The
Philippine–American War, sometimes known as the
Philippine War of Independence was an armed military conflict between the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which arose from the struggle of the
insurgentInsurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:*The act of InsurgencySpecific insurgencies*Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq*Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India*Insurgency in North-East India*Iraq War insurgent attacks...
First Philippine RepublicThe Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent government in the Philippines...
against
United States annexationUnited States overseas expansion follows the expansion of U.S. frontiers on the North American continent , in particular during the "Age of Imperialism", the later part of the nineteenth century and ending with WWI, when all the major powers rapidly expanded their overseas territories.-...
of the islands. The war was a continuation of the
Philippine struggle for independenceThe Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite el Viejo , Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the...
, following the
Philippine RevolutionThe Philippine Revolution was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire....
, led by
Emilio AguinaldoEmilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role in Philippine independence during the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War that resisted American occupation...
and the
Spanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba. The war began after American demands for the resolution of the Cuban fight for independence were rejected by Spain...
.
The struggle officially began on June 2, 1899, when the Philippines declared war against the United States and it officially ended on July 4, 1902, after Aguinaldo's surrender. However, remnants of the
KatipunanThe Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, which aimed primarily to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...
and other resistance groups, such as the Muslims and Pulajanes continued hostilities until June 15, 1913 (Battle of Bud Bagsak).
The war led to the establishment of the Anti-Imperialist League by
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
, who staunchly opposed the war, as well as to writing of
The White Man's Burden"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands...
by
Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling was a British author and poet. Born in Bombay, British India, he is best known for his works of fiction The Jungle Book , Kim , many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King ; and his poems, including...
which is a poem about
colonialismColonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole...
. In its aftermath, the war would change the cultural landscape of the islands with the introduction of the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
, the disestablishment of the Catholic Church, and the impact of an estimated 200,000-1,500,000 casualties.
Philippine Revolution
On July 7, 1892
Andrés BonifacioAndrés Bonifacio y de Castro was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and leader of the Katipunan movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine Revolution. He is considered a de facto national hero of the...
, a
warehousemanA warehouseman can be someone who works in a warehouse, usually delivering goods for sale or storage, or, in older usage, someone who owns a warehouse and sells goods directly from it or from a shop fronting onto the warehouse .An Italian warehouseman was someone who stocked goods from Italy such...
and clerk from
ManilaThe City of Manila , or simply Manila or Maynila, is the capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila. It is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, on the western portion of the National Capital Region, in the western side of Luzon...
, established the
KatipunanThe Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, which aimed primarily to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...
, a revolutionary organization which aimed to gain independence from Spanish colonial rule by armed revolt. The
Katipunan spread throughout the provinces, and the
Philippine RevolutionThe Philippine Revolution was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire....
of 1896 was led by its members, called
Katipuneros. Fighters in
CaviteCavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
province won early victories. One of the most influential and popular Cavite leaders was
Emilio AguinaldoEmilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role in Philippine independence during the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War that resisted American occupation...
, mayor of
Cavite El ViejoThe Municipality of Kawit is a first class urban municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines...
(modern-day
KawitThe Municipality of Kawit is a first class urban municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines...
), who gained control of much of eastern Cavite. Eventually Aguinaldo and his faction gained control of the leadership of the movement. In 1897, Aguinaldo was elected president of an insurgent government while the “outmaneuvered” Bonifacio was executed for treason. Aguinaldo is officially considered the first
president of the PhilippinesThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
.
Aguinaldo's exile and return
By December 1897 the struggle had come to a stalemate. In August 1897 armistice negotiations were opened between Aguinaldo and the current Spanish governor-general,
Fernando Primo de RiveraFernando Primo de Rivera was a Spanish politician, and soldier.He served in several wars, including the 1848 and 1866 Madrid insurrections and the second Carlista War. When forces under his command in the second Carlist War captured Estella, he was named Marquess of Estella. He was the Spanish...
. By mid-December an agreement was reached in which the governor would pay Aguinaldo a sum described in the agreement as "$800,000 (Mexican)" in three installments if Aguinaldo would go into exile. Aguinaldo then established himself in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
. Before leaving, Aguinaldo denounced the Revolution, exhorted Filipino combatants to disarm and declared those who continued hostilities to be bandits. However, some Filipino revolutionaries did continue armed struggle against the Spanish colonial government.
Aguinaldo wrote retrospectively in 1899 that he had met with U.S.
Consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
s E. Spencer Pratt and Rounceville Wildman in Singapore between April 22 and 25, and that they persuaded him to again take up the mantle of leadership in the revolution, with Pratt communicating with Admiral
George DeweyGeorge Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. Many historians called him the "hero of Manila." He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
(the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron commander) by telegram, passing assurances from Dewey to Aguinaldo that the United States would at least recognize the independence of the Philippines under the protection of the United States Navy, and adding that there was no necessity for entering into a formal written agreement because the word of the Admiral and of the United States Consul were in fact equivalent to the most solemn pledge that their verbal promises and assurance would be fulfilled to the letter and were not to be classed with Spanish promises or Spanish ideas of a man’s word of honour. Aguinaldo reports agreeing to return to the Philippines, traveling from Singapore to Hong Kong aboard the steamship
Malacca, onwards from Hong Kong on American dispatch-boat
McCulloch, and arriving in Cavite on May 19. The New York Times wrote on August 6, 1899 that Pratt had obtained a court order enjoining the publication of certain statements "... which might be regarded as showing a positive connection" between himself and Aguinaldo. The Times reports the court ruling to uphold Mr. Pratt's position that he had "no dealings of a political character" with Aguinaldo and the book publisher withdrew from publication statements to the contrary.
In Cavite, Aguinaldo reports meeting with Admiral Dewey, and recalls: "I asked whether it was true that he had sent all the telegrams to the Consul at Singapore, Mr. Pratt, which that gentleman had told me he received in regard to myself. The Admiral replied in the affirmative, adding that the United States had come to the Philippines to protect the natives and free them from the yoke of Spain. He said, moreover, that America is exceedingly well off as regards territory, revenue, and resources and therefore needs no colonies, assuring me finally that there was no occasion for me to entertain any doubts whatever about the recognition of the Independence of the Philippines by the United States." By late May Dewey had been ordered by the U.S. Department of the Navy to distance himself from Aguinaldo lest he make untoward commitments to the Philippine forces.
In a matter of months after Aguinaldo's return, the Philippine Army conquered nearly all of Spanish-held ground within the Philippines. With the exception of Manila, which was completely surrounded by the Philippine Army of 12,000, the Filipinos now controlled the Philippines. Aguinaldo also turned over 15,000 Spanish prisoners to the Americans, offering them valuable intelligence. On June 12 Aguinaldo declared
independenceThe Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite el Viejo , Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the...
at his house in Cavite El Viejo.
On August 13, with American commanders unaware that a peace protocol had been signed between Spain and the United States on the previous day, American forces captured the city of Manila from the Spanish. Governor-General Fermin Jaudenes had made a secret agreement with Dewey and General
Wesley MerrittWesley Merritt was a general in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. He is noted for distinguished service in the cavalry.-Early life:...
. Jaudenes specifically requested to surrender only to the Americans, not to the Filipino rebels. In order to save face, he proposed a mock battle with the Americans preceding the Spanish surrender; the Filipinos would not be allowed to enter the city. Dewey and Merritt agreed to this, and no one else in either camp knew about the agreement. On the eve of the mock battle, General
Thomas M. AndersonThomas McArthur Anderson was a career officer in the United States Army who served as a general in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War.-Early Life and Civil War:...
telegraphed Aguinaldo, “Do not let your troops enter Manila without the permission of the American commander. On this side of the Pasig River you will be under fire”.
