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In 1898, the United States seized the Philippines along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam because of their victory in the Spanish-American War. America had a bad history with Spanish countries. The population of the Philippines at this time was around 16 million. The United States wanted to benefit their economy so they imposed economic, political, and social systems. With these, they denied the Filipinos the right to full citizenship, restructured their government, and limited the trade that was allowed to go from the Philippines to the U.S. When the Filipinos were denied full citizenship in their own country, it caused the Philippine-American war which lasted from February 1899 to July 1902. There was a fight between American forces and Filipino nationalists (led by Emilio Aguinaldo) that jump-started the war. The Filipino nationalists sought independence rather than a change in colonial rulers. This war lasted over 3 years. Filipinos were the main group of people that occupied the Philippines when the U.S. tried to take over. The U.S. tried to impose a new colonial ruler, but the Filipinos massively resisted. This failed because the United States refused to recognize the Filipinos as independent. This led to them sending 150,000 troops to impose their authority upon the Philippines.

dwherstories.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dwherstories.com/timeline/u-s-imperialism-in-the-philippines#:~:text=When%20the%20U.S.%20occuped%20the,army)%20to%20impose%20their%20authority.

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A History of Domestic Work and Worker Organizing

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This timeline on the history of domestic work and worker organizing in the U.S. is a resource to study history from the margins, learn from the courage and resilience of our movement ancestors, and continue to build a powerful, multiracial alliance grounded in a shared commitment to combating all forms of oppression.

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The United States wanted to have commercial opportunities in Asia. They also believed that the Philippines was incapable of having their own self-rule which made them want to take control. They also wanted to take control over the Filipinos because they felt threatened by other countries like Germany and Japan. The United States thought that if they didn't intervene, those countries would gain power over the Philippines. By colonizing the Philippines, the US intended to educate and civilize the people into American beliefs. US Senator Albert J. Beveridge spoke on this topic on January 9, 1990. He claims that the Philippines "are ours forever. Territory belonging to the United States." He continues to talk about how they are not going to retreat from their mission and they are going to continue to colonize. Senator Albert also talks about how they need the Philippines to control trade in Asia. He claims the Pacific belongs to the United States and that by having control over the Philippines, they can continue to expand throughout Asia. The underlying motives of the United States was to completely overrule and control the Filipinos. They wanted to create a new government and expand everything by building. Although all of this is stuff the US said they wanted to do, they did a lot of harm. While denying the Filipino people full citizenship of their own country, wars were being waged, dangerous medical experiments were being done on the people, and economic, political, and social systems were being implemented only for the benefit of the United States economic system.

U.S. Senator Albert J. Beveridge speaks on the Philippine Question, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., January 9, 1900. (1901). Retrieved from https://china.usc.edu/us-senator-albert-j-beveridge-speaks-philippine-question-us-senate-washington-dc-january-9-1900

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U.S. Senator Albert J. Beveridge speaks on the Philippine Question, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., January 9, 1900 | US-China Institute

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Senator Beveridge’s speech on the Philippines reflects an era of American imperialism in the Pacific.

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When the US started intervening with the Philippines, Filipino nationalists thought that the US was postponing their independence permanently, stealing their economic resources, and using their land as a military base for themselves. They resisted the imposition of a new ruler and responded to all of this by declaring independence and establishing their own constitutional government. Emilio Aguinaldo was one of the most famous leaders during the Philippine-American War. When the 2 countries initially started fighting, he was the one to issue a proclamation of war against the US. This gave them reinforcement while the Philippine government fled North. This fighting lasted 3 years until March 23rd, 1901 when an operation led by General Fredrick Funston was started to capture Aguinaldo. The capture was successful and Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States. Before the Philippine-American war and after the US declared war on Spain, Aguinaldo saw a possibility of the Philippines gaining independence, but this was short-lived because the United States was not giving up.

