36837996 Filipino American War

8/8/2019 36837996 Filipino American War

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1899-1902


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also known as the Philippine War of

Independence orThe Philippine

Insurrection.It was an armed military conflict between the

Philippines and the United States which arose

from the struggle ofthe First Philippine

Republic to gain independence followingannexation by the United States.


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Philippine Revolution-Emilio Aguinaldo was elected and is

officially considered the First

President of the Philippines in 1897,

while Bonifacio was executed.

Aguinaldos exile & return-August 1897, negotiations between Aguinaldo and

Fernando Primo de Rivera, the current Spanish

Governor General, were opened.

-The Pact of Biak-na-Bato a truce between Spanish Govt and revolutionary

leaders which was signed November 1897


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-Aguinaldo wrote retrospectively in 1899 that he

had met with U.S. Consuls E. Spencer Pratt &Rounceville Wildman in 1898 between April 22-25.

- Meanwhile, Pratt communicating with Admiral

George Dewey, the U.S. Navys Asiatic squadron

commander, by telegram, passing assurances from

Dewey to Aguinaldo that the U.S. would at least

recognize the independence of the Philippines,

under the protection of the U.S. Navy.

-Aguinaldo agreed to return to the Philippines. And

on May 19, he arrived in Cavite.


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- In a matter ofmonths after Aguinaldos return, the

Philippine army conquered nearly all of Spanish-

held ground within the Philippines.

- On June 12,1898, Aguinaldo declared

independence at his house in Cavite El Viejo.

-On August 13, with American commanders unaware

that a peace protocol had been signed between

Spain and the United States on the previous day,

American forces captured the city ofManila from the

Spanish. Governor-General Fermin Jaudenes hadmade a secret agreement with Dewey and General

Wesley Merritt.


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Aguinaldos exile and return- On the eve of the mock battle, General Thomas M.

Anderson telegraphed Aguinaldo, Do not let yourtroops enter Manila without the permission of the

American commander. On this side of the Pasig River you

will be under fire.

- The June 12 declaration of Philippine independence

had not been recognized by either the United States or

Spain.

- The Treaty of Paris signed on December 10,1898

- On January 1,1899, Aguinaldo was declared

President of the Philippines.


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-Admiral Dewey later argued that he had promised

nothing regarding the future:

"From my observation of Aguinaldo and his advisers I

decided that it would be unwise to co-operate with

him or his adherents in an official manner... In short,

my policy was to avoid any entanglingalliance with the insurgents, while I

appreciated that, pending the arrival

of our troops, they might be of

service."


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War against the United States

Conflict origins- Filipino historian Teodoro Agoncillo writes of

"American Apostasy", saying that it was the

Americans who first approached Aguinaldo in Hong

Kong and Singapore to persuade him to cooperatewith Dewey in wresting power from the Spanish.

-Agoncillo concludes that the American attitude

towards Aguinaldo "... showed that they came to the

Philippines not as a friend, but as an enemy masking as

a friend."


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- On December 21,1898,

President McKinley issued a

Proclamation of Benevolent

Assimilation. General Otis

delayed its publication until

January 4,1899

- However, General Marcus Miller, then in Iloilo and

unaware that an altered version had been published

by Otis, passed a copy of the unabridged proclamation to a

Filipino official there.


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- on January 5, Agunaldo issued a counter-

proclamation:

"My government cannot remain indifferent in view of such a

violent and aggressive seizure of a portion of its territory by

nation which arrogated to itself the title of champion of

oppressed nations. Thus it is that my government is disposed to

open hostilities if the American troops attempt to take forcible

possession of the Visayan islands. I denounce these acts before

the world, in order that the conscience of mankind may

pronounce its infallible verdict as to who are true oppressors of

nations and the tormentors of mankind.

- In a revised proclamation issued the same day,

Aguinaldo protested "most solemnly against his

intrusion of the United States Government on the

sovereignty of these islands. "


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- On the evening of February 4, two American

sentries on guard duty atM

anila's San Juan delMonte bridge fired the shots which began the 1899

Battle ofManila.

-T

he following day, General Arthur MacArthur,without investigating

the cause of the firing,

ordered his troops to

advance againstFilipino troops,

beginning a full-scale

armed clash.


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First Philippine Commission

*T

he Schuman Commission- On January 20,1899, President McKinley hadappointed Dr. Jacob Gould Schuman to chair a

commission, with Dean C. Worcester, Charles H.

Denby, Admiral Dewey, and General Otis as

members.

- Fighting had erupted between U.S. and Filipino

forces in February, and the non-military commission

members found General Otis looking on the

commission as an infringement upon his authority

when they arrived in March.