At the beginning of the war between Spain and America, Americans and Filipinos had been allies against Spain in all but name; now Spanish and Americans were in a partnership that excluded the Filipino insurgents. Fighting between American and Filipino troops almost broke out as the former moved in to dislodge the latter from strategic positions around Manila on the eve of the attack. Aguinaldo had been told bluntly by the Americans that his army could not participate and would be fired upon if it crossed into the city. The insurgents were infuriated at being denied triumphant entry into their own capital, but Aguinaldo bided his time. Relations continued to deteriorate, however, as it became clear to Filipinos that the Americans were in the islands to stay.
The June 12 declaration of Philippine independence had not been recognized by either the United States or Spain, and the Spanish government ceded the Philippines to the United States in the
1898 Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, and ended the Spanish-American War.-Background:Article V of a peace protocol entered into between United States and Spain on August 12, 1898 read as follows:...
, which was signed on December 10, 1898, in consideration for an indemnity for Spanish expenses and assets lost.
On January 1, 1899 Aguinaldo was declared
President of the PhilippinesThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
— the only president of what would be later called the
First Philippine RepublicThe Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent government in the Philippines...
. He later organized a Congress at Malolos,
BulacanBulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super...
to draft a
constitutionThe Constitution of the Philippines is the supreme law of the Philippines.The Constitution currently in effect was enacted in 1987, during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, and is popularly known as the "1987 Constitution"...
.
Admiral Dewey later argued that he had promised nothing regarding the future:
Conflict origins
June 12, 1898, when Filipino revolutionary forces under Aguinaldo (later to become the President of the
insurgentInsurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:*The act of InsurgencySpecific insurgencies*Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq*Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India*Insurgency in North-East India*Iraq War insurgent attacks...
First Philippine RepublicThe Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent government in the Philippines...
) proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain after the latter was defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the
Spanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba. The war began after American demands for the resolution of the Cuban fight for independence were rejected by Spain...
.
The declaration, however, was not recognized by the United States or Spain, as the Spanish government ceded the Philippines to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, in consideration for an indemnity for Spanish expenses and assets lost.
Tensions between the Philippine and the American governments existed because of the conflicting movements for independence and colonization, aggravated by the feelings of betrayal on the part of Aguinaldo. The
Malolos CongressThe Malolos Congress was the constituent assembly of the First Philippine Republic. It drafted the Malolos Constitution.-Political Constitution:...
declared war on the United States on June 2, 1899, with
Pedro PaternoPedro Alejandro Paterno was a Filipino statesman as well as a poet and novelist.His intervention on behalf of the Spanish led to the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato on December 14, 1897, an account of which he published in 1910...
, President of Congress, issuing a Proclamation of War. The Philippine-American war ensued between 1899 and 1902.
First Philippine Commission
On January 20, 1899
President McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
appointed the First Philippine Commission (the
Schurman CommissionThe Schurman Commission also known as the First Philippine Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the Philippine-American War...
), to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations. In the report that they issued to the president the following year, the commissioners acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however, that the Philippines was not ready for it. Specific recommendations included the establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including establishment of a
bicameral legislatureIn government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses. Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the classical notion of mixed...
, autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools.
On November 2, 1900 Dr. Schurman signed the following statement:
"Should our power by any fatality be withdrawn, the commission
believe that the government of the Philippines would speedily lapse
into anarchy, which would excuse, if it did not necessitate, the
intervention of other powers and the eventual division of the islands
among them. Only through American occupation, therefore, is the idea
of a free, self-governing, and united Philippine commonwealth at
all conceivable. And the indispensable need from the Filipino point
of view of maintaining American sovereignty over the archipelago is
recognized by all intelligent Filipinos and even by those insurgents
who desire an American protectorate. The latter, it is true, would
take the revenues and leave us the responsibilities. Nevertheless,
they recognize the indubitable fact that the Filipinos cannot stand
alone. Thus the welfare of the Filipinos coincides with the dictates
of national honour in forbidding our abandonment of the archipelago. We
cannot from any point of view escape the responsibilities of government
which our sovereignty entails; and the commission is strongly persuaded
that the performance of our national duty will prove the greatest
blessing to the peoples of the Philippine Islands."
[...]
First shots
The conflict began on the night of February 4, 1899 when a Filipino soldier was shot by an American soldier, Pvt. William W. Grayson (an English immigrant who acquired U.S. citizenship in 1900). San Juan Bridge in modern San Juan City,
Metro ManilaMetropolitan Manila or the National Capital Region is the administrative region encompassing the city of Manila, the national capital of the Philippines. As of the 2007 Census, the population is 11,553,427...
was considered the site of the event until 2003, when the Philippine National Historical Institute found that it actually happened in Sociego and Silencio Streets in
Santa Mesa, ManilaSanta Mesa, Manila is a district in the city of Manila, a component of Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the Philippines.The name is derived from the "Santa Mesa de la Misericordia", the owner of the land during the Spanish colonial period, which was an "obra pía", meaning "pious work",...
(moving a marker). Immediately before the shooting, Grayson and others witnessed a series of outpost signals. Grayson's own account subsequently states:
"In a moment, something rose up slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. I yelled “Halt!” and made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. I challenged him with another loud “halt!” Then he shouted “halto!” to me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. Then two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about fifteen feet from us. I called "Halt" and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time. We retreated to where our six other fellows were and I said "Line up fellows, the niggers are in here all through these yards." We then retreated to the pipe line and got behind the water work main and stayed there all night. It was some minutes after our second shots before Filipinos began firing.
An eyewitness account from an American sergeant states that the shot Filipino was a "particularly abusive" officer who would curse at the sentries, regularly accompanied by a drunken mob. (This account conflicts with Grayson's version in some ways; it also claims "fire immediately erupted all along the [American] line" and "a large group of Filipinos, screaming at the top of their lungs" rushed the bridge and were checked by volley fire, details absent from Grayson's account). Some posit that the shot Filipino was himself probably drunk. One account says there were four Filipinos, drunk and unarmed, who mocked Grayson's challenge.
For more details see Battle of Manila (1899)The Battle of Manila was fought on February 4 and February 5 1899 between 12,000 Americans and 15,000 Filipinos, and was the first and largest battle fought during the Philippine-American War.-Background:...
.
Fighting soon erupted in
ManilaThe Battle of Manila was fought on February 4 and February 5 1899 between 12,000 Americans and 15,000 Filipinos, and was the first and largest battle fought during the Philippine-American War.-Background:...
. On February 5 General Arthur MacArthur ordered his troops to advance without investigating the incident.
Aguinaldo was in Malolos when the conflict started. That same night, a Filipino captain wired Malolos, stating the Americans had started the hostilities. The next day (February 5) Aguinaldo sent an emissary to General Elwell Otis to sue for peace, saying "the firing on our side the night before had been against my order." Otis replied: "Fighting having begun, must go on to the grim end." Aguinaldo then sent a telegram to all "local chiefs" informing them of the hostilities.
According to Murat Halstead, official historian of the U.S. Philippine Expedition, Aguinaldo issued the following proclamation:
This proclamation may be the aforementioned telegram, but Halstead dates it to February 4.
