The Philippine-American War was fought from 4 February 1899 to 2 July 1902 when the First Philippine Republic declared war on the United States, objecting to the Treaty of Paris in which the US took possession of the Philippines from Spain after the Spanish-American War. The war resulted in the defeat of the Philippine rebels, the American military occupation of the Philippines, and the deaths of 6,165 US troops, 20,000 Philippine rebels, and 1,000,000 Philippine civilians.
Background[]
During the Spanish-American War, the Filipino Katipuan rebels under Emilio Aguinaldo - who had been fighting against the Spanish for years in the Philippine War of Independence - were able to overthrow the Spanish colonial authorities with assistance from the United States. On 12 June 1898, Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Cavite El Viejo, but neither the US nor Spain recognized Philippine independence, and, in the 10 December 1898 Treaty of Paris, the Spanish government ceded the Philippines to the United States. On 1 January 1899, Aguinaldo was declared President of the First Philippine Republic, and he organized a congress at Malolos to draft a constitution. On 5 January, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation in which he stated that his government was disposed to open hostilities if American troops would attempt to take forcible possession of the Visayas. The commander of the US forces in the Philippines, Elwell Stephen Otis, regarded Aguinaldo's proclamation as a declaration of war, and, on the evening of 4 February 1899, a Nebraskan US Army sentry shot two Filipino soldiers dead in Santa Mesa, leading to the start of the Battle of Manila and the Philippine-American War.
War[]
A February 1899 New Hanover Gazette newspaper article about the start of the war
In 1901, Mark Twain wrote a satirical essay titled To the Person Sitting in Darkness, in which he expressed strong anti-imperialist views against certain ongoing conflicts such as the Philippine-American War. At one point, Twain sarcastically described what the flag of an American-controlled Philippines should look like; "And as for a flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily managed. We can have a special one—our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones."
The day after the firing of the first shots, the Filipino general Isidoro Torres was sent by Aguinaldo to inform General Otis that hostilities had begun accidentally and that Aguinaldo wished for a neutral zone to be established to end hostilities. However, Otis resolved that the hostilities would have to continue to the grim end.
On 11 February 1899, two US Navy warships bombarded and destroyed the city of Iloilo, and the city was captured by the US without any loss of life. Months later, US forces under Arthur MacArthur Jr. secured Manila after heavy fighting, and American forces then moved northwards to chase the scattered insurgents. Beginning in September 1899, the conflict had phased into a guerrilla war, and the Americans interned and segregated civilians in "zones of protection" where thousands died of dysentery. Otis acted aggressively in fighting the Filipino rebels, as he was determined to receive an unconditional surrender of the rebel army. The rebels won early victories at Paye, Catubig, Makahambus, Pulang Lupa, Balangiga, and Mabitac, and the White House considered withdrawal when the guerrilla raids began.
The 100,000 Filipino irregulars fought a guerrilla war against the 126,000-strong US army in the Philippines, hoping to inflict enough casualties to result in President William McKinley's defeat for re-election by the anti-imperialist Democrat William Jennings Bryan, who would likely end the conflict. However, McKinley was re-elected in 1900, demoralizing the insurgents. On 20 December 1900, MacArthur - the new commander of the US forces in the Philippines - declared martial law, and Philippine independence leaders were deported to Guam. On 23 March 1901, the Americans and Filipino collaborators from the Macabebe Scouts launched a surprise attack on Aguinaldo's base at Palanan, and, on 1 April, Aguinaldo swore an oath accepting the authority of the United States over the Philippines and pledging his allegiance to the US government. On 19 April, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation of formal surrender to the USA, but General Miguel Malvar took over the remnants of the Filipino government and continued Filipino resistance against the US occupation. His forces launched an all-out offensive against US forces in the Batangas region, while Vicente Lukban continued the resistance war in Samar. General J. Franklin Bell forced Malvar to surrender on 16 April 1902, and, by the end of the month, 3,000 of his men had also surrendered. On 1 July 1902, the US decided to establish a Philippine legislature and extend the Bill of Rights to the Filipinos. On 4 July, the new US president, Theodore Roosevelt, proclaimed an amnesty for the Filipino independence fighters; Malvar's surrender and the end of the insurrection and the US military government on 2 July ended the war.
Aftermath[]
While the surrender of the Philippine government officially ended the war, smaller insurrections continued for another decade as the Muslim Moros loyal to the Sultanate of Sulu, remnants of the Katipunan, and regional republics continued to resist the US presence. These uprisings were crushed by 1913, and, in 1916, the US Congress created a Philippine senate and promised eventual independence. On 24 March 1934, the Philippines was granted self-government, and, following the end of World War II and the 1946 Treaty of Manila, the US relinquished sovereignty over the Philippines to the independent Republic of the Philippines.