History UsefulNotes / PhilippineAmericanWar

Philippine forces were dealt a major blow when, in March 1901, General Frederick Funston led an expedition that finally captured Emilio Aguinaldo, who surrendered and told all guerrillas still fighting the Americans to lay down their arms and accept American rule. However, many Filipino generals, most of whom had already lost faith in Aguinaldo's leadership, continued their armed struggle against the Americans. The primary phase of the war officially ended in April 1902 when General Miguel Malvar finally laid down his arms, leading U.S. President UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt to declare victory. However, the war was still not over. Pockets of lingering anti-American resistance remained a problem in the Philippines for another decade, and these skirmishes and incidents were usually considered to be acts of brigandage or banditry. The American colonial authorities organized a national guard force known as the Philippine Constabulary to deal with these skirmishes.

Meanwhile, in the southern Philippines, the Muslim Moro people, who had never quite been fully conquered by the Spanish, and did not ally themselves with Aguinaldo despite his claiming to control them, launched their own rebellion against the United States. Their frequent cattle raids, kidnappings, and slave-trading earned the ire of American authorities, who sought to end these practices, and, following the surrender of Aguinaldo, sent the Marine Corps to bring order and stability to the Moro province. [[TheBerserker The Moro warriors were so strong and relentless in their fighting]] that regular revolvers could not stop them; eventually, the Marine Corps adopted the M1911 .45 caliber in order to take them down. Fierce fighting between the Moros and the U.S. Marines and Philippine Constabulary continued until the last Moro bands were defeated in 1913.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease[[note]]Most modern estimates place the civilian casualty toll as ranging from 34,000 to 200,000 casualties, with some estimates for civilian deaths going even higher[[/note]]. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America's foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country achieved majority rule as a self-governing U.S. protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then a puppet state of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and finally a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

After losing the skirmish in Manila, Aguinaldo's hopes that he could overcome the Americans began to diminish. He attempted to surrender to the United States, but General Elwell Otis, commander of American forces in the Philippines, rejected it, insisting that order in the Philippines could not be assured until Aguinaldo's rebels were completely wiped out. While Aguinaldo's forces were able to hold Luzon for the time being, Otis requested that the U.S. government authorize sending more troops and ships to the Philippines in order to suppress the insurrection. Aguinaldo, hoping to beat the Americans in conventional battles, soon found that the Americans' use of battleships to fire from afar put his own forces at a great disadvantage, severely damaging their own morale.

However, the Filipinos did have an advantage in a general by the name of [[Film/HeneralLuna Antonio Luna]]. Knowing that the United States had outmatched Philippine forces on the battlefield, Luna became an advocate of guerrilla warfare, and began leading ambushes that overwhelmed American forces. Furthermore, Luna's troops were the best-equipped, being armed with rifles, whereas many of Aguinaldo's troops not under Luna's command were armed with knives, spears, and makeshift firearms. The effectiveness of Luna's tactics in intimidating American troops even won him the respect of some American officers, who saw him as the most skilled Filipino general, and one who could actually outsmart them. Luna believed that guerrilla warfare would put Filipino forces at an advantage and succeed in tiring the Americans; however, Aguinaldo refused to listen to Luna, and made him lead in conventional battles, which, as expected, only resulted in defeat for the Filipino forces. Eventually, Aguinaldo, frustrated with Luna's constant defeats and insubordination, [[DevourTheDragon had him assassinated]]. Naturally, this further disadvantaged the Filipino army, and gave the Americans a sigh of relief.

As Aguinaldo's forces retreated further into the Philippine countryside and mountains, the Americans began employing more and more brutal tactics in attempting to crush the insurgency. Reports of atrocities by the U.S. Marine Corps such as the torching of villages, killing of unarmed civilians, and methods of torture such as waterboarding were common. Most infamously, following an ambush on American troops by guerrillas (many DisguisedInDrag) in the town of Balangiga in Samar province, General Jacob Hurd Smith gave an order for Marines to [[WouldHurtAChild shoot at any boy who was old enough to carry a gun]], an order so heinous that his own men [[WontDoYourDirtyWork refused to follow it]], and Smith was eventually Court-Martialed. Meanwhile, in the provinces of Batangas and Laguna, General James Franklin Bell ordered the rounding up and detainment of Filipino civilians into concentration camps, where over 11,000 died from diseases such as Smallpox, Cholera, and Bubonic Plague. Filipino troops also engaged in their own share of atrocities, such as rape, crucifixions, live burials, and even cannibalism.