Aguinaldo also ordered an investigation of the events. It was learned that 200-300 American troops were shipped to Cavite on the morning of February 4, but were sent back to Manila without disembarking; also, on February 2 and 3, Filipino employees on American ships were dismissed from service for no apparent reason. Considering the American attack was sudden, these events led to Filipino suspicions that the Americans had planned to force them into war. In contrast, American authorities made no investigations and instead declared all-out war. Filipino historians Agoncillo and
Renato ConstantinoRenato Constantino was an influential Filipino historian. He was a known leftist historian of the Philippines. He is the father-in-law of political commentator Randy David. He is one of the Charter Members of the .-Works:...
both say American aggression sparked the war.
The
Malolos CongressThe Malolos Congress was the constituent assembly of the First Philippine Republic. It drafted the Malolos Constitution.-Political Constitution:...
only declared war on the United States on June 2, 1899, with
Pedro PaternoPedro Alejandro Paterno was a Filipino statesman as well as a poet and novelist.His intervention on behalf of the Spanish led to the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato on December 14, 1897, an account of which he published in 1910...
, President of Congress, issuing a Proclamation of War. Prior to this proclamation, several battles had already occurred.
U.S. PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
later told reporters “that the
insurgents had attacked
ManilaThe City of Manila , or simply Manila or Maynila, is the capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila. It is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, on the western portion of the National Capital Region, in the western side of Luzon...
” in justifying war on the Philippines. The McKinley administration declared Aguinaldo to be an “outlaw bandit”, and no formal
declaration of warA declaration of war is a formal performative speech act or signing of a document by an authorized party of a government in order to initiate a state of war between two or more nations. The legality of who can declare war varies between nations and forms of government. In many nations power is...
was ever issued.
Second Philippine Commission
The Second Philippine Commission (the
Taft CommissionThe Taft Commission, also known as Second Philippine Commission, was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16, 1900. The Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the...
), appointed by McKinley on March 16, 1900, and headed by
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States....
, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers. Between September 1900 and August 1902 it issued 499 laws. A
judicial systemThe judiciary is the system of courts which interprets and applies the law in the name of the sovereign or state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
was established, including a
Supreme CourtA supreme court is in some jurisdictions the highest judicial body within that jurisdiction's court system, whose rulings are not subject to further review by another court. The designations for such courts differ among jurisdictions...
, and a
legal codeA legal code is a body of law written by a governmental body, such as a U.S. state, a Canadian Province or German Bundesland or a municipality...
was drawn up to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances. A
civil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
was organized. The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected
presidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
s,
vice presidentA vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
s, and councilors to serve on
municipalA township is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government. Specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country.-Uses of the term:...
boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected
provincialA province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Roman provinces:The word is attested in English since c.1330, deriving from Old French province , which comes from the Latin word provincia, which referred to the sphere of activity which a...
governorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
s.
American escalation
U.S. troop strength averaged 40,000 and peaked at 74,000. Typically only 60 percent of American troops were combat troops, with a field strength ranging
from 24,000 to 44,000. A total of 126,468 US soldiers served there. After the official end to the war, U.S. forces were regularly engaged against Filipino guerrilla forces for another decade. Also, Macabebe Filipinos were recruited by the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
. Twenty-six of the 30 American generals who served in the Philippines from 1898 to 1902 had fought in the
Indian WarsIndian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the native people of North America....
.
By the end of February 1899 the Americans had prevailed in the struggle for Manila, and the Philippine Army was forced to retreat north. Hard-fought American victories followed at
QuinguaThe Battle of Quingua was fought on April 23, 1899, in Quingua — now Plaridel, Bulacan, Philippines, during the Philippine-American War. The engagement was a two-part battle. The first phase was a brief victory for the young Filipino general Gregorio del Pilar over the American Cavalry led by...
(April),
Zapote BridgeThe Battle of Zapote River, also known as the Battle of Zapote Bridge, was fought on June 13, 1899 between 3,000 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos. It was the second largest battle of the Philippine-American War. Zapote River separates what is now the city of Las Piñas in Metro Manila from Bacoor in...
(June), and
Tirad PassThe Battle of Tirad Pass, sometimes referred to as the "Philippine Thermopylae", was a battle in the Philippine-American War fought on December 2, 1899, in northern Luzon in the Philippines, in which a 60-man Filipino rearguard commanded by Brigadier General Gregorio del Pilar succumbed to 500...
(December). With the June
assassinationAn Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....
of General
Antonio LunaAntonio Luna y Novicio was a Filipino pharmacist and general who fought in the Philippine-American War. He founded the Philippines's first military academy.- Family background :...
by rivals in the Philippine leadership, conventional military leadership was weakened. Brigadier General
Gregorio del PilarGregorio del Pilar y Sempio was one of the youngest generals in the Philippine Revolutionary Forces during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. He was called the "Boy General" because of his youth.-Early life and education:Born on November 14, 1875 to Fernando H...
fought a delaying action at Tirad Pass to allow Aguinaldo to escape, at the cost of his life. After this battle and the loss of two of their best generals, the Filipinos' ability to fight a conventional war rapidly diminished.
Philippine war strategy
Estimates of the Filipino forces vary between 80,000 and 100,000, with tens of thousands of auxiliaries. Lack of weapons and ammunition was a significant impediment to the Filipinos.
The goal, or end-state, sought by the First Philippine Republic was a sovereign, independent, socially stable Philippines led by the
ilustrado (
intellectualAn intellectual is a person who uses his or her intelligence and analytical thinking, either in a professional or a personal capacity.-Terminology and endeavours:...
)
oligarchyAn Oligarchy is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military, or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" and "rule"...
. Local chieftains, landowners, and businessmen were the
principalesThe Principalía or noble class was the social and educated class in the towns of colonial Philippines composed of the Gobernadorcillo , or the Cabeza de Barangay who governed the districts, and the awardees of the medal of Civil Merit...
who controlled local politics. The war was strongest when
illustrados,
principales, and peasants were unified in opposition to
annexationAnnexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities...
. The peasants, who provided the bulk of guerrilla manpower, had interests different from their
illustrado leaders and the
principales of their villages. Coupled with the ethnic and geographic fragmentation, unity was a daunting task. The challenge for Aguinaldo and his generals was to sustain unified Filipino public opposition; this was the revolutionaries' strategic
center of gravityThe center of gravity is a concept developed by Carl Von Clausewitz, a Prussian military theorist, in his work On War.-United States Department of Defense:...
.
The Filipino operational center of gravity was the ability to sustain its force of 100,000 irregulars in the field. The Filipino general Francisco Makabulos described the Filipinos' war aim as, “not to vanquish the U.S. Army but to inflict on them constant losses.” They sought to initially use conventional tactics and an increasing toll of U.S. casualties to contribute to McKinley's defeat in the 1900 presidential election. Their hope was that as President the avowedly anti-
imperialistImperialism, as defined by the dictionary of human geography, is “the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination.” Imperialism, in many ways, is described...
William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan was the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in 1896, 1900 and 1908, a lawyer, and the 41st United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. One of the most popular speakers in American history, he was noted for a deep, commanding voice...
would withdraw from the Philippines. They pursued this short-term goal with
guerrilla tacticsGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
better suited to a protracted struggle. While targeting McKinley motivated the revolutionaries in the short term, his victory demoralized them and convinced many undecided Filipinos that the United States would not depart precipitately.
Guerrilla war phase
In 1900 Aguinaldo shifted from conventional to guerrilla warfare, a means of operation which better suited their disadvantaged situation and made American occupation of the Philippine
archipelagoAn archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago is directly derived from the Greek arkhon and pelagos...
all the more difficult over the next few years. In fact, during just the first four months of the guerrilla war, the Americans had nearly 500 casualties. The Philippine Army began staging bloody ambushes and raids, such as the guerrilla victories at
PayeThe Battle of Paye was a battle during the Philippine-American War between the United States and the Philippines. It was fought on December 19, 1899, near San Mateo in Morong between the forces of General Henry Ware Lawton, and 200 Filipino riflemen under General Licerio Gerónimo...
