In 1898 the United States declared sovereignty over the Philippines. While it became a colonial power at the zenith of global imperialism, the United States nevertheless conceived of its rule as exceptional - as an exercise in benevolence rather than in tyranny and exploitation. This book aims to untangle this peculiar self-fashioning.

Contributors explore the programme of political education; constructions of nationalism, race, and religion; the regulation of opium; connections to politics on the United States mainland; and anti-colonial resistance. Tracking the complex connections, circuits, and contests across, within, and between empires which shaped America's colonial regime, "The American Colonial State in the Philippines" sheds new light on the complexities of American imperialism and turn-of-the-century colonialism. The contributors are: Patricio N. Abinales, Donna J. Amoroso, Paul Barclay, Vince Boudreau, Anne L. Foster, Julian Go, and Paul A. Kramer.