Philippine forces were dealt a major blow when, in March 1901, General Frederick Funston led an expedition which finally captured Emilio Aguinaldo, who surrendered and told all guerrillas still fighting the Americans to lay down their arms and accept American rule. However, many Filipino generals, most of whom had already lost faith in Aguinaldo's leadership, continued their armed struggle against the Americans. The primary phase of the war officially ended in April 1902 when general Miguel Malvar finally laid down his arms, leading U.S. President UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt to declare victory. However, the war was still not over. Pockets of lingering anti-American resistance remained a problem in the Philippines for another decade, and these skirmishes and incidents were usually considered to be acts of brigandage or banditry. The American colonial authorities organized a national police force known as the Philippine Constabulary to deal with these incidents.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease[[note]]Most modern estimates place the civilian casualty toll as ranging from 34,000 to 200,000 casualties; However, some estimates for civilian deaths go even higher[[/note]]. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America's foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country achieved majority rule as a self-governing U.S. protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then a puppet state of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and finally a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

Compare UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar across the pond with with similar underlying problems (a long controversial war in a Southeast Asian country involving guerrilla fighting and increased U.S. troops with public outrage over reported atrocities and a movement against involvement in the conflict) - although the difference is the United States actually ''won'' this war.

Compare ''UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar'' across the pond with with similar underlying problems (a long controversial war in a Southeast Asian country involving guerrilla fighting and increased U.S. troops with public outrage over reported atrocities and a movement against involvement in the conflict) - although the difference is the United States actually ''won'' this war.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, he too was eventually convinced to annex the islands, not just due to fears of Japan seizing them if America didn't, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]]; upon learning this, [=McKinley=] is reported to have replied, "exactly".[[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

Needless to say, Aguinaldo was absolutely furious by this, and decided to pick a fight with the United States. And he had good reason to believe that he could win; his nationalist army, despite being outgunned by the Americans, was nonetheless greater in numbers, and knew the terrain, with many officers and soldiers in his army being veterans of the recent Philippine Revolution. Furthermore, the few guns that the Filipinos could get their hands on; namely Spanish Mausers and Maxim machine guns, as well as a few Japanese Arisakas that had been smuggled in, were technologically superior to the Americans’ Trapdoor Springfield and Krag-Jorgensen rifles and Civil War-era Gatling cannons. Furthermore, the United States had no experience with jungle warfare, and prior to its war with Spain had not truly been at war since [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar 1865]]. Aguinaldo's forces continued to surround Manila, hoping to provoke an American attack; eventually, on February 4, 1899, the Americans retaliated by firing upon Filipino troops, and fighting in Manila soon erupted, with American forces under the command of General Arthur [=MacArthur=] (father of General UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur) able to repel Aguinaldo’s forces from the city and go on the offensive.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease[[note]]Most modern estimates place the civilian casualty toll as ranging from 34,000 to 200,000 casualties; However, some estimates for civilian deaths go even higher[[/note]]. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country achieved majority rule as a self-governing US protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then a puppet state of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and finally a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

* ''Film/TheRealGlory'' (1939): An old {{Western}} film set in the Philippines during the Moro phase of the war, starring Gary Cooper. The film was banned during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII due to its depiction of the Moros in a negative light, as the Moros were fighting for the Americans in the war

After losing the skirmish in Manila, Aguinaldo’s hopes that he could overcome the Americans began to diminish. He attempted to surrender to the United States, but General Elwell Otis, commander of American forces in the Philippines, rejected it, insisting that order in the Philippines could not be assured until Aguinaldo's rebels were completely wiped out. While Aguinaldo’s forces were able to hold Luzon for the time being, Otis requested that the United States needed to send more troops and ships to the Philippines in order to suppress the insurrection. Aguinaldo, hoping to beat the Americans in conventional battles, soon found that the Americans’ use of battleships to fire from afar put his own forces at a great disadvantage, severely damaging their own morale.

