The Philippine-American Weapons of War

Background information

The Philippine-American War was a war between the armed forces of the United States and the Philippines from 1899 through 1913.
This conflict is also known as the Philippine Insurrection. This name was historically the most commonly used in the U.S., but Filipinos and an increasing number of American historians refer to these hostilities as the Philippine-American War, and in 1999 the U.S. Library of Congress reclassified its references to use this term.

Origins of the War

In December 1898, the U.S. purchased the Philippines from Spain at the Treaty of Paris for the sum of 20 million United States dollars, after the U.S. defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War. The U.S. government made plans to make the Philippines an American colony. However, the Filipinos, fighting for their independence from Spain since 1896, had already declared their independence on June 12. On August 14, 11,000 ground troops were sent to occupy the Philippines. On January 1, 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo was declared the first President. He later organized a Congress at Malolos, Bulacan to draft a constitution.

The start of the War

Tensions between the Filipinos and the American soldiers on the islands existed because of the conflicting movements for independence and colonization, aggravated by the feelings of betrayal on the part of the Filipinos by their former allies, the Americans. Hostilities started on February 4, 1899 when an American soldier shot a Filipino soldier who was crossing a bridge into American-occupied territory in San Juan del Monte, an incident historians now consider to be the start of the war. U.S. President William McKinley later told reporters "that the insurgents had attacked Manila" in justifying war on the Philippines.

Note: Recent evidence from the National Historial institute of the Philippines say that the Filipino soldier shot by the (said drunk) American soldiers is not in San Juan del Monte, but in present-day Sociego Street in Manila. The National Historical Institute put a marker there.

The administration of US President McKinley subsequently declared Aguinaldo to be an "outlaw bandit", and no formal declaration of war was ever issued. Two reasons have been given for this. One is that calling the war the Philippine Insurrection made it appear to be a rebellion against a lawful government, although the only part of the Philippines under American control was Manila. The other was to enable the American government to avoid liability to claims by veterans of the action.
American Escalation

A large American military force (126,000 soldiers) was needed to occupy the country, and would be regularly engaged in war against Filipino forces for another decade. Also, Macabebe Filipinos were recruited by the United States Army.

By the end of February, the Americans had prevailed in the struggle for Manila, and the Philippine Army of Liberation was forced to retreat north. Hard-fought American victories followed at Quingua (April), Zapote Bridge (June), and Tirad Pass (December). With the June assassination of General Antonio Luna and the death of Brigadier General Gregorio del Pilar at Tirad Pass, the Filipinos' ability to fight a conventional war was rapidly diminishing. As of 1900, therefore, Aguinaldo ordered his army to engage in guerilla warfare, a means of operation which better suited them and made American occupation of the archipelago all the more difficult over the next few years. Subsequent American defeats at Pulang Lupa, Mabitac and Balangiga were not, however, sufficient to turn the tide of the struggle.

In March 1901, Aguinaldo was captured by the Macabebe Scouts, under the command of Brigadier General Frederick Funston in Palanan, Isabela. On July 4, 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt declared the war was over. The Americans gradually succeeded in taking control of urban and coastal areas by the end of 1903. In 1907, Macario Sacay, one of the last remaining Filipino generals fighting against the Americans, was captured and hanged.

While some measures to allow partial self-government were implemented earlier, the guerrilla war did not subside until 1913 when US President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a change in policy that would, after a transitional period, grant the Philippines full independence. In the south, Muslim Filipinos resisted until 1916—the so-called Moro rebellion. The fierceness of the resistance forced the American development and deployment of the Colt .45 pistol, which had a large enough caliber round to knock back a charging enemy.
Consequences

During the war, 4,234 American soldiers were killed and 2,818 were wounded. Philippine military deaths are estimated at 20,000 while civilian deaths numbered in 250,000 to 1,000,000 Filipinos. In 1908, Manuel Arellano Remondo, in a book entitled General Geography of the Philippine Islands, wrote: "The population decreased due to the wars, in the five-year period from 1895 to 1900, since, at the start of the first insurrection, the population was estimated at 9,000,000, and at present (1908), the inhabitants of the Archipelago do not exceed 8,000,000 in number."
U.S. attacks into the countryside often included scorched earth campaigns where entire villages were burned and destroyed, torture (water cure) and the concentration of civilians into "protected zones". Many of these civilian casualties resulted from disease and famine. Reports of the execution of U.S. soldiers taken prisoner by the Filipinos led to disproportionate reprisals by American forces. Many American officers and soldiers called war a "nigger killing business". During the U.S. occupation, English was declared the official language, although the languages of the Philippine people were Spanish, Visayan, Tagalog, Ilocano and other native languages. Six hundred American teachers were imported aboard the USS Thomas. Also, the Catholic Church was disestablished, and a considerable amount of church land was purchased and redistributed.

In 1914, Dean C. Worcester, U.S. Secretary of the Interior for the Philippines (1901-1913) described "the regime of civilization and improvement which started with American occupation and resulted in developing naked savages into cultivated and educated men."

In recognition of United States military service, during the Philippine-American War, the United States military created two service decorations which were known as the Philippine Campaign Medal and the Philippine Congressional Medal.

Summary

This article talks about different governing views from the Philippines and Americans. In 1898, the U.S. purchased the Philippines from Spain after the U.S. defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War. The U.S. government made plans to make the Philippines an American colony. However, the Filipinos, fighting for their independence from Spain since 1896, had already declared their independence on June 12. On August 14, 11,000 ground troops were sent to occupy the Philippines. Tensions began to rise between the Philippines and Americans. One incident, the killing of a Pilipino soldier by an American soldier, eventually led to riot and the rise of War.

Evaluation

Such war is similar to the Maria-Hertogh riot which occurred in Singapore. An incident which happened on the road, resulted in tension between the two opposing parties, which resulted in a conflict. In this case, the problem lies in the hunger for power. The Americans wanted to conquer Philippine for their advantage, without considering the needs and wants of the Philippines. It is also disheartening to note that many innocent lives were lost.

The main reason why I think America wanted to do so was because she wanted to spread the idea of democracy to all regions, since she herself is a democratic country. By reigning over an Asian country like Philippine, she would then be able to slowly spread democracy to all parts of the world.
However, I think it is wrong for the Americans to reign over Philippine at the state when she is still struggling to gain independence. This gives a double blow to the Philippines.

All in all, Man is greedy. That’s a fact! However, we should not let that Greediness in us to go to the extent of affecting others. We must always know the consequences of our actions, before doing so. This War has taught us to be satisfied with what we have, and don’t be greedy for what you already has. If not, you will be suffering at the losing end.