Introduction

The opening section of the book presents political, cultural, and legal advancements occurring in the Philippines during the American colonial age, plus it discusses the Filipinization of the colonial civil service, the significance of the American-funded Pensionados Program, the employment of Filipino architects within the Bureau of Public Works, and Philippine notions of modernity during the early 1900s. Moreover, introducing theory associated with cultural assimilation, Chapter One outlines the nature of colonial governance established by the Americans, and the form of civil society they sought to build post-1898 in the Philippine Islands. Lastly, Chapter One makes known to the reader the structure of the book.