Benevolent assimilation refers to a policy of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

towards the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as described in a proclamation by US president

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

that was issued in a memorandum to the U.S. Secretary of War on December 21, 1898, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. It stated that future control, disposition, and government of the Philippine islands had been ceded to the United States and that the US military government was to be extended over the whole of the ceded territory. About six months earlier, on June 12, 1898,

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...

had declared the Philippines to be a free and independent nation and had established a revolutionary government. The Filipino revolutionary armed forces were then deployed and had remained in positions surrounding

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

forces occupying

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. This juxtaposition eventually developed into a standoff between opposing forces that would erupt in fighting in early 1899 to ignite the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

. The proclamation read in part: The proclamation was sent to General Elwell Otis, US military commander and

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

in the Philippines. Otis sent

a version of the proclamation that he had

bowdlerized An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is often used in th ...

by removing mention of US

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

"to stress our benevolent purpose" and not "offend Filipino sensibilities" by substituting "free people" for "supremacy of the United States" and deleting "to exercise future domination." General Otis had also sent an unaltered copy of the proclamation to General

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

, who, unaware that an altered version had been sent to Aguinaldo, passed a copy to a Filipino official there. The unaltered version eventually made its way to Aguinaldo. Otis later explained:

References

External links

University of Hawaii Philippine History Site article on Benevolent Assimilation
History of the Philippines (1898–1946) 1898 in the United States {{Philippines-stub

See also

References

External links