Philippine Organic Act (1902)

The Philippine Organic Act (c. 1369, 32 Stat. 691) was a basic law for the Insular Government that was enacted by the United States Congress on July 1, 1902. It is also known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and the Cooper Act, after its author Henry A. Cooper. The approval of the act coincided with the official end of the Philippine–American War.

The Philippine Organic Act provided for the creation of an elected Philippine Assembly after the following conditions were met:

After the convening of the Assembly, legislative power shall then be vested in a bicameral legislature composed of the Philippine Commission as the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house. Supervision of the islands was assigned to the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs.

Other key provisions included:

This act was superseded by the Philippine Autonomy Act, or the Jones Law, enacted on August 29, 1916.

The act was preceded by the Spooner Amendment to the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 (31 Stat. 910, enacted 2 March 1901) which had provided that:

... all military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern the Philippine Islands ... shall until otherwise provided by Congress be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the President of the United States shall direct, for the establishment of civil government, and for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of said Islands in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.

This was complemented by a cable from the Secretary of War Elihu Root to the Philippine Commission on 5 March 1901:

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