The ordinary in the Treaty of Paris

Today, December 10, in 1898, the United States of America and Spain signed a Treaty of Peace in Paris where Spain gave up all claims to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, with the transfer of the Philippines coming with a payment of $20 million to Spain.

- Todd Sales Lucero

The newly-minted Philippine republic sent Felipe Agoncillo, known as the first Filipino diplomat, to participate in the negotiations; he was, however, denied this right. Newspaper reports say that “villagers were shocked by the idea that they had been sold for twenty million,” with refugees interviewed by American correspondents wondering if they were “slaves” for having been sold to the Americans; the public believed that America broke its promises.

Much of written history, the history taught in schools and written about in books, are almost always about the men and women who shaped the course of history. Those in the peripheries or unimpressive enough are usually relegated to the dustbins of history, rarely even mentioned. But these regular folks were just as much players in the highs and lows of this country, and what little is left about these ordinary people is the meat of today’s discussion.