AHC: The Philippines Fully Incorporated Into the US

SsgtC

Banned
To aid the support (or recovery) of the Philippines, you'd probably need the US to build a string of fortified naval bases between the West Coast and Manila. Pearl Harbor of course, Wake Island, Guam? (but that probably needs the rest of the Marianas in US hands to work). Perhaps another Philippine stronghold? Davao? Cebu City? Pretty costly to build and maintain
And good luck getting Congress to approve that...
 
And good luck getting Congress to approve that...

I don't know. I'd not thought about Commonwealth status. I think it might be doable. They can always get independence later, after voting on it. Taking Commonwealth status means we can fortify the islands, keep more troops there, etc etc. That might butterfly the Pacific War, with Japan not wanting to take all that on. They didn't go full tilt batshit militaristic until the the Great Depression, this might keep them from doing so. They might the Carolines and other places they took from Germany in WWI, but Commonwealth status and an increased military there will set up all sorts of butterflies.
 

SsgtC

Banned
I don't know. I'd not thought about Commonwealth status. I think it might be doable. They can always get independence later, after voting on it. Taking Commonwealth status means we can fortify the islands, keep more troops there, etc etc. That might butterfly the Pacific War, with Japan not wanting to take all that on. They didn't go full tilt batshit militaristic until the the Great Depression, this might keep them from doing so. They might the Carolines and other places they took from Germany in WWI, but Commonwealth status and an increased military there will set up all sorts of butterflies.
That's kind of what I was thinking. If the Philippines are a Commonwealth, the US will be far more invested in defending them than they were in OTL when they were going to be independent in a few years anyway. And a Philippines properly defended would make even Japan think twice about it.
FDR is the one who could have done it. The obstacle is convincing him, not anyone else.
FDR is far too late. In 1916 it was already official US policy and Law for the United States to grant the Philippines full Independence when they were ready for it.
 
Do the Philippines have to be taken as a whole? What if only Luzon is kept as an American territory/state and Visayas and Mindanao are granted independence (either as one country or two if the Moros insist on going their own way). Keeping only Luzon might make incorporation more 'digestible' and having an independent (and presumably friendly) Philippine nation in some form might appease enough of the Filipino revolutionaries to attenuate the Philippine-American War, especially if the United States sponsors/subsidizes a resettlement program
 
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SsgtC

Banned
Do the Philippines have to be taken as a whole? What if only Luzon is kept as an American territory/state and Visayas and Mindanao are granted independence (either as one country or two if the Moros insist on going their own way). Keeping only Luzon might make incorporation more 'digestible' and having an independent (and presumably friendly) Philippine nation in some form might appease enough of the Filipino revolutionaries to attenuate the Philippine-American War, especially if the United States sponsors/subsidizes a resettlement program
No, that idea was floated originally in 1898 and was shot down pretty quickly as unworkable. It was either all or nothing. The Filipino people would riot over that proposal.
 
FDR is far too late. In 1916 it was already official US policy and Law for the United States to grant the Philippines full Independence when they were ready for it.
That's what the supreme court said about more ambitious proposals of FDRs, but oddly they ended up backing down. Admitting a small island chain wouldn't be hard.
 

SsgtC

Banned
That's what the supreme court said about more ambitious proposals of FDRs, but oddly they ended up backing down. Admitting a small island chain wouldn't be hard.
Again, it's far too late. The Philippine people have been promised Independence for 16 years at this point (longer if you include the years before that where they were informally promised it or depending on when you see FDR proposing this), have their own legislature, court system and President. To try and yank the rug out from under them would cause an instant revolt and if/when Japan invades, they will find a populace ready, willing and eager to support them and throw the "Dirty, backstabbing Americans" out.
 

Ak-84

Banned
At best I can see it being some sort of self-governing territory of the US. Some sort of dominion-like status. That requires a POD from almost 1898. The US is policy is to set up responsible Government, eventually to full home rule in all areas, except perhaps foreign affairs.

The Philippines becomes very important in the US policy as the Cold War heats up.And today.
 
FDR is the one who could have done it. The obstacle is convincing him, not anyone else.

No. First of all, by then the Democratic party had long since committed itself to Philippine independence--and so had the Republicans in principle (though on a slower schedule). Second, southern Democrats, who were an important part of FDR's coalition, would never accept giving brown-skinned people such enormous political power in the US--and a lot of members of Congress who weren't even racist would balk at the huge change in the composition of the House of Representatives and the Electoral College (not to mention the enormous increase in US responsibilities in the Western Pacific at a time the country was in an isolationist mood, the reaction of the Filipinos themselves who neither expected nor wanted any such thing, the sheer lack of precedent for a state that far away from the mainland US and so close to another continent, etc.) The population of the Philippines by 1930 was over 13 million--greater than that of New York state, the most populous US state (with 47 electoral votes). Even Hawaii (largely for racial reasons) wasn't granted statehood until 1959, even though it would never have more than two US House members or four electoral votes, even though it had a much larger percentage of "white" residents than the Philippines, even though it was closer to the mainland and farther from Asia, even though its residents clearly wanted statehood, even though two presidents (Truman and Eisenhower) had supported statehood for years, as had the national platforms of both major parties, etc.

The notion that FDR was some kind of dictator who could get Congress to pass anything he wanted is nonsense, as the fate of the court-packing and executive reorganization bills showed. Prior to 1937, FDR himself realized the limits of his powers in dealing with Congress, and for example gave only passive support to World Court membership (which failed in the Senate). He failed to include national health insurance in the Social Security bill because of fear that opposition from the AMA would then drag the entire bill down to defeat. And of course he would not speak out in favor of the anti-lynching bill, lest he alienate southern Democrats. Yet anti-lynching laws, while they would alienate the white South, did at least have a substantial US constituency in their favor, especially among African Americans whose votes were crucial in close elections in many big northern states. By contrast, there was no popular constituency at all for Filipino statehood, and FDR would have had to be crazy to support it.
 

Driftless

Donor
At best I can see it being some sort of self-governing territory of the US. Some sort of dominion-like status. That requires a POD from almost 1898. The US is policy is to set up responsible Government, eventually to full home rule in all areas, except perhaps foreign affairs.

The Philippines becomes very important in the US policy as the Cold War heats up.And today.

After the battle of Manila Bay, Dewey is given instructions to work with local Filipino leaders (Aguinaldo etal) to oust the Spanish as the common enemy. A few weeks after the battle, Vice-Admiral Diederichs shows up with the German East Asian Fleet poking and prodding for colonial opportunities and that extra threat could work to enhance longer term Filipino/American relations.
 
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