Filipino American History Part II

This lesson falls under our homeschool curriculum on Asian American History. We recommend that this lesson be taught after the lesson on Filipino Americans I.

1. Internet Access – Pull up the following:

1. World Map

1. Teacher: We learned last time that the Filipinos were one of the first Asians to move to North America, to a place called St. Malo. Today, we’re going to just talk a little bit more about their life in St. Malo.

2. Teacher: [Pointing to Louisiana on World Map] Remember? The Filipinos moved here to St. Malo. Can you tell me a little about their life? [Engage the Student in conversation].

3. Teacher: Now, let’s try to understand why the Filipinos went to St. Malo from the Philippines.

1. Teacher: Before we start, what would make you move from your home to another place? [Discuss various reasons for moving, but guide the Student to 2 main factors for moving: 1) Better opportunities and 2) Forced against one’s will].

2. Teacher: [Drawing a line with your finger (or computer mouse) from the Philippines to St. Malo (going under Africa) on the World Map] Two of the reasons why the Filipinos came to North America could be that they wanted a better life than they had in their home. Maybe their home life was very hard, like they had very little money to live and they thought moving to North America would give them another chance to live a happier life. Another reason may be that they didn’t want to move, but they were kidnapped and thrown on ships and forced to work on those ships. You see, in those days long long time ago before cars and airplanes, it was hard to find people to work on ships since those ships traveled the waters of the world for a long time, too long for anyone who liked to be on the land. Can you imagine being in a ship for over a year? [Discuss with the Student but come to the point that it would be very difficult to be on a sailing ship for a year and that it was hard to find people to help on a ship for that duration of time].

3. Teacher: And that’s why some captains of those ships had to kidnap other people to work on those ships. Once you were on the ship, the only thing you could do is help or else they would not even feed you, then how would you live? [Discuss with the Student that the only option you would have is to work on the ship].

4. Teacher: So, if you were kidnapped on the ship, you would work to get food and water, but do you think you would like it? [Get Student’s negative reaction].

5. Teacher: And that’s how the Filipino people got to St. Malo. Some of them must have gone there to have a happier life than they had at home, but some must have ran away from the ships once those ships landed in North America, in a city called New Orleans. If you were running away, would you stay close to the ships where the people could catch you again, or would you run far away where people couldn’t catch you? [Discuss with student but come to the conclusion that the Filipinos also ran far away from the ships because they didn’t want to get caught and be forced to work again on those ships].

6. Teacher: Another reason why the Filipinos ran far away was because they didn’t speak English. Filipinos spoke Tagalog (pronounced “tay-gol-log”) or Spanish and so to talk to each other, they went far away from people who spoke English.

7. Teacher: Do you think you would want to chase someone into a hot watery swamp with dangerous animals like alligators and snakes, and bugs to bite at you at night, when the fog rolls into the village? [Get Student’s negative reaction].

8. Teacher: And that’s exactly why a swamp like St. Malo was the perfect place for the Filipinos. This was a place that no one would find them and it was a dangerous place so that people were afraid to go to, and that was perfectly alright for the Filipinos because it meant that no people would bother them there. There were no police there either and so the Filipinos had to make sure that men behaved themselves – to make sure that the men behaved, they picked the oldest man to be the one who would decide any arguments that the men may have and whatever he said, the men had to do.

9. Teacher: In fact, it was so dangerous in St. Malo that only Filipino men lived there. When the Filipino men married the Native Americans that lived near St. Malo, they sent their wives and children to the closest town where people spoke English so it would be safer for them.

10. Teacher: Now, I said that the Filipinos lived in St. Malo because they didn’t want anyone to find them. Do you know how long it took until someone actually found them living there? [Engage the Student to guess how long it took for an American to find them].

11. Teacher: It took over 100 years! Wow, do you know how long 100 years is? [Find examples to illustrate how long 100 years is compared to now. For example, state that 100 years ago, airplanes and cars were just beginning to become invented].

12. Teacher: So, do you know what happened to St. Malo over time? Sadly, a hurricane destroyed the entire village. But there were other Filipino villages that popped up by then and since then, the Filipino people made a lot of great things happen for the United States. Would you like to know what some of those things are? [Get Student’s positive reaction].

13. Teacher: For example, there was a man by the name of Antonio Miranda Rodriquez who was one of the 12 founders of the city of Los Angeles, one of the largest cities in our country. Also, here’s a fun one, do you know what a yo-yo is? Well, it was a Filipino man named Pedro Flores that came up with that word for the toy you know today! There are too many famous Filipinos today to talk about today, but they are everywhere – in sports, TV, movies.

14. Teacher: Ok – now stand up in front of me. I’m going to ask you some questions about the Filipino Americans and you answer them. Ready?” [Get Student’s positive response and asks the following:

1. Once the Filipinos got to North America, why did they create a village so far away from other people? To run away from their kidnappers in the ships.

2. What happened to the village of St. Malo, is it still there today? No. A hurricane destroyed the entire village.

3. What is one thing that the Filipinos gave to America? Any one of the following: 1) Taught Americans how to dry shrimp, 2) One of the founders of city of Los Angeles, and 3) Came up with the name “yo-yo” for that toy.

Next Week's Lesson: Chinese Americans >>