,
CatubigThe Siege of Catubig was a long and bloody engagement fought during the Philippine-American War, in which Filipino guerrillas launched a surprise attack against a detachment of U.S. infantry, and then forced them to abandon the town after a four-day siege. It began on April 15, 1900, and lasted...
,
MakahambusThe Battle of Makahambus Hill was one of the few victories won by the Filipinos over the Americans during the Philippine-American War. It was fought on June 4, 1900 in Cagayan de Misamis . The Filipinos were under the command of Colonel Apolinar Velez of the Maguindanao Battalion...
,
Pulang LupaThe Battle of Pulang Lupa was an engagement fought on September 13, 1900, during the Philippine-American War between the forces of Colonel Maximo Abad and Devereux Shields, in which Abad's men annihilated the American force....
,
BalangigaThe Balangiga massacre, as it is known in the Philippines, or the Balangiga affair, as it is known in the United States, was an incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War where more than forty American soldiers were killed in a surprise guerrilla attack in the town of Balangiga on Samar...
and
MabitacThe Battle of Mabitac was an engagement in the Philippine-American War, when on September 17, 1900, Filipinos under General Juan Cailles defeated an American force commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham, Jr....
. At first, it even seemed as if the Filipinos would fight the Americans to a stalemate and force them to withdraw. This was even considered by President McKinley at the beginning of the phase.
The shift to guerrilla warfare, however, only angered the Americans into acting more ruthlessly than before. They began taking no prisoners, burning whole villages, and routinely shooting surrendering Filipino soldiers. Civilians were forced into concentration camps, after being suspected of being guerrilla sympathizers. Thousands of civilians died in these camps. The camps and slaughter of civilians was excused by the fact that the media told the American population that the savages were little children needing America's help and cleansing. The guerilla warfare helped this case by giving a moral right to what the American's were doing since the "savages" were cowardly uncivilized enemies.
The subsequent American oppression of the population tremendously reduced the materials, men, and morale of many Filipino soldiers, compelling them in one way or another to surrender. The start of guerrilla warfare fuelled pro war journalists with more material to spin. The journalists basically criticized the Filipinos for their style of waging war.
Decline and fall of the First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Army continued suffering defeats from the better armed American Army during the conventional warfare phase, forcing Aguinaldo to continuously change his base of operations, which he did for nearly the length of the entire war.
On March 23, 1901 General
Frederick FunstonFrederick N. Funston also known as Fred Funston, was a General in the United States Army, best known for his role in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War...
and his troops captured Aguinaldo in
Palanan, IsabelaPalanan is a remote 2nd class municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 16,254 people in 2,837 households....
, with the help of some Filipinos (called the
Macabebe ScoutsMacabebe is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 70,332 people in 12,141 households.-Barangays:Macabebe is politically subdivided into 25 barangays.- History :...
after their home locale) who had joined the Americans' side. The Americans pretended to be captives of the Macabebes, who were dressed in Philippine Army uniforms. Once Funston and his “captors” entered Aguinaldo's camp, they immediately fell upon the guards and quickly overwhelmed them and the weary Aguinaldo.
On April 1, 1901, at the
Malacañang PalaceMalacañang Palace, or officially, Malacañan Palace, is the official residence of the President of the Philippines. The palace is located along the north bank of the Pasig River in Manila...
in Manila, Aguinaldo swore an oath accepting the authority of the United States over the Philippines and pledging his allegiance to the American government. After three weeks he would tell all of his followers to lay down their weapons and give up the fight. “Let the stream of blood cease to flow; let there be an end to tears and desolation,” Aguinaldo said. “The lesson which the war holds out and the significance of which I realized only recently, leads me to the firm conviction that the complete termination of hostilities and a lasting peace are not only desirable but also absolutely essential for the well-being of the Philippines.”
The capture of Aguinaldo dealt a severe blow to the Filipino cause, but not as much as the Americans had hoped. General
Miguel MalvarMiguel Malvar y Carpio was a Filipino commander who served during the Philippine Revolution and subsequently during the Philippine–American War...
took over the leadership of the Filipino government, or what remained of it. He originally had taken a defensive stance against the Americans, but now launched all-out offensive against the American-held towns in the
BatangasBatangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. The province has many beaches and famous for excellent diving spots only a few hours away from Manila...
region. General Vincente Lukban in Samar, and other army officers, continued the war in their respective areas.
In response General
J. Franklin BellJames Franklin Bell was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1906 to 1910.Bell was a major-general in the Regular United States Army, commanding the Department of the East, with headquarters at Governors Island, New York at the time of his death in 1919...
adopted tactics to counter Malvar's guerrilla strategy. Forcing civilians to live in hamlets, interrogating suspected guerrillas (and regular civilians alike), and his
scorched earthA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
campaigns took a heavy toll on the Filipino revolutionaries.
Bell also relentlessly pursued Malvar and his men, breaking ranks, dropping morale, and forcing the surrender of many of the Filipino soldiers. Finally, Malvar surrendered, along with his sick wife and children and some of his officers, on April 13, 1902. By the end of the month nearly 3,000 of Malvar's men had also surrendered. With the surrender of Malvar, the Filipino war effort began to dwindle even further.
Official end to the war
The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 approved, ratified, and confirmed McKinley's Executive Order establishing the Philippine Commission and stipulated that a legislature would be established composed of a lower house, the Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos.
On July 2 the Secretary of War telegraphed that the insurrection against the sovereign authority of the U.S. having come to an end, and provincial civil governments having been established, the office of Military governor was terminated. On July 4
Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic persona, his range of interests and achievements, his model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Bull Moose Party...
, who had succeeded to the U.S. Presidency after
the assassination of President McKinleyThe William McKinley assassination occurred on September 6, 1901, at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. United States President William McKinley, attending the Pan-American Exposition, was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist....
on September 5, 1901, proclaimed a full and complete pardon and amnesty to all people in the Philippine archipelago who had participated in the conflict.
Irreconcilables
The war unofficially continued for nearly a decade as Constantino have suggested, since groups collectively know as
Irreconcilables remained active. These included remnants of the
KatipunanThe Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, which aimed primarily to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...
, and other resistance groups continued to their struggle by fighting the United States Military or
Philippine ConstabularyThe Philippine Constabulary ' was the oldest of the four service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It was a gendarmerie type para-military police force of the Philippines established in 1901 by the United States-appointed administrative authority...
. After the close of the war, however, Governor-General Taft preferred to rely on the Philippine Constabulary in a law-enforcement role rather than on the American army. He was, in fact, criticized for this.
Simeon Ola of
Guinobatan, AlbayGuinobatan is a 1st class municipality in the province of Albay, Philippines. It is the birthplace of Gen. Simeón Ola, the last Filipino general to surrender to the Americans after the Philippine-American War....
in the Bicol region has been suggested as the last Filipino general to surrender (on September 25, 1903) in place of Malvar.
In 1902 a veteran
Katipunan member and self-proclaimed
generalisimo named Macario Sakay attempted to form
his own RepublicTagalog Republic is a term used to refer to two revolutionary bodies involved in the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War. Both were connected to the Katipunan revolutionary movement.-Etymology:...
, called
Katagalugan after Bonifacio's, in southern
LuzonLuzon is the largest and most economically and politically important island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country, with Visayas and Mindanao being the other two...
