Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 2-1-2016 12:00 AM Civilizational Imperatives: American Colonial Culture in the Islamic Philippines, 1899-1942 Oliver Charbonneau The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Frank Schumacher The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Oliver Charbonneau 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Asian History Commons, Cultural History Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Charbonneau, Oliver, "Civilizational Imperatives: American Colonial Culture in the Islamic Philippines, 1899-1942" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3508. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3508 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Abstract and Keywords This dissertation examines the colonial experience in the Islamic Philippines between 1899 and 1942. Occupying Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago in 1899, U.S. Army officials assumed sovereignty over a series of Muslim populations collectively referred to as ‘Moros.’ Beholden to pre-existing notions of Moro ungovernability, for two decades military and civilian administrators ruled the Southern Philippines separately from the Christian regions of the North. In the 1920s, Islamic areas of Mindanao and Sulu were ‘normalized’ and haphazardly assimilated into the emergent Philippine nation-state. Never fully integrated, the Muslim South persisted as an exotic frontier zone in the American and Filipino colonial imaginaries. The following chapters argue that Americans acting in both official and non-official capacities undertook a project of cultural reconfiguration among the Moros. Essentializing Moro ‘characteristics,’ American colonial actors implemented a variety of programs aimed at transforming Muslim social, legal, commercial, medical, and educational practices. These complex and imperfect processes often met with resistance from Moro populations, and American authorities used violence as a means of ‘correcting’ recalcitrant behaviours. A second seam of argumentation asserts the centrality of inter-imperial dialogue and transfer to the colonial experience in the Southern Philippines. Americans borrowed and modified European imperial antecedents in myriad ways, from carceral technologies to the creation of racially demarcated leisure spaces. As a region, the Muslim South was shaped during the period under study by transcolonial flows of personnel, ideas, and commercial products. This involved transfers not only between Americans and Europeans, but also between Moros and the Islamic world. Emphasizing understudied and unstoried histories, this project contributes to a growing body of work that situates American colonial encounters in a global context. Overlooked in much of the literature on American colonialism in the Philippines, the Muslim South was an important site for the development of American civilizational imperatives. ii These imperatives, and the colonial project writ large, were shaped and reshaped by pervasive supraregional connectivities and inter-imperial exchanges. Far from being mere colonial backwaters, Mindanao and Sulu are critical to understanding the character of American empire in the early twentieth-century. Keywords: American colonial empire, U.S. imperialism, Moros, Philippines, 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Islam, colonialism in Southeast Asia, empire, colonial culture, colonial education, transcolonial, transnational, inter-imperial, missionaries, religion, race, colonial violence, civilizing missions iii For my mother and father. iv Acknowledgements In the preceding five years, my spare moments have been given over to pacing, stressing, and staring vacantly at the walls of my home office. Writing a dissertation is a simultaneously hellish and exhilarating conversation with oneself. Days are spent cycling through peculiar manifestations of self-doubt, confidence, defeat, indifference, and euphoria. In these final months, I have marvelled at my mind’s ability to ratchet its stress levels to Olympian heights. Visualize a cartoon of an overworked nineteenth-century steam engine, its screws popping in and out as it convulses, and a generously mustachioed train conductor yelling, “Everybody off, it’s about to blow!” My next work will be written while living in an ashram and listening to “Sounds of the Pacific” on a twenty-four hour loop. Although this current project was created in solitude, it could not (and would not) have been completed without the support of others. Language fails me in expressing the depth of my gratitude towards these people, but I will make an attempt anyways. As a supervisor and mentor, Dr. Frank Schumacher has been superlative. He suggested I examine the relationship between American colonials and the Moros when I first approached him about doctoral work in 2010. Long before I began researching or writing, Professor Schumacher helped shape my understanding of the field. At each subsequent stage of the project he provided me with insights culled from his own impressive knowledge of history. Always willing to provide a reference or meet for lunch, Professor Schumacher was a testament to how important a good supervisor is to a successful dissertation. His generosity of spirit, analytical curiosity, and quick wit manifested themselves in each of our long talks, and I inevitably left these meetings with renewed focus. Whatever good is found in the subsequent pages can be largely attributed to Professor Schumacher’s guidance. Any further attempt to convey my appreciation would inevitably feel inadequate, so I will simply say to him: thank you. There are a number of people in the Department of History at Western who provided me with assistance and advice. Professor Carl Young not only supervised one of my v comprehensive fields, but also acted as second reader for this project. His observations and suggestions helped me situate my writing within broader histories of Southeast Asia. Our talks were a source of reassurance throughout this entire process. Also thanks are due to Professors Robert MacDougall, Maya Shatzmiller, William Turkel, Robert Ventresca, and Robert Wardaugh. In a variety of ways, each made life as a graduate student more pleasant for me. Thanks are also due to my dissertation committee. Drs. Francine McKenzie, Scott Schaffer, Ian Tyrrell, and (aforementioned) Carl Young all provided helpful commentary and criticism, and made my defence an enriching experience. Dr. Tyrrell’s willingness to participate as the external reader despite being on the other side of the globe was incredibly gracious. I feel tremendous guilt about how early he had to wake up that day. The staff in the departmental office, in particular Chris Speed and Kara Brown, were reliable sources of support when I found myself puzzled by practical administrative issues. At Dalhousie University, Professor Sarah-Jane Corke introduced me to the historiography of American foreign relations and set me on the path I am now. Moving further back in time, Andrea Spriet at Assumption College School was the first educator who showed me that history was an ongoing conversation and not just rote factual chronology. I appreciate the help I received from staff members at the Bentley Historical Library (University of Michigan), the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (Cornell University), the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center, the National Archives (College Park), the Special Collections Research Center (Syracuse University), the United States Army Heritage and Education Center (Carlisle), and the State Historical Society of Missouri (Columbia). Additionally, important financial support was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the University of Western Ontario. Tim Compeau and Marilla McCargar were my constant companions in academic joy and misery, providing me with hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of productive advice and (necessary) non-productive sociality. Nic Virtue, Dorotea Gucciardo, and their son Arlo welcomed me into their home countless times for great conversation and even better food (or does it make sense the other way around?). Rachael Griffin commiserated with me, also fed me fantastic meals, and was reliably enthusiastic when bad action movies were discussed or vi viewed. Chris Schultz regularly exasperated me, but also generated many thought-provoking conversations. Bill Couchie and I drank a lot of beer and watched a lot of Blue Jays baseball together. Paris McCargar-Olivier’s practical life philosophies have been a continuing inspiration. I am grateful to so many others I have met through the History Department, including Erin Pocock, Gregg French, Birgül Akgül, Brian Crowley, Claire Halstead, and Alex Souchen. Outside campus, the list grows long. I would write an ode to each of you had I the luxury of infinite space. Sean Somerton, P. Ian Quinlan, Robert Leonard Cleaver, Lindsay Oliver, Dylan Worsell, Eric Parsons, and Holly Kingston have all tolerated