Formally known as the Philippine Autonomy Act, the Jones Act declared the American intention to grant independence to the Philippine Islands, which the United States had acquired as a territory after the Spanish-American War. Despite the Philippine Insurrection against colonial rule under Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo and the well-intentioned efforts of congressional sponsors, the Philippine Islands remained under military government. Replacing the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, which created the first
American administration, the Jones Act became the first law to establish Philippine autonomy. It also asserted that Philippine independence would occur “as soon as a stable government [could] be established,” but the United States retained the power to determine whether such a government existed. While the Jones Act sought to provide home rule for the Philippines, it reasserted the sovereign rights and privileges of the United States over the islands.
In addition to the question of national autonomy, the Jones Act created a new government structure in the Philippines. It added a popularly elected Philippine Senate to the legislature to replace the Philippine Commission, which formerly had been appointed by the American president. While the appointed governor general of the Philippines had veto power over the legislature, the Jones Act made significant progress toward Philippine self-government and extended the reforms instituted by the current governor general, Francis Burton Harrison. Promoting cooperation between Americans and Filipinos, Harrison transformed the government of the islands by replacing American officials with Filipino civil servants. Between 1913 and 1921, Filipino administrators came to dominate the civil service. The “colonial government of Americans aided by Filipinos” became, according to Harrison’s critics, a “catspaw and plaything” of Filipino nationalists. At the same time, the president of the United States continued to appoint the governor general and Philippine Supreme Court justices as well.
The Jones Act was only one stage in the long struggle for Philippine independence. There were several subsequent efforts to grant independence to the islands. In 1912, William Atkinson Jones, Democratic congressman from Virginia, introduced a bill to grant the Philippines autonomy followed by independence in 1921. The bill failed in the House. Two years later, a new bill set no specific timetable for independence and integrated several amendments; it also failed. Only in 1916 did Congress approve the Jones Act, which President WoODROW WiLSON signed into law.
The Philippines remained under the government established by the Jones Act until 1934, when Congress established the Commonwealth of the Philippines, effective in 1935. The Philippines did not achieve independence until after World War II.
See also Army Act; foreign policy.
Further reading: Stanley Karnow, In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines (New York: Random House, 1989).
Jones Act (Jones-Shafroth Act) (1917)
The Jones Act of 1917, sometimes known as the Jones-Shafroth Act, granted American citizenship to inhabitants of Puerto Rico and made significant changes in how Puerto
Rico was governed. The United States had acquired the island of Puerto Rico after the Spanish-American War, as part of Spain’s treaty obligations. From the signing of the peace treaty until 1917, Puerto Rico was an American territorial possession. Its inhabitants, if they did not have pre-existing status as citizens of another nation, were citizens of Puerto Rico and not of the United States, as specified under the Organic Act of Puerto Rico, known as the Foraker Act. Puerto Rican residents did not possess the rights, protections, and obligations of American citizens under the U. S. Constitution, nor was the island integrated into the United States in any meaningful way.
In part, the special status of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and other territories that the United States acquired in the late 19th century was due to the racial and cultural differences between the majority population in the United States and the nation’s new protectorates. Some Americans had opposed the war with Spain precisely because an American victory threatened to undermine the country’s predominantly Anglo-American culture. Those who saw immigrants from southern and eastern Europe as a menace to the society had similar misgivings about bringing new lands and peoples under American governance.
World War I helped to change this thinking. Although the United States remained neutral in the first few years of the war, many believed that the country would be drawn into the European conflict and that it was important to institute new measures to prepare the nation for war. Among these measures were the Preparedness movement, campaigns for AMERiCANiZAtioN, and the introduction of conscription in 1917. Among the other measures, the Jones-Shafroth Act opened the door both to closer relations between the American government and Puerto Rico and made men in Puerto Rico eligible for the draft. Nearly 20,000 would serve in the American ExpeDitioNARY Force during the war.
The Jones Act also moved the Puerto Rican government closer to the model of American states. The law established a popularly elected legislature with a Senate and House of Representatives. While the appointed governor could veto legislative bills, the legislature could override his veto with a two-thirds majority. The president of the United States had final decision-making power, and the president similarly appointed the governor, the attorney general, and the governor’s cabinet. A popularly elected but nonvoting resident commissioner represented Puerto Rico in the U. S. House of Representatives. The federal government maintained significant control over the Puerto Rican economy and government services. The Jones Act remained in force, with minor revisions, until 1952, when Puerto Rico became a commonwealth and developed its own constitution.