. After years of resistance he was captured and executed in 1907 after accepting an amnesty offer.
Pulajanes
Quasi-religious armed groups included the
pulajanes (so called because of their red garments),
colorum (from a corruption of the Latin
in saecula saeculorum, part of the
Glory Be to the FatherGlory Be to the Father, also known as Gloria Patri, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. It is also referred to as the Minor Doxology or Lesser Doxology, to distinguish it from the Greater Doxology, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo.-The Greek original:The original...
prayer), and
Dios-Dios (literally "God-God") groups of assorted provinces. These groups were mostly composed of farmers and other poor people led by messianic leaders, and they subscribed to a blend of Roman Catholicism and folk beliefs. For example, they used
amuletAn amulet , a close cousin of the talisman consists of any object...
s (called
agimat or
anting-anting), believing they would become bulletproof. One of these leaders was Dionisio Seguela, better known as
Papa IsioDionisio Seguela or Dionisio Papa y Barlucia, more widely known as Papa Isio , was the leader of a group of babaylanes who were, as conjectured by Modesto P...
(
Pope Isio). The last of these groups were wiped out or had surrendered by 1913.
These resistance movements were all dismissed by the American government as banditry, fanaticism or cattle rustling.
Moro Rebellion
The American government had a peace treaty with the Sultanate of Sulu at the outbreak of the war with Aguinaldo that was supposed to prevent war in
Moro territoryBangsamoro is the name of the region governed by the Moro people. The term comes from the Malay word bangsa, meaning nation or people, and the Spanish word moro, from the older Spanish word for Moor, inherited from the Reconquista-period term for Arabs or Muslims in Al-Andalus. It may also refer to...
. However, after the resistance in the north was crippled, the United States began to colonize Moro land that provoked the
Moro RebellionThe Moro Rebellion was an armed military conflict between Muslim Filipino revolutionary groups and the United States which took place in the Philippines between 1899 to 1913, following the Spanish-American War of 1898. The word "Moro" was a term for Muslims who lived in the southern Philippines, an...
. Beginning with the
TaracaThe Battle of Taraca was fought in what is now Taraka, Lanao del Sur in the Philippines between the Moro people of Mindanao and the United States during the Philippine-American War. General Leonard Wood invited the Moro leader, Datu Ampuanagus to consult with him, but was met with refusal. The...
, which occurred on April 4, 1904, American forces battled Datu Ampuanagus, who surrendered after losing 200 members of his people. Numerous battles would occur after that up until the end of the conflict on June 15, 1913. During the conflict, the battles of
Bud DajoThe First Battle of Bud Dajo, also known as the Battle of Mt. Dajo, was a counter insurgency action fought by American soldiers against native Moros in March 1906, during the Moro Rebellion phase of the Philippine-American War...
and Bud Bagsak were among the most notable since casualties included women and children.
American opposition to the war
Some Americans, notably
William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan was the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in 1896, 1900 and 1908, a lawyer, and the 41st United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. One of the most popular speakers in American history, he was noted for a deep, commanding voice...
,
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
,
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur, and a major philanthropist....
, Ernest Crosby, and other members of the
American Anti-Imperialist LeagueThe American Anti-Imperialist League was established in the United States on June 15, 1898 to battle the American annexation of the Philippines, officially called insular areas. The Anti-Imperialist League opposed annexation on economic, legal, and moral grounds.-Origins:The original organization...
, strongly objected to the annexation of the Philippines. Other Americans mistakenly thought that the Philippines wanted to become part of the United States. Anti-imperialist movements claimed that the United States had betrayed its lofty goals of the Spanish–American War by becoming a
colonialColonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole...
power, merely replacing Spain in the Philippines. Other anti-imperialists opposed annexation on
racistRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
grounds. Among these was Senator
Benjamin TillmanBenjamin Ryan Tillman was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina, from 1890 to 1894, and as a United States Senator, from 1895 until his death in office. Combative, vitriolic, and openly racist, Tillman's views were a matter of national controversy.Tillman was a member of...
of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
, who feared that annexation of the Philippines would lead to an influx of non-white immigrants. As news of atrocities committed in subduing the Philippines arrived in the United States, support for the war flagged.
Mark Twain famously opposed the war by using his influence in the press. He felt it betrayed the ideals of American democracy by not allowing the Filipino people to choose their own destiny.
Some later historians, such as
Howard ZinnHoward Zinn is an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist, playwright, and Democratic Socialist intellectual, best known as author of the bestseller A People's History of the United States....
and Daniel Boone Schirmer, cite the Philippine–American War as an example of American imperialism.
Filipino collaboration with America
Some of Aguinaldo's associates supported America, even before hostilities began.
Pedro PaternoPedro Alejandro Paterno was a Filipino statesman as well as a poet and novelist.His intervention on behalf of the Spanish led to the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato on December 14, 1897, an account of which he published in 1910...
, Aguinaldo's prime minister and the author of the 1897 armistice treaty with Spain, advocated the incorporation of the Philippines into the United States in 1898. Other associates sympathetic to the U.S. were Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Benito Legarda, prominent members of Congress; Gregorio Araneta, Aguinaldo's Secretary of Justice; and Felipe Buencamino, Aguinaldo's Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Buencamino is recorded to have said in 1902: "I am an American and all the money in the Philippines, the air, the light, and the sun I consider American." Many such people subsequently held posts in the colonial government.
U.S. Army Captain
Matthew Arlington BatsonMatthew Arlington Batson was a United States Army Officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the Philippine-American War. 1st Lieutenant Batson was awarded the medal for swimming the San Juan River under enemy fire. He later obtained the rank of Captain. He was awarded his...
formed the Macabebe Scouts as a native guerrilla force to fight the insurgency. Later, these scouts became the
Philippine ScoutsThe Philippine Scouts was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 to World War II. Made up of native Filipinos assigned to the US Army's Philippine Department, these troops were generally enlisted and under the command of American officers, however, a handful of Filipinos...
and
Philippine ConstabularyThe Philippine Constabulary ' was the oldest of the four service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It was a gendarmerie type para-military police force of the Philippines established in 1901 by the United States-appointed administrative authority...
, which saw action against resistance groups.
Casualties
In the official war years, there were 4,196 American soldiers dead, 1,020 of which were from actual combat; the remainder died of disease, and 2,930 were wounded. There were also 2,000 casualties that the
Philippine ConstabularyThe Philippine Constabulary ' was the oldest of the four service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It was a gendarmerie type para-military police force of the Philippines established in 1901 by the United States-appointed administrative authority...
suffered during the war, over one thousand of which were fatalities. It should be noted that total Filipino casualties was at the time and still is a highly-debated, argued, and politicized number. It is estimated that some 34,000 Filipino soldiers lost their lives and as many as 200,000 civilians may have died directly or indirectly as a result of the war, most due to a major
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
epidemic that broke out near its end. Philippine military deaths are estimated at 20,000 with 16,000 actually counted, while civilian deaths numbered between 250,000 and 1,000,000 Filipinos. These numbers take into account those killed by war, malnutrition, and a
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
epidemic that raged during the war. The Philippine–American War Centennial Initiative gives an estimate of 510,000 civilian deaths, and 20,000 military deaths, excluding 100,000 deaths from the Moro Rebellion. The American military and Philippine Constabulary still suffered periodic losses combating small bands of Moro guerrillas in the far south until 1913.