When news of the horrors of the war reached the American press, it naturally caused an outrage amongst the American public, and a group known as the American Anti-Imperialist League, made up of powerful figures such as Creator/MarkTwain and Andrew Carnegie, denounced U.S. Imperialism as being against the very idea of America. Furthermore, the Anti-Imperialists largely believed that Filipinos were an inferior race that would never assimilate into American society. General [=MacArthur=], who had since placed the Philippines under martial law, tried to prevent reports of offenses from getting to the press, but the Anti-Imperialist Movement had grown extremely influential, and eventually Congress led an investigation into the military’s conduct. General [=MacArthur=] was relieved from his post as military governor, and a new civilian administration under UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft took power in the Philippines, tasked with transitioning the islands to civil authority and establishing a path to Filipino majority rule.

Meanwhile, in the southern Philippines, the Muslim Moro people, who had never quite been fully conquered by the Spanish, and did not ally themselves with Aguinaldo despite the latter claiming to rule over them, launched their own rebellion against the United States. Their frequent cattle raids, kidnappings, and slave-trading earned the ire of American authorities, who sought to end these practices, and, following the surrender of Aguinaldo, sent the Marine Corps to bring order and stability to the Moro province. [[TheBerserker The Moro warriors were so strong and relentless in their fighting]] that regular revolvers could not stop them; eventually, the Marine Corps adopted the M1911 .45 caliber in order to take them down. In 1906, General Leonard Wood led an expedition of Marines to suppress the Moro rebels on the island of Jolo, leading to a massacre that claimed the lives of 900 men, women, and children. Later, General John J. Pershing took command of the Moro province, and continued to fight the rebellion until the last Moro bands were finally defeated in 1913.

* ''Film/BalangigaHowlingWilderness'' (2017): An arthouse film by Khavn dela Cruz concerning the aftermath of the Balangiga campaign.

* ''Film/TheRealGlory'' (1939): An old {{Western}} film set in the Philippines during the Moro phase of the war, starring Gary Cooper. The film was banned during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII due to its depiction of the Moros in a negative light.

As Aguinaldo’s forces retreated further into the Philippine countryside and mountains, the Americans began employing more and more brutal tactics in attempting to crush the insurgency. Reports of atrocities by the U.S. Marine Corps such as the torching of villages, killing of unarmed civilians, and methods of torture such as waterboarding were common. Most infamously, following an ambush on American troops by bandits in the town of Balangiga, General Jacob Hurd Smith gave an order for Marines to [[WouldHurtAChild shoot at any boy who was old enough to carry a gun]], an order so heinous that his own men [[WontDoYourDirtyWork refused to follow it]], and Smith was eventually Court-Martialed. Meanwhile, in the provinces of Batangas and Laguna, General James Franklin Bell ordered the rounding up and detainment of Filipino civilians into concentration camps, where over 11,000 died from diseases such as Smallpox, Cholera, and Bubonic Plague. Filipino troops also engaged in their own share of atrocities, such as rape, crucifixions, live burials, and even cannibalism.

->''Why are we having a war with the goddamn Philippines? Who cares about the Philippines? What even are the Philippines?! Just the biggest load of nonsense yet! It's enough to turn a good honest feller to drink... being a bad, dishonest feller, it's going to send me to drink twice as fast.''

->''Damn, damn, damn the Philippinos!''
->''Cock-eyed, kackiac ladrones!''
->''Underneath the starry flag,''
->''Civilize 'em with a Krag,''
->''And return us to our old beloved homes.''
-->-- U.S. Marine Corps marching cadence from the war

In May 1898, Aguinaldo and his nationalist force returned to the Philippines to continue their revolt against Spanish rule. As Spain was distracted by their war with the United States, the Filipino nationalists had a much easier time beating the Spanish, and within months had taken control of the entire archipelago. Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippines on June 12, 1898, appointing himself as dictator. By August of 1898, the Philippine nationalists had Manila surrounded. Spain, naturally, did not want to surrender to the Filipinos that they had previously beaten a year earlier, and made a secret agreement with the United States to stage a phony battle between Spanish and American forces, which the Americans “won”, taking control of Manila and saving Spain from having to surrender to Aguinaldo.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, he too was eventually convinced to annex the islands, not just due to fears of Japan seizing them if America didn't, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]], whom many Americans at the time viewed as separate from "true" Christians[[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

