How The US Stole The Philippines

Why the the US is still an empire

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Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He currently is based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe. Johnny's visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University and an MA in international peace and conflict resolution from American University.

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[XFreezerBunnyX]

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!

[azj_]

Filipinos after Spanish-America War: You have freed us!

US: *Oh, I wouldn't say "freed" more like "under new management*

[ijorgealvarez]

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

[demonas]

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.

[rottenrobbie]

The fact that we get free documentaries on YouTube 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? 😔

[reinerbraun]

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.

[maekaizerine]

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

[edm]

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

[nemesis]

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.

[bhuvaneshs.k]

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

[snowhunter]

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.

[BeaverChainsaw]

“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

[edremnal]

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

[KimJongUnGamingAndVlogging]

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...

[bilskie]

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

[jacie]

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

[TATguitar]

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.

[MJDAdventures]

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.

[TheSchcter]

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

[BossAlbatross]

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..