The high Filipino casualty figures were a combination of the superior arms and even more superior numbers of the Americans, who were equipped with the most modern, up-to-date weapons in the world, including superb Krag-Jørgensen bolt-action rifles and
machine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rifle bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute...
s, and who were also well-led. Furthermore, U.S. warships stood ready to destroy Philippine positions when needed. In contrast, the Filipinos were armed with a motley collection of rifles such as
MauserMauser is a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to present. Their designs were built for the German armed forces, but have been exported and licensed to a number of countries since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as being a...
s and
RemingtonRemington may refer to the following people:*Eliphalet Remington , American firearms designer*Philo Remington , American firearms and typewriter manufacturer, son of Eliphalet Remington...
s, many which had been taken from dead enemy soldiers (including Spanish troops from the previous conflict) or smuggled into the country by their fellow Filipinos. Their
artilleryArtillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
was not much better, consisting mostly of worn-out artillery pieces captured from the Spanish. Although they did have a few
MaximThe Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British Inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884.-Functionality:...
and
GatlingThe Gatling gun was one of the most well known rapid-fire weapons to be used in the 1860s by the Union forces of the American Civil War, following the 1851 invention of the mitrailleuse by the Belgian Army....
machine guns, along with a few modern
KruppThe Krupp family, a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
artillery pieces, these were highly prized and taken to the rear for fear of capture before they could play any decisive role. Ammunition and rifles became more scarce as the war dragged on, and Filipinos were forced to manufacture their own, like the homemade
paltikPaltik is a Filipino term used to denote a "homemade gun". It originated late in the Philippine-American War when guns and ammunition had become scarce. The most common form of the weapon was a gas pipe attached to a rifle stock. Wire was usually wrapped around the barrel to keep the pipe from...
. Still most did not even have firearms. Many used
boloA bolo is a large cutting tool similar to the machete, used particularly in the jungles of Indonesia, the Philippines, and in the sugar fields of Cuba...
s,
spearA spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze...
s, and
lanceThe term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. The name is derived from lancea, Roman auxiliaries' javelin, although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin....
s in fighting, which also contributed to high casualty figures when such obsolete weapons were used against the Americans' superior arms. However, the Filipinos did have the advantage of knowing their own country and rough terrain well, in contrast to the Americans who were fighting on foreign terrain.
In recognition of United States military service during the Philippine–American War, the United States military created two service decorations which were known as the
Philippine Campaign MedalThe Philippine Campaign Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces which was created to denote service of U.S. military members in the Philippine-American War between the years of 1899 and 1913. Although a single service medal, the Philippine Campaign Medal was issued under...
and the
Philippine Congressional MedalThe Philippine Congressional Medal was a decoration of the United States Army which was established by the United States Congress on July 9, 1906. The decoration recognized those soldiers who had enlisted in the United States Army for the purpose of the Philippine-American War...
.
In 1916 the United States granted the Philippines self-government and promised eventual independence, which came in 1946.
American atrocities
In 1908 Manuel Arellano Remondo, in
General Geography of the Philippine Islands, wrote:
“The population decreased due to the wars, in the five-year period
from 1895 to 1900, since, at the start of the first insurrection, the population was estimated at 9,000,000, and at present (1908), the inhabitants of the Archipelago do not exceed 8,000,000 in number.”
U.S. attacks into the countryside often included scorched earth campaigns where entire villages were burned and destroyed, torture (
water cureWater cure is a form of water torture in which the victim is forced to drink large quantities of water in a short time, resulting in gastric distension, water intoxication, and possibly death....
) and the concentration of civilians into “protected zones” (
concentration camps). Many of the civilian casualties resulted from disease and famine.
In an article,
We Charge Genocide: A Brief History of US in the Philippines, appearing in the December, 2005 issue of
Political Affairs,
E. San Juan, Jr.E. San Juan, Jr. is a Filipino cultural critic and public intellectual. His works span a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines, from cultural studies, comparative literary scholarship, ethnic and racial studies, postcolonial theory, semiotics to philosophical inquiries in historical...
, director of the Philippines Cultural Studies Center, Connecticut, argued that during the Philippine–American War (1899-1902) and pacification campaign (1902-1913), the operations launched by the U.S. against the Filipinos, an integral part of its pacification program, which claimed the lives of over a million Filipinos, constituted genocide. This number takes into account the more than half million natives who died of Cholera during the conflict.
In November 1901, the Manila correspondent of the
Philadelphia Ledger reported:"The present war is no bloodless, opera bouffe engagement; our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, the idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a dog...."
American soldiers' letters and response
From almost the beginning of the war, soldiers wrote home describing the atrocities committed against Filipinos, soldiers and civilians alike. Increasingly, such personal letters, or portions of them, reached a national audience as anti-imperialist editors across the nation reproduced them.
Once these accounts became popular press fodder, the War Department became involved and demanded that General Otis investigate their authenticity. Each press clipping was forwarded to the original writer’s commanding officer, who would then convince or force the soldier to write a retraction of the original statements.
Private Charles Brenner of the
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
regiment resisted such pressure. He insisted that Colonel Funston had ordered that all prisoners be shot and that Major Metcalf and Captain Bishop enforced these orders. Otis was obliged to order the Northern Luzon sector commander,
General MacArthurLieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. , was a United States Army General. He became the military governor of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900 but his term ended a year later due to clashes with the civilian governor, future President William Howard Taft...
, to look into the charge. Brenner confronted MacArthur’s aide with a corroborating witness, Private Putman, who confessed to shooting two prisoners after Bishop or Metcalf ordered, “Kill them! Damn it, Kill them!” MacArthur sent his aide’s report on to Otis with no comment. Otis ordered Brenner court-martialed “for writing and conniving at the publication of an article which... contains willful falsehoods concerning himself and a false charge against Captain Bishop.” The judge advocate in Manila convinced Otis that such a trial could open a
Pandora’s boxIn Greek mythology, Pandora's box is the large jar carried by Pandora that unleashed many evils on mankind – ills, toils and sickness – and hope.- Etymology of "box" :...
because “facts would develop implicating many others.”
General Otis sent the Brenner case to Washington writing: “After mature deliberation, I doubt the wisdom of court-martial in this case, as it would give the insurgent authorities a knowledge of what was taking place and they would assert positively that our troops had practiced inhumanities, whether the charge should be proven or not, as they would use it as an excuse to defend their own barbarities; and it is not thought that his charge is very grievous under the circumstances then existing, as it was very early in the war, and the patience of our men was under great strain.”
Towards the end of 1899 General Otis attempted to repair his battered image. He began to work to win new friends among the journalists in Manila and bestowed favors on any journalist who gave him favorable press.
Concentration camps
As one historian wrote about
MarinduqueMarinduque is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region in Luzon. Its capital is Boac. Marinduque lies between Tayabas Bay to the north and Sibuyan Sea to the south...
, the first island with concentration camps:
- “The triple press of concentration (camps), devastation, and harassment led Abad (the Marinduque commander) ...to request a truce to negotiate surrender terms... The Army pacified Marinduque not by winning the allegiance of the people, but by imposing coercive measures to control their behavior and separate them from the insurgents in the field. Ultimately, military and security measures proved to be the (essential element) of Philippine pacification.”
Filipino atrocities
U.S. Army General Otis stated that insurgents tortured American prisoners in “fiendish fashion”, some of whom were buried alive, or worse, up to their necks in anthills to be slowly devoured. Others were castrated, had the removed parts stuffed into their mouths, and were then left to suffocate or bleed to death. It was also stated that some prisoners were deliberately infected with
leprosyLeprosy , or Hansen's disease , is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external symptom...
before being released to spread the disease among their comrades. Spanish priests were horribly mutilated before their congregations, and natives who refused to support Emilio Aguinaldo were slaughtered by the thousands. American newspaper headlines announced the “Murder and Rapine” by the “Fiendish Filipinos.”
