U.S. intervention in the Philippines by Kaylie Euston

Context of U.S. intervention

316687_3 — 2024-05-16 18:16:14 UTC

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.

U.S. Perspectives on Intervention

316687_3 — 2024-05-23 18:36:32 UTC

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

Native Perspective on US Intervention

316687_3 — 2024-05-23 23:51:36 UTC

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

Emilio Aguinaldo

316687_3 — 2024-05-24 00:43:10 UTC

US Senator Albert J. Beveridge

316687_3 — 2024-05-24 00:46:01 UTC

316687_3 — 2024-05-24 00:53:02 UTC

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.

316687_3 — 2024-05-24 00:59:05 UTC

316687_3 — 2024-05-24 01:00:05 UTC

316687_3 — 2024-05-24 01:00:56 UTC