1565-1815

• The first Filipinos to set foot in America arrive in Morro Bay, California on board the Manila galleon ship Nuestra Señora de Esperanza under the command of Spanish Captain Pedro de Unamuno.

1763

• Filipino seaman on Spanish galleons jump ship and establish Philippine-style fishing villages in New Orleans, Louisiana. Among these villages are St. Malo and Manila Village. Descendents of these first immigrants can still be found in Louisiana today.

1898

• At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, Spain cedes the Philippines to the United States with the Treaty of Paris. Having just fought off one colonial power, and unwilling to succumb to yet another, Filipinos wage years of guerrilla warfare against the United States.

1899-1902

• The Philippine-American War, becomes America’s first colonial war. During the three-year conflict,  one quarter of the population of Luzon, Philippines perishes.

1902

• Despite continued resistance from Filipino guerilla forces (which would last until 1913), the US declares victory and passes the Philippine Organic Act setting terms for civil government and endorsing Filipino self-government. The U.S. also introduces its educational system by sending hundreds of American teachers to the Philippines and mandating the English language in the school systems. 

1903

• The Pensionado Act allows Filipino students to study in the U.S. These students are known as Pensionados and are sent to study at American schools by the Philippine government. Upon completion of their degrees, the pensionados go back to the Philippines where they occupy important government positions.

1904

• Filipinos are on exhibit at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, where they are presented as “uncivilized,” dog-eating natives.  In light of the racial and imperialistic attitudes of the time, such exhibits were opportunities for American on-lookers to confirm their status as the more civilized and advanced society, whose job it was to educate others.

1906-1935

• The First Wave of Filipino immigrants to the U.S. begins with the arrival of Filipinos as contract laborers, known as Sakadas. Hawaiian sugarcane companies recruit Filipino workers, who can enter the US freely as American “nationals” (but without citizenship) because the Philippines is an American territory. By the late 1920s, Filipinos are the largest group of Asians in the plantations. At the same time, Filipinos are also recruited to work for canneries in Alaska and growing agricultural industries in California.

1910

• The US Supreme Court widens the 1879 Naturalization Act, which originally only excluded Chinese, to prohibit other Asian immigrants from US citizenship.

1911

• Pablo Manlapit forms Hawai’i’s first Filipino labor union, Filipino Federation of Labor, to protest poor agricultural working conditions.

1913

• California passes the Alien Land Law, which prevents non-citizens from buying or leasing land in most states.

1920

• In Hawaii, the Filipino Federation of Labor leads Filipinos and Japanese workers  on strike for six months. Since strikers comprised 77 percent of the entire plantation work force, plantations were immediately and deeply impacted with a production loss of $12 million. The Filipinos and Japanese were joined by Chinese and Portuguese workers, thus marking the first example of a unified interethnic labor effort.
• To circumvent the California Alien Land Act of 1913, non-citizen Asian immigrants owned land by putting the property in the names of their American-born children. The act is later amended to prohibit this procedure as well as the leasing of land to undocumented immigrants.  

1921

• Philippine Independent News, the first Filipino newspaper in continental United States is published in Salinas, California.

1930

• Caucasian Americans grow increasingly angry and jealous as Filipino farm workers displace them in the fields and dance with “their” white women at taxi dance halls.  This racial tension results in numerous race riots throughout California cities such as Stockton, San Francisco, San Jose, and Monterey. One of the most violent race riots occurs in 1930 in the city of Watsonville. A few days after a mob of 500 Americans raid a taxi dance hall, one Filipino is killed and dozens injured.

1933

• Cannery Workers’ and Farm Laborer’ Union form in Seattle.
• Salvador Roldan challenges the anti-miscegenation law in California on the basis that Filipinos are of the “Malay” race, because the law had originally banned marriage between Whites and “Mongolians, Negroes, Mulattos and persons of mixed blood. Roldan wins permission to marry his white fiancé. Unfortunately, two months later the Senate amends the anti-miscegenation statute to include the “Malay” race, and all previous marriages between Filipinos and Whites are declared void.

1934

• The Tydings-McDuffie Act declares the Philippines a commonwealth, guarantees independence in ten years, declares all Philippine-born Filipinos “aliens,” and restricts their immigration to 50 Filipinos a year, thus separating many families.
• The Farm Workers of America is established in California and will eventually merge with the United Farm Workers. Together with Mexican farm workers, Filipinos are active members in the California Labor Movement. Filipino lettuce pickers in Salinas Valley, California, go on strike.

1935

• Exclusionist ideals lead to The Repatriation Act, proposed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Roger Jessup. The act offers Filipinos an all-expense paid trip back to Philippines, as long as they did not return to the U.S. 

1941-1959

• The Second Wave of Filipino immigrants consists of the war brides and fiancés of WWII military personnel, nurses, students, tourists, WWII war veterans, and U.S. Navy men.

1941

• The U.S. enters WWII as it declares war against Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt later issues an Executive Order that awards Filipinos full veteran’s benefits if they enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces. Almost 9,000 enlist to become the First and Second Filipino Infantry Regiments.

1945

• Filipino wives of U.S. military men are allowed to immigrate with the passing of The War Brides Act.

1946

• President Harry S. Truman signs the Filipino Naturalization Acts allowing Filipinos to become citizens. The Philippines gains full independence.
• Even after approximately 250,000 Filipinos enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces, then fight and give their lives during WWII, Congress proceeds to pass the Rescission Act of 1946, which President Truman then signs into law. Filipino soldiers are then denied the same rights given to other WWII veterans- a problem that still exists today despite continued lobbying efforts for reform and recognition of these men’s contributions.   

1948

• Anti-miscegenation laws are finally repealed by the Supreme Court of California.

1952

• The California Supreme Court  declares the Alien Land Law of 1913 unconstitutional in Fujii Sei v. State of California.

1960s

• Larry Itliong forms the Agricultural Workers Organization Company (AWOC) which later heads the strike against grape growers in 1965, and is eventually joined by the National Farm Workers Organization (NFWO) headed by Cesar Chavez.

1965

• U.S. Congress passes the Immigration and Nationality Act, which abolishes “national origins” as basis for immigration and allows more immigration from Asia. The preference system facilitates the Third Wave of Filipino immigration, which consists primarily of professionals in the medical field who are needed to fill U.S. labor shortages. The act also allows the immigration of relatives of previous immigrants who were now U.S. citizens.

1973

• The fourth wave of Filipino immigration consists of political exiles and refugees (from the Marcos Era), intellectuals, tourists, students, student activists, professionals, semi-professionals and families.

1977

• Despite a decade of grassroots activism led by Filipino Americans, the last 45 residents of the I-Hotel, located in the historic Manilatown of San Francisco, are evicted. Up until this point, the I-Hotel housed elderly Filipino bachelors of the Manong generation.

1990

• Congress passes the Immigration Act of 1990, which grants U.S. citizenship and limited veteran benefits to certain Filipino veterans who fought for the U.S. during WWII.

2005

On January 25, Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-CA.) and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) introduces HR302 and S146 respectively, also referred to as the “Filipino Veterans Equity Acts of 2005.” If passed, the bill would finally give full U.S. benefits to Filipino veterans who live in the U.S. and the Philippines, with an expected cost of $100 million to $150 million every year over a 10 year period. It is currently waiting to be reviewed by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.