General “Fighting Joe” WheelerJoseph Wheeler was an American military commander and politician. He has the rare distinction of serving as a general during war time for two opposing forces: first as a noted cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil War, and later as a general in the...
insisted that it was the Filipinos who had mutilated their own dead, murdered women and children, and burned down villages, solely to discredit American soldiers.
Other events dubbed atrocities included those attributed by the Americans to General
Vicente LukbanVicente R. Lukban , was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the infamous Balangiga massacre, in which more than forty...
, allegedly the Filipino commander who masterminded the
Balangiga massacreThe Balangiga massacre, as it is known in the Philippines, or the Balangiga affair, as it is known in the United States, was an incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War where more than forty American soldiers were killed in a surprise guerrilla attack in the town of Balangiga on Samar...
in
SamarSamar, formerly Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar island as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland. Catbalogan City and Calbayog City,...
province, a surprise attack that killed almost fifty American soldiers. Media reports stated that many of the bodies were mutilated. The attack itself triggered American reprisals in Samar, ordered by General
Jacob Hurd SmithGeneral Jacob Hurd Smith was a controversial United States Army officer best known for an incident in the Philippine-American War, when he served as a Colonel under General J. Franklin Bell in the province of Batangas. After the Balangiga Massacre, General Adna Chaffee promoted Smith to brigadier...
, who reportedly ordered his men to kill everyone over ten years old. To his credit, Major
Littleton WallerLittleton "Tony" Waller Tazewell Waller was a career officer in the United States Marine Corps, who served in the Spanish American War, the Caribbean and Asia. He was court martialled and acquitted for actions during the Philippine-American War where he led a ill-fated expedition across the island...
countermanded it to his own men. Nevertheless, some of his men "undoubtedly" carried out atrocities. Smith was court-martialed for this order and found guilty in 1902, which ended his career in the U.S. army. Waller was found guilty of killing eleven Filipino guides.
Sergeant Hallock testified in the Lodge Committee that natives were given the
water cureWater cure is a form of water torture in which the victim is forced to drink large quantities of water in a short time, resulting in gastric distension, water intoxication, and possibly death....
, “...in order to secure information of the murder of Private O'Herne of Company I, who had been not only killed, but roasted and otherwise tortured before death ensued.”
On the Filipino side, information regarding atrocities comes from the eyewitnesses and the participants themselves. In his
History of the Filipino People Teodoro AgoncilloTeodoro A. Agoncillo was one of the pre-eminent Filipino historians of the 20th century. He and his contemporary Renato Constantino were among the first Filipino historians who earned renown for promoting a distinctly nationalist point of view of Filipino history...
writes that the Filipino troops could match and even exceed the Americans' penchant for brutality regarding prisoners of war. Kicking, slapping, and spitting at faces were common. In some cases, ears and noses were cut off and salt applied to the wounds. In other cases, captives were buried alive. These atrocities occurred regardless of Aguinaldo's orders and circulars concerning the good treatment of prisoners.
Worcester recounts two specific Filipino atrocities as follows:
Reporters and Red Cross accounts contradict Otis
During the closing months of 1899 Emilio Aguinaldo attempted to counter General Otis’s account by suggesting that neutral parties — foreign journalists or representatives of the International Red Cross — inspect his military operations. Otis refused, but Emilio Aguinaldo managed to smuggle four reporters — two English, one Canadian, and one Japanese — into the Philippines. The correspondents returned to Manila to report that American captives were “treated more like guests than prisoners,” were “fed the best that the country affords, and everything is done to gain their favor.” The story went on to say that American prisoners were offered commissions in the Filipino army and that three had accepted. The four reporters were expelled from the Philippines as soon as their stories were printed.
Emilio Aguinaldo also released some American prisoners so they could tell their own stories. In a Boston Globe article entitled “With the Goo Goo’s” Paul Spillane described his fair treatment as a prisoner. Emilio Aguinaldo had even invited American captives to the christening of his baby and had given each a present of four dollars, Spillane recounted.
Naval Lieutenant J.C. Gilmore, whose release was forced by American cavalry pursuing Aguinaldo into the mountains, insisted that he had received “considerable treatment” and that he was no more starved than were his captors. Otis responded to these two articles by ordering the “capture” of the two authors, and that they be “investigated”, therefore questioning their loyalty.
When F.A. Blake of the International Red Cross arrived at Emilio Aguinaldo’s request, Otis kept him confined to Manila, where Otis’s staff explained all of the Filipinos' violations of civilized warfare. Blake managed to slip away from an escort and venture into the field. Blake never made it past American lines, but even within American lines he saw burned out villages and “horribly mutilated bodies, with stomachs slit open and occasionally decapitated.” Blake waited to return to San Francisco, where he told one reporter that “American soldiers are determined to kill every Filipino in sight.”
Ratio of Filipinos wounded
The most conclusive evidence that the enemy wounded were being killed, came from the official reports of Otis and his successor, General
Arthur MacArthur, Jr.Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. , was a United States Army General. He became the military governor of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900 but his term ended a year later due to clashes with the civilian governor, future President William Howard Taft...
, which claimed fifteen Filipinos killed for every one wounded. In the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, the ratio had been five wounded for every soldier killed, which is close to historical norm. Otis attempted to explain this anomaly by the superior marksmanship of rural southerners and westerners in the U.S. military, who had hunted all their lives. MacArthur added a racial twist, asserting that Anglo-Saxons do not succumb to wounds as easily as do men of “inferior races.”
Cultural impact
The Roman Catholic Church was disestablished and a considerable amount of church land was purchased and redistributed. The bulk of the land, however, was quickly bought up by American companies with little going to Filipino peasants.
U.S. President McKinley, in his instructions to the First Philippine Commission in 1898, ordered the use of the Philippine languages as well as English for instructional purposes. The American administrators, finding the local languages to be too numerous and too difficult to learn and to write teaching materials in, ended up with a monolingual system in English with no attention paid to the other Philippine languages except for the token statement concerning the necessity of using them eventually for the system.
In 1901 at least five hundred teachers (365 males and 165 females) arrived from the U.S. aboard the
USS ThomasThe USS Thomas was launched as the Persia in 1894, having been built for the Hamburg America Line's service to New York. She was bought by the Atlantic Transport Line in 1897 because she was "practically a sister" to other Massachusetts class of ships already in service there. She was renamed...
. The name
ThomasiteThe Thomasites is a group of about five hundred pioneer American teachers sent by the U.S. government to the Philippines in August 1901.-Foundation, purpose and etymology:...
was adopted for these teachers, who firmly established education as one of America's major contributions to the Philippines. Among the assignments given were
AlbayAlbay is a province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Legazpi City and the province borders Camarines Sur to the north and Sorsogon to the south...
,
CatanduanesCatanduanes is an island province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Virac and the province lies to the east of Camarines Sur across Maqueda Channel. As of 2007, the population of the province is 232,757.-Etymology:...
,
Camarines NorteCamarines Norte is a province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Daet and the province borders Quezon to the west and Camarines Sur to the south.-Demographics:...
,
Camarines SurCamarines Sur is a province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and Quezon to the north, and Albay to the south. To the east lies the island province of Catanduanes across Maqueda Channel.Camarines Sur is the largest...
,
SorsogonSorsogon is a province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region; it is the southernmost province in Luzon and is subdivided into fourteen municipalities and one city. Its capital is Sorsogon City and borders the province of Albay to the north...
