The Jones Law (, . 416, also known as the Jones Act, the Philippine Autonomy Act, and the Act of Congress of August 29, 1916) was an

Organic Act In United States law, an organic act is an act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States and specifies how it is to be governed, or an agency to manage certain federal lands. In the absence of an organ ...

passed by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. The law replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 and acted as a constitution of the Philippines from its enactment until 1934, when the

Tydings–McDuffie Act The Tydings–McDuffie Act, officially the Philippine Independence Act (), is an Act of Congress that established the process for the Philippines, then an American territory, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition period. ...

was passed (which in turn led eventually to the

Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

and to independence from the United States). The Jones Law created the first fully elected Philippine legislature. The law was enacted by the

64th United States Congress The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...

on August 29, 1916, and contained the first formal and official declaration of the United States federal government's commitment to grant independence to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

.In the
Instructions of the President to the Philippine Commission
" dated April 7, 1900,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

reiterated the intentions of the United States Government to establish and organize governments, essentially popular in their form, in the municipal and provincial administrative divisions of the Philippine Islands. However, there was no official mention of any declaration of Philippine Independence. It was a framework for a "more autonomous government", with certain privileges reserved to the United States to protect its sovereign rights and interests, in preparation for the grant of independence by the United States. The law provides that the grant of independence would come only "as soon as a stable government can be established", which was to be determined by the United States Government itself. The law also changed the

Philippine Legislature The Philippine Legislature was the legislature of the Philippines from 1907 to 1935, during the American colonial period, and predecessor of the current Congress of the Philippines. It was bicameral and the legislative branch of the Insular G ...

into the Philippines' first fully elected body and therefore made it more autonomous of the U.S. government. The 1902 Philippine Organic Act provided for an elected lower house (the

Philippine Assembly The Philippine Assembly (sometimes called the Philippine National Assembly) was the lower house of the Philippine Legislature from 1907 to 1916, when it was renamed the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The Philippine Assembly wa ...

), while the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

(the

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The first Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Presi ...

) was appointed. The Jones Law provided for both houses to be electedPhilippine Autonomy Act (Jones Law)
/ref> and changed the name of the Philippine Assembly to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. The

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

continued to be headed by an appointed

governor general of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines ( Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the col ...

, always an American. Elections were held on October 3, 1916 for the newly created

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...

. Elections to the Philippine Assembly had already been held on June 6, 1916, and those elected in that election were made members of the House of Representatives by the law.

Development of the bill

The ultimate goal for the Philippines was independence.

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

said as early as 1901, "We hope to do for them what has never been done for any people of the tropics—to make them fit for self-government after the fashion of really free nations." The American public tended to view America's presence in the Philippines as unremunerative and expensive, so Roosevelt had concluded by 1907, "We shall have to be prepared for giving the islands independence of a more or less complete type much sooner than I think advisable."

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

said, during the 1912 election campaign which made him U.S. President, "The Philippines are at present our frontier but I hope we presently are to deprive ourselves of that frontier." Even before the 1912 elections, U.S. House Committee on Insular Affairs Chairman

William Atkinson Jones William Atkinson Jones (March 21, 1849 – April 17, 1918) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1891 to 1918 from the first district of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Early life Jones was born in Warsaw, Virginia on March 21 ...

attempted to launch a bill that would set a fixed date for Philippine independence.

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his de ...

was one of the Philippines' two

resident commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such ...

s to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Jones delayed launching his bill, so Quezon drafted the first of two "Jones Bills". He drafted a second Jones Bill in early 1914 after the election of Wilson as U.S. president and his appointment of

Francis Burton Harrison Francis Burton Harrison (December 18, 1873 – November 21, 1957) was an American statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and was appointed governor-general of the Philippines by President of the United States Woodro ...

as president of the

and governor general of the Philippines. Wilson had informed Quezon of his hostility to any fixed timetable for independence, and Quezon believed that the draft bill contained enough flexibility to suit Wilson.

Passage into law

The bill passed the House of Representatives in October 1913 and went to the Senate, backed by Harrison,

U.S. Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of th ...

Lindley Garrison, and President Wilson. A final version of the bill was signed into U.S. law by President Wilson on August 29, 1916, after amendment by the Senate and further changes in a congressional conference committee.

Terms

Among the provisions of the law was the creation of an all-

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

legislature. It created the Philippine Senate to replace the Philippine Commission, which had served as the upper chamber of the legislature.

References

Bibliography

*, , . *, , .

External links