Commonwealth of the Philippines

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The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish: Mancomunidad de Filipinas; Tagalog: Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was an unincorporated territory and commonwealth (dependency) of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the Tydings–McDuffie Act to replace the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands and was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for full Philippine independence. Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States. During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong executive and a supreme court. Its legislature, dominated from the Nacionalista Party, was initially unicameral but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected Tagalog – the language of the capital Manila and its surrounding provinces – as the basis of the national language, although it would be many years before its usage became general. Women's suffrage was adopted, and the economy recovered to pre-Depression levels before...

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