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- In the report that they issued to the president thefollowing year, the commissioners acknowledged

Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared,

however, that the Philippines was not ready for it.

Specific recommendations included :

1) the establishment of civilian control over Manila

2) creation of civilian government as rapidly as possible,

especially in areas already declared pacified

3) establishment of a bicameral legislature,4) autonomous governments on the provincial and

municipal levels,

5) a system of free public elementary schools


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Second Philippine Commission

- The Second Philippine Commission (the Taft

Commission), appointed by McKinley on March 16,

1900, and headed by William Howard Taft, was

granted legislative as well as limited executive

powers.

- Between September 1900 and August 1902 it issued

499 laws.

-Ajudicial system was established

-Acivil service was organized.


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American War Strategy

American Tactics

- The American military strategy in the Philippines

shifted from a conventional footing against Spain to

a suppression footing against the insurrection.

- The use of internment camps or "zones of

protection"


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Philippine War Strategy

- Estimates of the Filipino forces vary between 80,000

and 100,000, with tens of thousands of auxiliaries.

- The goal, or end-state, sought by the First Philippine

Republic was a sovereign, independent, sociallystable Philippines led by theilustrados .Local

chieftains, landowners, and businessmen were the

principaleswho controlled local politics.

- Coupled with the ethnic and geographicfragmentation, unity was a daunting task.The

challenge for Aguinaldo and his generals was to

sustain unified Filipino public opposition; this was the

revolutionaries' strategic center of gravity.


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- The Filipino general Francisco Makabulos

described the Filipinos' war aim as,not to

vanquish the U.S. Army but to inflict on themconstant losses.They sought to initially use

conventional tactics and an increasing toll of U.S.

casualties to contribute to McKinley's defeat in the

1900 presidential election.Their hope was that as

President the avowedly anti-imperialist WilliamJennings Bryan would withdraw from the

Philippines.

- They pursued this short-term goal with guerilla

tactics better suited to a protracted struggle. While

targeting McKinley motivated the revolutionaries

in the short term, his victory demoralized them and

convinced many undecided Filipinos that the United

States would not depart precipitately.


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Guerilla WarPhase

- In 1900 Aguinaldo shifted from conventional toguerrilla warfare, a means of operation which better

suited their disadvantaged situation and made

American occupation of the Philippine archipelago

all the more difficult over the next few years.

- The Philippine Army began staging bloody

ambushes and raids, such as the guerrilla victories at

Paye, Catubig,Makahambus, Pulang Lupa, Balangiga

and Mabitac.

- The shift to guerrilla warfare drove the US Army to a

"total-war" doctrine.


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- On April 1,1901, at the Malacanang, Palace in Manila,

Aguinaldo swore an oath accepting the authority of theUnited States over the Philippines and pledging his

allegiance to the American government.

- On April 19, he issued a Proclamation of Formal Surrender

to the United States, telling his followers to lay down theirweapons and give up the fight. Let the stream of blood

cease to flow; let there be an end to tears and desolation,

Aguinaldo said. The lesson which the war holds out and the

significance of which I realized only recently, leads me to thefirm conviction that the complete termination of hostilities

and a lasting peace are not only desirable but also absolutely

essential for the well-being of the Philippines.


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- General Miguel Malvar took over the leadership of the

Filipino government, or what remained of it. He originally

had taken a defensive stance against the Americans, but

now launched all-out offensive against the American-held

towns in the Batangas region. General Vincente Lukban in

Samar, and other army officers, continued the war in theirrespective areas.

- In response General J. Franklin Bell adopted tactics to

counter Malvar's guerrilla strategy.


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- Bell also relentlesslypursued Malvar and his

men,breaking ranks,

dropping morale, and forcing

the surrender ofmany of the

Filipino soldiers. Finally,Malvar surrendered, along

with his sick wife and

children and some of his

officers, on April 13,1902. By

the end of the month nearly

3,000 ofMalvar's men had

also surrendered.


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Official end to the war

- The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 approved, ratified,and confirmed McKinley's Executive Order establishing the

Philippine Commission and stipulated that a legislature

would be established composed of a lower house, the

Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected,

and an upper house consisting of the PhilippineCommission.The act also provided for extending the

United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos.

- On July 2 the Secretary of War telegraphed that theinsurrection against the sovereign authority of the U.S.

having come to an end, and provincial civil governments

having been established, the office ofMilitary governor

was terminated.


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- On July 4,Theodore Roosevelt, who had succeeded to the

U.S. Presidency after the assassination of President Mckinley

on September 5,1901, proclaimed a full and complete

pardon and amnesty to all people in the Philippinearchipelago who had participated in the conflict.

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36837996 Filipino American War