Philippine–American War

The Philippine–American War was fought between the United States and the First Philippine Republic from 1899 to 1902, after Spain ceded the Philippines to the Americans at the end of the Spanish–American War. Filipino forces under Emilio Aguinaldo first fought conventionally and then waged a guerrilla war. The United States declared the conflict over in July 1902, although resistance continued in some regions for years. The war cost the lives of over 4,000 American and over 20,000 Filipino soldiers, and perhaps 200,000 or more Filipino civilians, most from famine and disease.

During the Philippine Revolution against Spain, Filipino forces had cooperated with the Americans in 1898, and Aguinaldo had declared independence on 12 June that year. But under the Treaty of Paris of December 1898 Spain ceded the islands to the United States, and President William McKinley proclaimed a policy of "benevolent assimilation" that asserted American sovereignty. Filipino leaders established their own republic at Malolos in January 1899, which Washington did not recognise. American and Filipino troops faced each other in tense lines around Manila.

On the evening of 4 February 1899 an American sentry fired on Filipino soldiers in a Manila suburb, setting off the Battle of Manila. Aguinaldo sent word that the firing had been against his orders and asked for the fighting to stop, but the American commander, General Elwell Otis, replied that it must go on to "the grim end". In June the Filipino government formally declared war. Filipino forces, perhaps 80,000 to 100,000 strong, were poorly armed, many with only bolo knives and spears, and American troops pushed north through central Luzon, taking Malolos and forcing Aguinaldo's government to keep moving its seat.

From November 1899 Aguinaldo adopted guerrilla warfare as his main strategy, hoping that heavy American losses would bring the anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan to power in the 1900 election. McKinley's re-election dashed that hope. In December 1900 General Arthur MacArthur placed the islands under martial law and took harsher measures against guerrillas and their civilian supporters. On 23 March 1901 Aguinaldo was captured at Palanan by a ruse involving Filipino scouts serving the Americans. He swore allegiance to the United States and called on his followers to surrender. General Miguel Malvar fought on in Batangas until he surrendered in April 1902, and on 4 July 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the war over and granted an amnesty.

Both sides committed war crimes. American forces burned villages, used torture such as the "water cure" in interrogations, and moved civilians into fortified zones, sometimes described as concentration camps, where thousands died. After Filipino fighters killed almost fifty American soldiers in a surprise attack at Balangiga in 1901, General Jacob Smith ordered his men to make the island of Samar a "howling wilderness"; he was later court-martialled. Filipino forces were also accused of torturing and killing prisoners and of attacks on civilians who refused to support them. Estimates of total Filipino deaths vary widely: most modern historians put civilian deaths at 200,000 to 250,000, mostly from famine and disease, including a cholera epidemic near the war's end, while some writers have argued for much higher figures that others reject as exaggerated.

Annexation and the war divided American opinion. The Anti-Imperialist League, whose supporters included Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie, argued that ruling a people against their will contradicted American founding principles, and reports of atrocities eroded support for the war.

Fighting continued against holdout groups and in the Muslim south, where the Moro Rebellion lasted until 1913. Under American rule English became the language of government and schooling, and the Catholic Church was disestablished. The Philippine Organic Act of 1902 created an elected Philippine Assembly; the islands became a self-governing commonwealth in 1935 and, after Japanese occupation during World War II, achieved full independence in 1946.

Our 1900 map shows the Philippines under American control during the war, and the 1914 map shows the islands as a United States territory.