See also citiZENsHip; foreign policy; Jones Act (1916); NAtiVisM.
Further reading: Jose A. Cabranes, Citizenship and the American Empire: Notes on the Legislative History of the United States Citizenship of Puerto Ricans (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979); Bartholomew H. Sparrow, The Insular Cases and the Emergence of American Empire (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2006).
Joplin, Scott (1868-1917) pianist and composer Called “the King of Ragtime,” Scott Joplin composed many of the most popular as well as artistically realized piano rags. He was born in Texarkana, Texas, on November 24, 1868. His father, Giles Joplin, was a former slave, and his mother, Florence Givens, had been free from birth. At an early age, Joplin showed unusual ability at the piano. By the time he was 11, he had come to the attention of a local, German music teacher, who offered him lessons free of charge. This teacher taught Joplin to read music, and the elements of music theory, and introduced him to the works of the great European composers.
At about age 14, Joplin began what was probably the most significant part of his music education. He became an itinerant pianist employed in the honky-tonk and red-light districts of towns and cities of the Mississippi Valley. In the course of the next three years, he met many musicians, both black and white, and became exposed to the evolving ragtime style of music popular in such establishments. This was a pivotal era in American musical history, as it was the first time black and white musicians were meeting as musical equals. The emerging style borrowed its form and harmonic structure from white European culture, but the essential polyrhythms came from black African culture.
In 1885, Joplin arrived in St. Louis, which served as his base for the next 10 years. He formed a small orchestra that played in Chicago during the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. After hours, he was able to hear and play for some of the country’s best ragtime pianists. He settled in Sedalia, Missouri, around 1895, and in 1895 and 1896 published his first music. In 1897, Joplin enrolled in the George R. Smith College for Negroes in Sedalia, where he studied harmony and composition.
In 1899, John Stark published “The Maple Leaf Rag,” the composition that was to earn Joplin the nickname “King of Ragtime.” Stark, the white owner of a local music store in Sedalia, purchased it for $50 with an arrangement for continuing royalties to Joplin. This arrangement, unusually fair for the time, soon provided Joplin with financial stability, as “The Maple Leaf Rag” was a national hit within six months. Joplin was now able to concentrate on composition. His first large-scale composition, The Ragtime Dance, was completed and performed in Sedalia in 1899. This work consisted of choreographed dance numbers with sung narration. Although published by Stark in 1902, the score is now lost.
With his publishing business flourishing, Stark moved it to St. Louis in 1900, and Joplin, recently married to Belle Hayden, soon followed. The next six years saw Stark’s publication of many Joplin rags, including “The Entertainer,” “Elite Syncopations,” and “The Cascades.” Joplin also concentrated on his first ragtime opera, A Guest of Honor This work (now lost) was completed and presumably performed in St. Louis around 1903.
In 1904 Stark moved his publishing business to New York, and Joplin, after separating from his wife, also settled in New York in 1907. In 1909 he married his second wife, Lottie Stokes. Joplin continued composing rags and teaching, but he put most of his energy into the composition of his second opera, Treemonisha, a work that consumed him for the rest of his life. Treemonisha is scored for 11 voices and chorus with piano accompaniment. The story has the character of a fable, and the music draws from African-American folk tradition as well as ragtime. Joplin and Stark parted ways, leaving Joplin to publish the score of Treemonisha in 1911 at his own expense. In the hope of attracting backers for a full production, he put together a performance in a hall in Harlem in 1915. The performance was a failure, and Joplin was devastated. The final years of his life were marked by depression and illness. In 1916, Joplin was committed to Manhattan State Hospital on Ward’s Island, and on April 1, 1917, he died there.
Joplin’s music enjoyed a revival in the early 1970s. Treemonisha received its first performance in Atlanta in 1972 and its first full-scale production by the Houston Grand Opera in 1975. His piano rags have found a secure place in the modern repertoire, equally at home in movie soundtracks and on the concert stage.
Further reading: Edward A. Berlin, King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994); Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis, They All Played Ragtime, rev. ed. (New York: Grove Press, 1971).
—William Peek
World History
