Ask Us!
University of Washington Libraries

Author, Poet, and Worker: The World of Carlos Bulosan

  • Read in English
  • Basahin sa Tagalog
  • Colony and Metropole: Seattle and the Philippines

    The Philippines and the United States became inextricably linked following the colonial acquisition of the islands after U.S. victory in the Spanish American War in 1898. In many ways, U.S. involvement there was an extension of its earlier imperial growth across the North American continent. Not long after the U.S. entered their country, Filipinos began fighting for independence. The same U.S. soldiers that subdued American Indian insurrections traveled to the Philippines to put down insurrections there.

    Soldiers from the Washington State National Guard were among those sent. As United States' interests in the Pacific grew, it spurred the militarization of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Seattle benefited greatly as a major shipping port of supplies to U.S. troops, and then later as an importer of Filipino goods.

    Reminders of this period abound throughout Seattle, often in place names whose origins are rarely acknowledged today. In Woodland Park, two naval cannons and a bronze statue stand to honor fallen soldiers of the Spanish American War and the "Philippine War." Volunteer Park in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood is named for the same soldiers. What is now City Hall Park in Pioneer Square was originally known as "Fortson Square", named for Captain George H. Fortson, an officer in the Washington Infantry killed in the Philippines. Admiral Way in West Seattle is named for Admiral Dewey, leader of a naval fleet that operated in Manila during the war.

    Hiker Statue
    The Hiker Memorial statue in Woodland Park was erected in 1924 by veterans of the Spanish-American War.
    Photo Credit: Tim Wright, UW Today.(photo not in database).
    plaque
    Plaque explaining the name of Volunteer Park, Seattle, Washington.
    Photo Credit: Joe Mabel. Source: Wikimedia Commons. (photo not in database).


    Seattle was also once home to the Fort Lawton military base, now Discovery Park. It was named for Henry Ware Lawton, an officer killed in 1899 during U.S. operations in the Philippines at the hand of a sharpshooter under the command of a Filipino general named Licerio Geronimo – ironically, as Lawton had been responsible for capturing the Apache leader Geronimo in 1886.

    Book cover
    Everything About Our New Possessions (1899)

    Book cover
    The Life and Achievements of Admiral Dewey (1899)

    Book cover
    When Dewey Came to Manila (1899)
    Book cover
    Under Dewey at Manila (1898)

    Gateway to Empire: The Colonial Gaze and the "Igorrotte" Village at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition

    The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition was a world's fair held in Seattle in 1909, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest and positioning Seattle as the gateway to the North and the Pacific Rim. The fairgrounds became the current campus of the University of Washington.

    Part of the fair contained a "human exhibit" of an entire village of Igorot people from the Philippines, depicting them as a primitive culture. Viewed in the context of the U.S.' recent occupation of the Philippines and its war to suppress Philippine independence (1899-1902), the exhibit illustrates imperial ambitions and a colonial, paternalistic, attitude from the US towards its new Pacific conquest.

  • Kolonya at Metropole: Seattle at Pilipinas

    Nagkaugnayan ang Pilipinas at Estados Unidos pagkatapos ng pagsakop ng mga kapuluan dahil sa pagpanalo ng Estados Unidos sa Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano noong 1898. Ang paglahok dito ng Estados Unidos ay ang pagpapatuloy ng paglaking pananakop nila sa ibayo ng Hilagang Amerika. Hindi nagtagal pagkatapos ng pagdating ng U.S. sa Pilipinas, nagumpisang ipaglaban ng Pilipino ang kanilang pagsasarili. Ang mga sundalong Amerikano na nagpasuko sa mga paghihimagsik ng mga Katutubong Amerikano, ang siya rin na nagpasuko sa mga Pilipino.

    Ipinadala ang ilan sa mga sundalong taga-Washington State National Guard. Dahil lumalaki ang interes ng Estados Unidos sa Pasipiko, minilitariys ang Seattle at ang Rehiyong "Pacific Northwest." Nakapagpabuti sa Seattle ang benepisyo bilang isang mahalagang puwerto na nagpapadala ng gamit para sa hukbong Amerikano. Nakapagpabuti rin sa Seattle bilang isang tagapagtanggap ng mga gamit galing sa Pilipinas.

    Maraming mga ala-ala na mapapanaw saanman sa lungsod ng Seattle, karamihan sa mga pinanggalingan na mga pangalan ng mga lugar na ito ay hindi madalas kinikilala. Sa Woodland Park, nakatayo ang dalawang kanyong pangkaragatan at isang tansong istatuwa para bigyan-galang ang mga sundalong namatay noong Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano at noong "Philippine War." Ipinangalan sa mga kaparehong sundalo ang Volunteer Park na nasa lungsod ng Capitol Hill sa Seattle. Ang City Hall Park ngayon sa Pioneer Square, ay dating kinilalang "Fortson Square" para kay Kapitan George H. Fortson, isang opisyal ng Washington Infantry na pinatay sa Pilipinas. Pinangalan ang Admiral Way sa West Seattle mula kay Admiral Dewey, pinuno ng armadang pangkaragatan na sumalakay sa Maynila noong Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano.

    Hiker Statue
    The Hiker Memorial statue in Woodland Park was erected in 1924 by veterans of the Spanish-American War.
    Photo Credit: Tim Wright, UW Today.(photo not in database).
    plaque
    Plaque explaining the name of Volunteer Park, Seattle, Washington.
    Photo Credit: Joe Mabel. Source: Wikimedia Commons. (photo not in database).


    Dating tahanan ang Seattle ng himpilang militar ng Fort Lawton— itinuturing siyang Discovery Park ngayon. Ang liwasang ito ay pinangalan mula kay Henry Ware Lawton, ang opisyal na pinatay noong 1899 habang nananatili ang U.S. sa Pilipinas. Pumatay sa kaniya ay isang Pilipinong sharpshooter, ang pangalan niya'y Licerio Geronimo. Ang kabalintunaan nito ay si Lawton ang namuno sa pagdakip ng puno ng mga Apache, na si Geronimo, noong 1886.

    Book cover
    Everything About Our New Possessions (1899)

    Book cover
    The Life and Achievements of Admiral Dewey (1899)

    Book cover
    When Dewey Came to Manila (1899)
    Book cover
    Under Dewey at Manila (1898)

    Pasukan sa Imperyo: Ang Koloniyal na Titngin at Ang "Igorrotte" na Nayon sa Pagtatanghal na Alaska-Yukon-Pacific

    "World Fair" nasa Seattle noong 1909 ang Pagtatanghal na Alaska-Yukon-Pacific, tungkol sa pag-unlad ng Rehiyong Pasipikong Hilagang-Kanluran at sa kalagayan ng Seattle bilang pasukan sa Hilaga at sa Pacific Rim. Naging kasalukuyang kampus ng University of Washington noong tanghalan.

    Bahagi ng perya ang "human exhibit" ng buong nayong Igorot taga-Pilipinas. Inilarawan ang kanliang kultura diumano galing sa noong unang panahon, ng “human exhibit” nito. Ipinakita sa conteksto ng dating pananakop ng U.S. sa Pilipinas at ng giyera nila para sugpuin ang pagsasarili ng Pilipinas (1899-1902), ihinahandog ng pagtatanghal ang mga layuning imperiyal at saka ang pansing patnernalisik at koloniyal ng U.S., ukol sa kanilang bagong pagsakop sa Pasipiko.


Back to top

Follow Us:

Twitter Flickr