, and
MasbateMasbate is an island province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. Its capital is Masbate City and consists of three major islands: Masbate, Ticao and Burias.Masbate City is the capital.-History:...
. Twenty-seven of the original Thomasites either died of tropical diseases or were murdered by outlaws during their first 20 months of residence. Despite the hardships, the Thomasites persisted, teaching and building learning institutions that prepared students for their chosen professions or trades. They opened the Philippine Normal School and the Philippine School of Arts and Trades (PSAT) in 1901, and reopened the Philippine Nautical School, established in 1839 by the Board of Commerce of Manila under Spain. By the end of 1904, primary courses were mostly taught by Filipinos under American supervision.
Philippine independence
On January 20, 1899,
President McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
appointed the First Philippine Commission (the Schurman Commission), a five-person group headed by
Dr. Jacob SchurmanJacob Gould Schurman , American educationist, was born at Freetown, Prince Edward Island of Dutch descent, his Loyalist ancestors having left New York in 1784....
, president of
Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
, to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations. In the report that they issued to the president the following year, the commissioners acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however, that the Philippines was not ready for it. Specific recommendations included the establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including establishment of a
bicameral legislatureIn government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses. Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the classical notion of mixed...
, autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools.
The Second Philippine Commission (the
Taft CommissionThe Taft Commission, also known as Second Philippine Commission, was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16, 1900. The Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the...
), appointed by McKinley on March 16, 1900, and headed by
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States....
, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers. Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws. A judicial system was established, including a Supreme Court, and a legal code was drawn up to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances. A civil service was organized. The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidents, vice presidents, and councilors to serve on municipal boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial governors. In July 1901 the Philippine Constabulary was organized as an archipelago-wide police force to control brigandage and deal with the remnants of the insurgent movement. After military rule was terminated on July 4, 1901, the Philippine Constabulary gradually took over from United States army units the responsibility for suppressing guerrilla and bandit activities.
From the very beginning, United States presidents and their representatives in the islands defined their colonial mission as tutelage: preparing the Philippines for eventual independence. Except for a small group of "retentionists," the issue was not whether the Philippines would be granted self-rule, but when and under what conditions. Thus political development in the islands was rapid and particularly impressive in light of the complete lack of representative institutions under the Spanish. The
Philippine Organic ActThe Philippine Organic Act, popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902, was the first organic law for the Philippine Islands enacted by the United States Congress...
of July 1902 stipulated that, with the achievement of peace, a legislature would be established composed of a lower house, the
Philippine AssemblyThe Philippine Assembly was the legislative body of the Philippines during the earlier part U.S. colonial administration. It served as the lower house of the legislature with the Philippine Commission, headed by the U.S. Governor General serving as the upper house.-Organization:The Philippine...
, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission, which was to be appointed by the president of the United States.
The Jones Act, passed by the
U.S. CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
in 1916 to serve as the new
organic lawAn organic law or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....
in the Philippines, promised eventual independence and instituted an elected Philippine senate. The
Tydings-McDuffie ActThe Tydings-McDuffie Act approved on March 24, 1934 was a United States federal law which provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence after a period of ten years. It was authored by Maryland Senator Millard E...
(officially the Philippine Independence Act; Public Law 73-127) approved on March 24, 1934 provided for self-government of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
and for Filipino independence (from the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) after a period of ten years.
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
intervened, bringing the Japanese occupation between 1941 and 1945. In 1946, the
Treaty of Manila (1946)The Treaty of Manila is a treaty of general relations signed on July 4, 1946 in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Parties to the treaty were the governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines...
between the governments of the U.S. and the Republic of the Philippines provided for the recognition of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands.
Quotations
In the fall of 1899 MacArthur, who was still loyal to General Otis, said to reporter H. Irving Hannock:
A leader and founding member of the Anti-Imperialist League was
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
, who defended its views in the following manner:
See also
- Battles of the Philippine-American War
This is a list of battles of the Philippine-American War.* Battle of Manila - American and Filipino forces clash for the first time, as the Americans drive the Filipino army out of the Manila area....
- Benevolent assimilation
.The term Benevolent Assimilation refers to a proclamation issued on December 21, 1898 by U.S. President William McKinley to the Philippines....
- Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans reside mainly in the continental United States and form significant populations in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and Northern Marianas....
- History of the Philippines
The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan on Homonhon Island, southeast of Samar on March 16, 1521.Prior to Magellan's arrival,...
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Philippine-American War
- Lodge Committee
- Moro Rebellion
The Moro Rebellion was an armed military conflict between Muslim Filipino revolutionary groups and the United States which took place in the Philippines between 1899 to 1913, following the Spanish-American War of 1898. The word "Moro" was a term for Muslims who lived in the southern Philippines, an...
- Battle of Cagayan de Misamis
Tha Battle of Cagayan de Misamis was fought on April 7, 1900 in the town of Cagayan de Misamis , Mindanao during the Philippine-American War . The Filipinos were under the command of General Nicolas Capistrano....
, now the City of Cagayan de Oro
- Philippine Scouts
The Philippine Scouts was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 to World War II. Made up of native Filipinos assigned to the US Army's Philippine Department, these troops were generally enlisted and under the command of American officers, however, a handful of Filipinos...
- Timeline of Philippine-American War
-May:* May 1 - First battle of the Spanish-American War: Admiral George Dewey destroys the Spanish fleet at Battle of Manila Bay.* May 19 - Emilio Aguinaldo returns to the Philippines from exile in Hong Kong where he had been since the failure of the Katipunan revolt of 1892-1896-June:* June 12 -...
- The White Man's Burden
"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands...
, written in regard to the U.S. conquest of the Philippines and other former Spanish colonies
Further reading
- The "Lodge Committee" (a.k.a. Philippine Investigating Committee) hearings and a great deal of documentation were published in three volumes (3000 pages) as S. Doc. 331, 57th Cong., 1st Session An abridged version of the oral testimony can be found in: American Imperialism and the Philippine Insurrection: Testimony Taken from Hearings on Affairs in the Philippine Islands before the Senate Committee on the Philippines—1902; edited by Henry F Graff; Publisher: Little, Brown; 1969. ASIN: B0006BYNI8
- Richard W. Stewart, General Editor, Ch. 16, Transition, Change, and the Road to war, 1902-1917", in "American Military History, Volume I: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775-1917", Center of Military History, United States Army, ISBN 0-16-072362-0
- Wilcox, Marrion. Harper's History of the War. Harper, New York and London 1900, reprinted 1979. [Alternate title: Harper's History of the War in the Philippines]. Also reprinted in the Philippines by Vera-Reyes.
- Secretary Root's Record:"Marked Severities" in Philippine Warfare — Wikisource
- Linn, Brian McAllister. The Philippine War 1899-1902. University Press of Kansas 2000 ISBN 0-7006-0990-3
External links
- A brief description of the war between the United States and the Philippines which began in 1899.
- A brief balance about the rate of casualties among Filipino rows.
- Philippine-American War on Everything2
Everything
2, Everything2, or E2 for short is a collaborative Web-based community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. E2 is moderated for quality, but has no formal policy on subject matter...
.
- "August 13, 1898 and RP’s short-lived republic" by Mariano "Anong" Santos, Pinoy Newsmagazine, August 2006
- "Imperial Amnesia" by John B. Judis, Foreign Policy, July/August 2004
- The Philippine Revolutionary Records at Filipiniana.net.
- "Battle of Paceo", 1899 painting by Kurz and Allison
- "Battle Of Quingua", 1899 painting by Kurz and Allison