fighting

against the Spanish for years.

The Spanish were weak and were totally declining.

So it's like the top of the ninth inning

or like the fourth quarter

of the Spanish in the Philippines.

And the US shows up and is like, let us liberate you.

And the Philippines were like,

well, we've sort already been fighting this bloody war

for years against the Spanish, so yeah,

I guess, United States, if you wanna come help us

deal the final blow to Spain, like, sweet.

So George Dewey, this Navy Commander,

and his fleet show up to Manila.

Meanwhile, back in the US,

people are like, wait, weren't we just supposed

to invade Cuba?

What are we doing in the Philippines now?

And the US government is like,

because the Philippines is a perfect hub

for commercial opportunities in Asia,

and we think that if we don't take it

Japan or Germany might take it,

which will clearly diminish our geostrategic advantage

in the Pacific.

No, they didn't say that.

They said, we want to liberate the people

of the Philippines, liberate.

- The people you liberate will witness the honorable

and decent spirit of the American Military.

- So the Spanish see the US arrive

to the Philippines and were like, great, we're done.

So the Spanish Military Commanders asked to meet

with the US military commanders.

They meet in secret, and Spain is like,

listen, I know we're losing but we really wanna save

some face here.

We don't want to look like

we lost to the Filipino revolutionaries.

And I'm not kidding, the Spanish Commander literally said

that he would, quote, be willing to surrender

to white people but not to the Filipinos.

So the US Commander is like,

okay, there's an opportunity here.

We said we were here to liberate the Filipinos,

but we haven't promise anything yet,

so we would much rather look like the US defeated Spain

instead of help the Filipinos defeat Spain,

much better for our brand, says the United States.

So together, the United States and Spanish militaries

organized a fake battle,

a fake battle in which the US would fight the Spanish

in Manila and the Spanish would intentionally lose.

And the climax of this whole theatrical battle,

according to the plan, was that at the end,

the US would storm towards the inner walled city of Manila,

the last stronghold of where the Spanish are.

Oh, and the key detail in this whole plan,

they would not let the Filipino fighters,

the ones that have been doing all the actual fighting

against the Spanish, join them as they stormed

towards the walled city to deal the final blows

to the Spanish empire.

And this would mean that the Filipinos

technically didn't gain their independence.

It was actually the US who conquered the Spanish.

And then the Spanish are like,

oh, can you give us 20 million dollars for our troubles.

And the U.S was like, yeah, sure.

So now the US wins the war and they claimed

sovereignty over the Philippines.

So yeah, this happened.

They did the fake battle.

They won the war.

Instead of liberating the Filipinos,

they just said, hey, we're your new colonizers.

Psych.

Meanwhile, back in the United States,

they gotta keep up this white savior liberation narrative

that they created to justify going to war with Spain.

So you see a lot more theatrical PR by the government.

They staged this giant military parade in New York City,

where this military Commander who did the fake war,

George Dewey, marches down.

They called it Dewey Day.

It was like a two day parade in New York City.

They created a big military arch for him.

He became a military hero for having liberated

all these people from the Spanish.

And then you start to see these crazy advertisements,

like the soap advertisement

that has George Dewey, the Commander, washing his hands,

with the caption, quote, the first step towards

lightening the white man's burden

is through teaching the virtues of cleanliness.

And on the side, you have soap being off-loaded

in the Philippines and being given to the locals.

The US had to frame this not as conquest,

but as the honorable duty of the US

to civilize these people,

or in the words of the soap ad,

quote, to brighten the dark corners of the earth.

Geez, this is insane, and was not that long ago.

Okay, so this is where things really heat up.

It's 1900 now, Spain loses the war, obviously.

And the US now owns Puerto Rico, Guam,

and they claim the Philippines.

But the local Filipinos, who have been fighting

for their freedom for years are like,

no, no, no, no, you just waltzed in here, on our rebellion,

and conspired with the Spanish

to make it look like you were liberating us.

No, this is our country, we don't need another colonizer.

And this is where things really heat up.

(upbeat music)

The Filipinos start fighting again for their independence.

And this time, against the United States.

It is a pretty horrible bloody war,

one that I've never learned about in school.

It include massacres of men, women, and children

by the United States, and hundred of thousands

of civilian deaths.

But the US eventually won and they established a government

in the Philippines.

Back in the US, the appetite for expansion

continued to go down, and people sort of just

forgot about the Philippines.

