First of two parts
Last July 4, we observed the 75th Philippine-American Friendship Day. That day would not have been a red-letter date in our calendar had we chosen to remain a US colony, and eventually became a state of the US like Hawaii. Hawaii was annexed by the US in 1898 and it became a US territory. It was accepted as the 50th state of the US only on August 21, 1959, 13 years after our American colonizers granted us autonomy. It took a little over 60 years from the time Hawaii became a US territory until it was declared a state.
The Philippines spent 48 years as an American colony before we gained our independence from the US. The two islands of the Pacific were both colonized by the same foreign power under its policy of “benevolent assimilation”, underwent two World Wars under the foreign rule, served their military forces and trained and educated in the art of government at about the same time. But we ended up differently—Hawaii is a state of the US while the Philippines is a sovereign and independent country. How come?
Hawaii consisted of a group of islands separately ruled by native kings who descended from their Polynesian ancestors. It became a united kingdom under King Kamehameha 1 and was called the Kingdom of Hawaii. Captain James Cook was the first European to set foot on the islands and named them “Sandwich Islands” after the Earl of Sandwich. In the 1830s, England and France forcibly entered into treaties with Hawaii, giving them economic and trade privileges. Its strategic location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Hawaii an ideal outpost for maritime and naval activities. Even then, it is rich in sugar, pineapple, coconut and coffee. Fruits, vegetables and flowers are abundantly grown. The US affirmed its interest in the kingdom and expressed strong opposition against any design by any foreign country to annex or control the islands. In 1849, the US and Hawaii entered into a treaty of friendship establishing official relations between the two countries. This was followed up by a trade agreement, which further cemented their relationship.
On July 4, 1894, four years before our First Philippine Republic was born, the monarchy was removed and the Republic of Hawaii was established with Sanford Dole, a wealthy sugar planter, installed as its first and only president. The Committee of Public Safety led by Dole overthrew the monarchy to have it annexed by the US, but President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, was opposed to imperialism. A brief struggle to restore the monarchy followed but this was thwarted. The Republic of Hawaii only lasted for four years due to a strong nationalistic movement among the natives when the Spanish-American War erupted. However, President William McKinley, a Republican who succeeded Cleveland, repulsed their move for independence by annexing Hawaii as a US territory on August 12, 1898. The US action was also triggered by the threat of a possible Japanese control of the islands whose nationals had heavily populated the place.
The Hawaiians took a different route from us. Instead of clamoring for self-rule, the desire for statehood was predominant among the natives. However, the movement for statehood was stalled because of the anti-American sentiment and the growing nationalism of the natives, which was spurred by the outbreak of the Spanish-American War and the successful Cuban experience. When the demand for independence died down, a number of petitions for statehood were made since the turn of the century, but the US was unconvinced since there were still active signs of disenchantment existing across the territory. Finally, a referendum was conducted in 1959 in which more than 93% approved the proposition that Hawaii should be admitted as a state. The US also recognized the valuable contributions and loyalty of the Hawaiians to the war efforts whose able-bodied population served the US military forces although a big number of them were of Japanese ancestry. The Americans welcomed this move and openly adopted Hawaii to be its 50th State.
The annexation of both the Philippines and Hawaii was a significant political issue at the end of the 19th century, and was a major question during the presidential election of 1900. Republican President William McKinley’s policy of “benevolent assimilation” carried the day. The overwhelming sentiment in the US was for the country to join the great powers by acquiring overseas colonies. Not even the magnificent oratory of William Jennings Bryan who ran against McKinley could repel the forces of expansionism. And so it was. The US embraced Manifest Destiny and expanded its dominion to spread democracy and capitalism in the Pacific and the Far East. The American brand of imperialism was definitely an improvement over the Spanish rule in the Philippines. Obviously, the American rule was also better than the reign of the native monarchy in Hawaii. The political leaders of the two colonies pursued different paths and both succeeded in their struggles. At present, the two states are both respected members of the international community with a shared history but different destiny.