Emilio Aguinaldo. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emilio-Aguinaldo

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Emilio Aguinaldo, (born March 22/23, 1869, near Cavite, Luzon, Philippines-died February 6, 1964, Quezon City), Filipino leader and politician who fought first against Spain and later against the United States for the independence of the Philippines.

Early life, Spanish-American War, and the struggle for the independence of the Philippines

Aguinaldo was of Chinese and Tagalog parentage. He attended San Juan de Letrán College in Manila but left school early to help his mother run the family farm. In August 1896 he was mayor of Cavite Viejo (present-day Kawit; adjacent to Cavite city) and was the local leader of the Katipunan, a revolutionary society that fought bitterly and successfully against the Spanish. In December 1897 he signed an agreement called the Pact of Biac-na-Bató with the Spanish governor general. Aguinaldo agreed to leave the Philippines and to remain permanently in exile on condition of a substantial financial reward from Spain coupled with the promise of liberal reforms. While first in Hong Kong and then in Singapore, he made arrangements with representatives of the American consulates and of Commodore George Dewey to return to the Philippines to assist the United States in the war against Spain.

Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines on May 19, 1898, and announced renewal of the struggle with Spain. The Filipinos, who declared their independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which Aguinaldo was to become president, and in September a revolutionary assembly met and ratified Filipino independence. However, the Philippines, along with Puerto Rico and Guam, were ceded by Spain to the United States by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on December 10, 1898.

Relations between the Americans and the Filipinos were unfriendly and grew steadily worse. On January 23, 1899, the Malolos Constitution-by virtue of which the Philippines was declared a republic and which had been approved by the assembly and by Aguinaldo-was proclaimed. Aguinaldo, who had been president of the provisional government, was elected president.

Philippine-American War and Aguinaldo's role in World War II

On the night of February 4 the inevitable conflict between the Americans and Filipinos surrounding Manila was precipitated. By the morning of February 5 the Filipinos, who had fought bravely, had been defeated at all points. While the fighting was in progress, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation of war against the United States, which immediately sent reinforcements to the Philippines. The Filipino government fled northward. In November 1899 the Filipinos resorted to guerrilla warfare.

After three years of costly fighting, the insurrection was finally brought to an end when, in a daring operation on March 23, 1901, led by Gen. Frederick Funston, Aguinaldo was captured in his secret headquarters at Palanan in northern Luzon. Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States, was granted a pension from the U.S. government, and retired to private life.

In 1935 the commonwealth government of the Philippines was established in preparation for independence. Aguinaldo ran for president, but he was decisively beaten. He returned to private life until the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941. The Japanese used Aguinaldo as an anti-American tool. He made speeches and signed articles. In early 1942 he addressed a radio appeal to U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur-who at that time was with the U.S. garrison holding out against the Japanese on Corregidor Island -to surrender (the troops there did surrender in May 1942, but MacArthur had already been evacuated).

The Americans returned to the Philippines in late 1944, and, after they had retaken Manila in 1945, Aguinaldo was arrested. He and others accused of collaboration with the Japanese were imprisoned for some months before they were released by presidential amnesty. In 1950 Aguinaldo was appointed by Pres. Elpidio Quirino as a member of the Council of State. In his later years he devoted much attention to veterans' affairs, the promotion of nationalism and democracy in the Philippines, and the improvement of relations between the Philippines and the United States.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Michael Ray.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

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Emilio Aguinaldo | Biography, Facts, Significance, & Spanish-American War

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Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino independence leader who fought against Spain and the United States. When Philippine independence was declared in 1898, Aguinaldo became president, but within months Spain signed a treaty ceding the islands to the U.S. Aguinaldo fought U.S. forces until he was captured in 1901.

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Analysis: American walking across the Philippines carrying many items such as education and materials to build.

Infer: The American is using the Philippines as a bridge to other countries

Integrate: America's intentions during imperialism in the Philippines was to colonize them and convert them to American ways while using them to expand their trade through Asia. They were using the Philippines and trying to gain power over them to get to other countries and eventually get control over all the trade in Asia.