-->-- Marine Corps marching cadence from the war

Meanwhile, American and Spanish diplomats had convened in Paris for peace talks. The victorious Americans were more focused on taking Spain’s colonies in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and less focused on the Philippines, only initially wanting to take Manila and part of the main island of Luzon in order to avoid a conflict with Aguinaldo’s rebels. However, diplomats from other European nations who were present at the Paris conference were quick to bring up another concern: UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. After its surprising victory against China in the UsefulNotes/FirstSinoJapaneseWar of 1894-95, Japan had taken possession of Taiwan[[note]]which had attempted to declare its own independence from China during the war, but was immediately crushed and conquered by Japan[[/note]] and the Liaodong Peninsula, and had expanded its sphere of influence over Korea. European diplomats feared that Japan was trying to [[{{Foreshadowing}} build an empire across Asia and the Pacific]], and that if the United States did not annex the entire Philippine archipelago, the islands would soon fall into Japanese hands.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, [=McKinley=] too was eventually convinced to annex the islands, not just due to preventing Japan from seizing them, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]], whom many Americans at the time viewed as separate from "true" Christians[[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

However, the Filipinos did have an advantage in a general by the name of [[Film/HeneralLuna Antonio Luna]]. Knowing that the United States had outmatched Philippine forces on the battlefield, Luna became an advocate of guerrilla warfare, and began leading ambushes that overwhelmed American forces. Furthermore, Luna’s troops were the best-equipped, being armed with rifles, whereas many of Aguinaldo's troops were armed with knives, spears, and makeshift firearms. The effectiveness of Luna’s tactics in intimidating American troops even won him the respect of some American officers, who saw him as the most skilled Filipino general, and one who could actually outsmart them. Luna believed that guerrilla warfare would put Filipino forces at an advantage and succeed in tiring the Americans; however, Aguinaldo refused to listen to Luna, and made him lead in conventional battles, which, as expected, only resulted in defeat for the Filipino forces. Eventually, Aguinaldo, frustrated with Luna’s constant defeats and insubordination, [[DevourTheDragon had him assassinated]]. Naturally, this further disadvantaged the Filipino army, and gave the Americans a sigh of relief.

When news of the horrors of the war reached the American press, it naturally caused an outrage amongst the American public, and a group known as the American Anti-Imperialist League, made up of powerful figures such as UsefulNotes/AndrewCarnegie and Creator/MarkTwain, denounced U.S. Imperialism as being against the very idea of America. Furthermore, the Anti-Imperialists largely believed that Filipinos were an inferior race that would never assimilate into American society. General [=MacArthur=], who had since placed the Philippines under martial law, tried to prevent reports of offenses from getting to the press, but the Anti-Imperialist Movement had grown extremely influential, and eventually Congress led an investigation into the military’s conduct. General [=MacArthur=] was relieved from his post as military governor, and a new civilian administration under UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft took power in the Philippines, tasked with transitioning the islands to civil authority and establishing a Filipino-run government.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease[[note]]Most modern estimates place the civilian casualty toll as ranging from 33,000 to 200,000 casualties; However, some estimates for civilian deaths go even higher[[/note]]. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country became a self-governing US protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then a puppet state of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and finally a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, [=McKinley=] too was eventually convinced to annex the islands, not just due to preventing Japan from seizing them, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]], whom many Americans at the time did not see as "real" Christians due to their perceived loyalty to the Pope over Jesus[[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

As Aguinaldo’s forces retreated further into the Philippine countryside and mountains, the Americans began employing more and more brutal tactics in attempting to crush the insurgency. Reports of atrocities by the U.S. Marine Corps such as the torching of villages, killing of unarmed civilians, and methods of torture such as waterboarding were common. Most infamously, following an ambush on American troops by bandits in the town of Balangiga, General Jacob Hurd Smith gave an order for Marines to [[WouldHurtAChild shoot at any boy who was old enough to carry a gun]], an order so heinous that his own men refused to follow it, and Smith was eventually Court-Martialed. Meanwhile, in the provinces of Batangas and Laguna, General James Franklin Bell ordered the rounding up and detainment of Filipino civilians into concentration camps, where over 11,000 died from diseases such as Smallpox, Cholera, and Bubonic Plague. Filipino troops also engaged in their own share of atrocities, such as rape, crucifixions, live burials, and even cannibalism.