They forgot that there was a war there.

One newspaper summed it up by saying,

Americans didn't know if the Philippines

were islands or canned fruit.

But the fact remained that the US went to war

and now owned the Philippines,

in addition to Puerto Rico and Guam.

So this begged a very important question,

one that hadn't been asked before, which is,

is all of this land America?

Are these people Americans?

This was a huge question.

And the answer to that questions

affects how we see these territories still today.

Okay, so a few years after these wars,

there's a guy in New York City who's importing oranges

from one of these territories, Puerto Rico.

And he's paying tariffs on these imports

because that's what you do when you're importing oranges

from another country.

Wait a minute, another country?

This guy was like, didn't we conquer Puerto Rico,

and Guam, and the Philippines?

Isn't that America?

The Constitution says that you can't put tariffs

on stuff coming from other parts of the US.

Like New Jersey can't put tariffs

on avocados from California.

So he sued and his case, and a bunch of others like it,

made it to the Supreme Court.

So now the Supreme Court must decide.

Is this land, where we just won a war,

is this America?

Are these Americans?

If they are, do they get all the same rights

as other Americans?

Do they get to vote?

Do they get to participate in the US economy

without tariffs?

Like any other state does?

And honestly, this isn't a question

about oranges and tariffs.

The real question at stake here is,

is America the land of the free,

where all are created equal?

Or are we an empire?

No different than any other empire

that scoops up colonial possessions in war,

and rules the people, who are usually black and brown,

as subjects, not fully a part of the country.

That was the question that was at stake.

And in these series of cases in the early 1900,

the Supreme Court decided that America

was the latter, is the latter.

They created a new category of land called

unincorporated territories, where the people

don't have any representation in the democracy,

but where Congress can create laws on their own,

particularly laws dealing with revenue,

which would not be allowed by the Constitution

for states within the Union.

We can create revenue laws, except that's totally

unconstitutional for other parts of our country.

In other words, unincorporated territories

are land we control and exploit for revenue,

but whose people don't get to vote

and don't get the right to trial by jury.

So, yeah, the Philippines, in addition to Puerto Rico

and Guam, remained unincorporated territories,

a place that the US could just ignore

without a lot of consequence.

They weren't important enough or strategic enough

to be considered to become states, like Hawaii or Alaska.

So they sort of faded from American consciousness.

Like, this is why we never heard about this in school,

it didn't make it into the history books in any salient way.

And how far the Philippines had faded from people minds

became very clear in December of 1941, during World War II.

The US had owned the Philippines for like 40 years

when a fleet of Japanese bombers flew across the Pacific

and bombed an American naval base in Hawaii.

- [Narrator] And the severe bombing of Pearl Harbor

by the enemy's planes (indistinct) Japanese.

But what we don't really remember is on that day,

Japan bombed Guam and the Philippines,

two American territories, as well as several other

American and British territories.

- Yesterday, December 7th,

1941,

a date which will live in infamy.

- Here is the draft of this speech.

This is the original draft that FDR

spent the day marking up before he gave it.

Zoom-in a little bit and you'll see on this draft

that it mentioned the Philippines originally.

But FDR crossed it out.

He crossed out the mention of Manila.

Yes, the Philippines was on some map somewhere.

Yes, we technically owned it.

But the people really didn't want to hear about it

because these people weren't Americans.

The Supreme Court had decided that.

They weren't gonna become states anytime soon,

so why mention them?

After that day, Japan actually full-on

invaded the Philippines.

They didn't do that to Hawaii.

But they did to the Philippines, until the end of the war.

At which point, the Philippines

were finally granted independence in 1946.

Fast forward to today, and this

we own you, but you're not really Americans precedent,

established by the Supreme Court,

still applies to four million people

who live in unincorporated territories.

Or let's just call a spade a spade,

let's call them what they are.

These are colonial possessions.

The people who lived here don't experience

the full rule of law, they don't get trial by jury,

they don't have full representation in our democracy,

and they don't get to vote for the President.

This is why when a hurricane hits Puerto Rico,

the government response is not nearly what it should be.

The way Trump talked about Puerto Rico

as almost another country, as not a part of us,

mirrors exactly how the Supreme Court

talked about this unincorporated territories.

They're for revenue, not to compete with American farmers.

We conquered these places, but we didn't wanna bring

the people fully into the American project.

We left them out.

And there, they remain today.

(soft music)