In February 1898, after the Maine exploded in Cuba, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt sent a telegram to Admiral George Dewey. Dewey was the head of the U.S. fleet in the Pacific. "In the event of declaration of war," the telegram ordered, "[begin] offensive operations in Philippine Islands." The Spanish-American War had expanded to include the Philippine Islands. The islands were halfway around the globe from Cuba.

Question

Battle at Manila Bay The Philippines provided Spain's main base in the Pacific. The islands' people were called Filipinos. They had repeatedly tried to throw off Spanish colonial rule. In 1898, they were trying again. Led by General Emilio Aguinaldo (ah-ghee-NAHL-doh), they had begun attacking the Spanish army and government officials. Now their struggle was about to become part of the war between the United States and Spain.

Dewey's fleet arrived in Manila, the Philippine capital, just five days after the United States declared war against Spain. At dawn on May 1, 1898, U.S. battleships faced Spanish gunships. As naval bands struck up "The Star-Spangled Banner," sailors stood on deck and saluted the flag. These men were about to engage in what would be the first battle of the Spanish-American War.

By 11 A.M., the entire Spanish fleet was burning, sunk, or sinking. Spain's old wooden ships could not compete with the modern steel U.S. ships run by well-trained crews. Only one American had died in the battle.

Defeating the Spanish Dewey blockaded Manila's port until U.S. troops could arrive to take over the city. Filipino fighters that were allied with Dewey surrounded Manila. The Filipinos believed that the coming Americans would help them gain independence. While they waited, Aguinaldo issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence. He also formed a national government and designed a national flag.

U.S. troops showed up. The Spanish agreed to "lose" a fake battle and surrender to the Americans. They did not want to give themselves up to the Filipinos, who resented Spanish rule so intensely.

A long war between the United States
and the Filipinos, who resisted U.S.
control, resulted in heavy casualties.
More than 20,000 Filipinos were
killed before the Philippines became
independent in 1946.
Fighting the Filipinos In a treaty negotiated after the surrender, the United States "bought" the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. Then, in 1899, Congress voted to annex the Philippines.

Aguinaldo's government felt betrayed. The Filipino leader angrily called for "war without quarter to the false Americans who have deceived us! Either independence or death!" More than 80,000 Filipino fighters fought off better-trained and better-armed U.S. troops for three years. Soldiers on both sides tortured prisoners. Americans became increasingly cruel. They harmed civilians and destroyed villages.

Some Americans protested that denying independence to the Philippines violated U.S. ideals. Carl Schurz was a leader among antiimperialists. He said, "We shall, for the first time since the abolition of slavery, again have two kinds of Americans: Americans of the first class, who enjoy the privilege of taking part in the Government …and Americans of the second class, who are to be ruled … by the Americans of the first class."

However, the expansionists won the day. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge argued that "Manila with its magnificent bay … will keep us open to the markets of China." President McKinley himself believed that the Philippines could become "a land of plenty."

More than 20,000 Filipinos and about 4,000 Americans died in the struggle. The revolt was finally put down. The Americans set up a nonmilitary government to "prepare Filipinos for independence." Americans built roads, hospitals, and schools. But the United States did not grant the Philippines independence until 1946.
Compare the Filipino fight for independence under Spanish rule versus their struggle under U.S control. What are the similarities and differences?

Answer 1

The struggle for independence that the Filipinos experienced under both Spanish and U.S. control shares similarities but also shows significant differences in terms of context, leadership, approaches to resistance, and outcomes.

Similarities

1. Desire for Independence: In both cases, Filipinos sought to free themselves from foreign colonization. Under Spanish rule, their primary motivation was to end centuries of exploitation and oppression. Similarly, after the U.S. takeover, Filipinos aimed to secure their sovereignty and self-determination.

2. Nationalist Leadership: In both struggles, Filipino leaders emerged to rally people for independence. Emilio Aguinaldo was a key figure in both conflicts, initially fighting against the Spanish and later leading the resistance against the American forces.

3. Violent Resistance and Repression: The efforts to achieve independence in both instances led to violent confrontations. The Filipinos faced brutal repression from both Spanish and American forces, resulting in significant casualties and suffering among the civilian population.

4. Involvement of External Powers: Both struggles involved significant international dynamics. The Spanish-American War, which brought the U.S. into the Philippines, was influenced by broader imperialist ambitions. As the Filipinos sought independence, they found themselves caught between two imperial powers.

Differences

1. Nature of Colonial Rule: Spanish rule in the Philippines was characterized by direct colonialism with a focus on religious conversion, forced labor, and land dispossession. The U.S. approach included promises of eventual self-government and modernization, although it primarily aimed to maintain control and exploit resources.

2. International Support/Distraction: During their struggle against the Spanish, Filipinos received some international sympathy, particularly from other colonial and revolutionary movements. In contrast, when fighting against American rule, the Filipinos found themselves isolated, as the U.S. was seen as a liberator from Spain, complicating external support.

3. Scale and Duration of the Struggle: The Filipino struggle against Spanish rule involved several localized revolts that culminated in the Philippine Revolution (1896-1898). The fight against U.S. control escalated into a protracted conflict, known as the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), which lasted longer and resulted in a more organized military response from both sides.

4. Resulting Policies and Governance: Post-Spanish rule, Aguinaldo briefly declared independence before U.S. military intervention. Under U.S. control, the American government established a nonmilitary governance structure aiming to "prepare Filipinos for independence," but this was perceived as mere pretense by many Filipinos. The lasting colonial dynamic under U.S. rule was different from the immediate fight for independence from Spain, leading to a delayed path to actual independence in 1946.

5. American Ideological Framework: With the U.S. rule, there was an ideological justification grounded in manifest destiny, the belief in American exceptionalism, and the notion of the "white man's burden," which framed the U.S. presence as a civilizing mission rather than merely colonial domination—an argument absent in the struggle under Spanish rule.

In conclusion, while both struggles reflected a deep-rooted desire for independence and faced similar challenges of oppression and violence, the context, nature of colonialism, international dynamics, and ideological justifications set apart the Filipino fight for independence under Spanish rule from that under American control.