The Philippine Republic seemed to come to an end when, in March 1901, General Frederick Funston led an expedition which finally captured Emilio Aguinaldo, who surrendered and told all guerrillas still fighting the Americans to lay down their arms and [[LesCollaborateurs accept American rule]]. However, many Filipino generals, most of whom had already lost faith in Aguinaldo’s leadership, continued their armed struggle against the Americans. The primary phase of the war officially ended in April 1902 when general Miguel Malvar finally laid down his arms, leading U.S. President UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt to declare victory. However, the war was still not over. Pockets of lingering anti-American resistance remained a problem in the Philippines for another decade, and these skirmishes and incidents were usually considered to be acts of brigandage that were largely dealt with by Philippine Constabulary forces as opposed to the American armed forces.

Meanwhile, in the southern Philippines, the Muslim Moro people, who had never quite been fully conquered by the Spanish, and did not ally themselves with Aguinaldo’s government despite the latter claiming to rule over them, launched their own rebellion against the United States. Their frequent cattle raids, kidnappings, and slave-trading earned the ire of American authorities, who sought to end these practices, and, following the surrender of Aguinaldo, sent the Marine Corps to bring order and stability to the Moro province. [[TheBerserker The Moro warriors were so strong and relentless in their fighting]] that regular revolvers could not stop them; eventually, the Marine Corps adopted the M1911 .45 caliber in order to take them down. In 1906, General Leonard Wood led an expedition of Marines to suppress the Moro rebels on the island of Jolo, leading to a massacre that claimed the lives of 900 men, women, and children. Later, General John J. Pershing took command of the Moro province, and continued to fight the rebellion until the last Moro bands were finally defeated in 1913.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease, with some estimates for civilian casualties going even higher. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country became a self-governing US protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then a puppet state of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and finally a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

* ''Film/ElPresidente'' (2012): A biopic about the life of General Emilio Aguinaldo.

* ''Theater/TheSultanOfSulu'' (1902): A musical play written by George Ade, set in the backdrop of the Moro phase of the war.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, [=McKinley=] too was eventually convinced to annex the islands, not just due to preventing Japan from seizing them, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]], whom many Americans at the time did not see as "real" Christians[[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, [=McKinley=] too was eventually convinced to annex the Philippines, not just due to prevent Japan from doing so, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]], whom many Americans at the time did not see as "real" Christians[[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease, with some estimates for civilian casualties going even higher. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country became a self-governing protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then a puppet state of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and finally a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

->''In the land of dopey dreams,''
->''Lovely peaceful Philippines,''
->''Where the bolo-man is marching night and day,''
->''Where Tagallos steal and lie,''
->''And Americanos die,''
->''You will hear the soldiers sing this evening lay.''

->''Damn, damn, damn the Philippino!''
->''Cross-eyed, kackiac ladrone!''

->''Civilize him with a Krag,''

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, [=McKinley=] too was eventually convinced to annex the Philippines, not just due to prevent Japan from doing so, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]][[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

After losing the skirmish in Manila, Aguinaldo’s hopes that he could overcome the Americans began to diminish. He attempted to call for a truce, but General Elwell Otis, commander of American forces in the Philippines, rejected it, insisting that Aguinaldo was a threat that must be eliminated. While Aguinaldo’s forces were able to hold Luzon for the time being, Otis requested that the United States needed to send more troops and ships to the Philippines in order to suppress the insurrection. Aguinaldo, hoping to beat the Americans in conventional battles, soon found that the Americans’ use of battleships to fire from afar put his own forces at a great disadvantage, severely damaging their own morale.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease, with some estimates for civilian casualties going even higher. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country became a self-governing protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946. Before that, however, they will get roped into [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the Pacific Theatre of World War II]]--first as an American bastion, then an UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan puppet state, then a bloody battleground in the closing days of the war theatre. Much of the devastation it caused (and the failures/shortcomings afterward) continues to haunt the development trajectory of the Philippines to this very day.

Meanwhile, in the southern Philippines, the Muslim Moro people, who had never quite been fully conquered by the Spanish, and did not ally themselves with Aguinaldo’s government despite the latter claiming to rule over them, launched their own rebellion against the United States. Their frequent cattle raids, kidnappings, and slave-trading earned the ire of American authorities, who sought to end these practices, and, following the surrender of Aguinaldo, sent the Marine Corps to bring order and stability to the Moro province. [[TheBerserker The Moro warriors]] were so strong and relentless in their fighting that regular revolvers could not stop them; eventually, the Marine Corps adopted the M1911 .45 caliber in order to take them down. In 1906, General Leonard Wood led an expedition of Marines to suppress the Moro rebels on the island of Jolo, leading to a massacre that claimed the lives of 900 men, women, and children. Later, General John J. Pershing took command of the Moro province, and continued to fight the rebellion until the last Moro bands were finally defeated in 1913.

Meanwhile, American and Spanish diplomats had convened in Paris for peace talks. The victorious Americans were more focused on taking Spain’s colonies in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and less focused on the Philippines, only initially wanting to take Manila and part of the main island of Luzon in order to avoid a conflict with Aguinaldo’s rebels. However, diplomats from other European nations who were present at the Paris conference were quick to bring up another concern: UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. After its surprising victory against China in the UsefulNotes/FirstSinoJapaneseWar of 1894-95, Japan had taken possession of Taiwan[[note]]which had attempted to declare its own independence from China during the war, but was immediately crushed and conquered by Japan[[/note]] and the Liaodong Peninsula, and had expanded its sphere of influence over Korea. European diplomats feared that the Philippines would be [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld next on the Japanese agenda]], and claimed that the only way to prevent this from happening would be for America to annex the entire archipelago.

The Philippine-American War soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease, with some estimates for civilian casualties going even higher. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country became a self-governing protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946.

Meanwhile, American and Spanish diplomats had convened in Paris for peace talks. The victorious Americans were more focused on taking Spain’s colonies in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and less focused on the Philippines, only initially wanting to take Manila and part of the main island of Luzon in order to avoid a conflict with Aguinaldo’s rebels. However, diplomats from other European nations who were present at the Paris conference were quick to bring up another concern: UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. After its surprising victory against China in the UsefulNotes/FirstSinoJapaneseWar of 1894-95, Japan had taken possession of Taiwan[[note]]Taiwan had attempted to declare its independence from China during the war but was immediately crushed and conquered by Japan[[/note]] and the Liaodong Peninsula, and had expanded its sphere of influence over Korea. European diplomats feared that the Philippines would be [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld next on the Japanese agenda]], and claimed that the only way to prevent this from happening would be for America to annex the entire archipelago.

President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley, having already been goaded into declaring war on Spain by the American press, was also reluctant on seizing the Philippines, which he allegedly couldn’t point to on a map. Nevertheless, [=McKinley=] also became convinced to annex the Philippines, not just due to prevent Japan from doing so, but also because he believed the Filipinos must have been [[NobleSavage uncivilized pagans]], and therefore decided that the United States must pursue a policy of [[WhiteMansBurden “benevolent assimilation”]] to spread civilization and Christianity [[note]]Mind you, after 300 years of Spanish rule, most Filipinos were already Christianized, albeit [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholics]][[/note]] to the islands. On December 10, 1898, the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, purchasing the Philippine Islands from Spain for a total of twenty million dollars.

The Philippine Insurrection (February 4, 1899 - June 15, 1913), also known as the Philippine-American War, was a war between the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates and [[UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} First Philippine Republic]] fought after the UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWar, in which the United States, with the help of Philippine nationalists, acquired the Philippines from Spain. The main phase of the war was fought from 1899 until the collapse of the First Philippine Republic in 1902; however, pockets of resistance continued for another decade. Due to some of the unsavory actions and motives of the United States during this war, it is [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory often overlooked in both American and Philippine history classes]], being a particularly dark chapter in the histories of both countries.

The Philippine Insurrection soured the United States on the prospect of imperialism. The conflict killed several thousand American and Filipino soldiers, as well as up to 200,000 Filipino civilians from famine and disease, with some estimates for civilian casualties going even higher. The enthusiasm for colonies shown throughout the late 19th century cooled, and was one of the primary reasons why the United States chose not to annex any new territories following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Due to the conflict, U.S. foreign policy became more focused on brief military interventions and the installation of pro-U.S. regimes in countries it wished to influence as opposed to direct territorial expansion; this strategy of maintaining and expanding a sphere of dominance became the primary objective of America’s foreign policy throughout the following [[BananaRepublic Banana Wars]] in Latin America and, eventually, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As for the Philippines, following the war the country became a self-governing protectorate, eventually gaining complete independence by 1946.