The American conquest of the Philippines

1. PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR
(1899-1902)

3. Contrary to the expectations of the Americans, the occupation
of the Philippines and its control took more time and violence
to accomplish. The Filipinos, though lacking in arms and
munitions, fought valiantly throughout the country.

4. As Mariano Santos, a
veteran of the revolution of
1896 and the
, recalled
when interviewed in 1976
at age 101.

5. The Colonial motives of
the United States over
the Philippines were
economic
politico-military religious

6. The Filipinos, facing a fully equipped and trained army for
conventional warfare, were badly beaten. But the Filipinos
ably sustained the resistance through guerrilla war-face.

7. The U.S. responded with repressive and violent measures
to end the war – using water cure, re-concentration, and
scorched – earth tactics. The people, threatened by
starvation and diseases that were related to the war,
opted for peace.

9. Before the signing of the Treaty of
Paris, President McKinley said he
did not know what to do with the
Philippines. He added that one
night he fell on his knees to pray to
God to enlighten him on what to do
with the Philippines.
What, should I
do? In the
Philippines
God, Please
enlighten me.
On what to
do.

10. We are
Interested
in the
Philippines.
But he was surrounded by men
who had interests in making the
Philippines an American colony.

11. These men, representing Pressure groups
were (1) The American businessmen
whose interests included the Philippines
not only as a market for American
products, but also as a stepping stone to
Asia’s markets.
Market for
American
products

12. These men, representing Pressure groups
were (2) The military and naval pressure
group, who wanted the Philippines as a
base for American ships and as a first line
of defense.
Philippines
as one of
our military
base.

13. These men, representing Pressure groups
were (3) The religious pressure group,
who wanted the Philippines as a base for
protestant missionaries.
Philippines
for protestant
missionaries
base

14. All these pressure groups worked
hard to make the Philippines an
American colony.
I’m the one !
Who decide on
what going to the
Philippines!!

15. President McKinley issued the so-
called
Proclamation. For the first time,
McKinley officially announced the
American Policy regarding the
Philippines.

16. It clearly indicated the intention of the United States
to exercise sovereignty over the entire Philippines,
making it a United States colony.

17. General Merritt, did not published the
Full Text of McKinley’s proclamation
for fear of arousing the anger of the
Filipinos. Instead, he changed some
words to soften the language of
the proclamation so as not to
antagonize the people.
I will changed
some words to
soften….
U.S. General

18. Unfortunately, General Otis and General Marcus
P. Miller, who was in Iloilo, published the original
proclamation. Copies of this unchanged version
fell into the hands of Filipinos.

19. ilipinos
REACTIONto the Proclamation

20. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo
knew very well that a war with the
United States would bring hardship
and suffering to the people. He tried
to relax the tension by suggesting
to General Otis that
their representatives should meet
to discuss ways and means of
avoiding a conflict.

21. the
TENSION

22. General Otis appointed his representatives
which were compose of three military officers.
Aguinaldo also appointed his three
representatives.
The six representatives met for almost one
month in January but nothing came out of
the meetings because the American
representatives were stalling, which
heightened the tension between the two
panels.
The Filipino military officers believed that the
Americans were only fooling the Filipinos and
that they were not interested in keeping the
Filipino-American diplomatic relations.
For sure, the Americans are only fooling us!!
... ... ...

23. The spark that start
THE WAR

24. Some incidents which were originally minor in themselves became
serious in the face of the mounting tension between the two peoples. On
February 1, 1899 a group of American engineers was arrested by Filipino troops.

25. General Otis protested, but
Aguinaldo replied that the
Americans were not arrested but
merely detained because they
were found within the Filipino
lines.
On February 2, General
MacArthur protested the
presence of the some Filipino
soldiers within the American
lines, The Filipino soldiers
withdrew and MacArthur was
satisfied.

26. On the night of
February 4, 1899,
Private Willie G.
Grayson shot a Filipino
soldier on the corner of
Sociego and Silencio
Streets in Santa Mesa,
Manila. The Filipino
answered with rifle and
the Philippine American
War was on!

27. The Filipino commander of the
sector where the firing started
was in Malolos, together with
other officers, attending a dance.
Aguinaldo sent an emissary to
inform General Otis that the
“Firing on our side the night
before had been against my
order.” But General Otis, haughty
and arrogant, said that the
“Fighting, having started,
must go on the grim end.”

28. Aguinaldo, wanting to know how the incident happened,
ordered an investigation to determine the truth.
Subsequent investigation
showed that even as early as
February 2 and 3, the Filipino
employees in the service of
American ships had been
dismissed; that in the
morning of February 4,
between 200 and 300
American soldiers boarded
two Casco for Cavite.

29. The American Drive
to the n rth

30. Because of their advanced
preparations and superior
arms, the American troops
easily captured town in what
is now Rizal Province. Earlier
in the north of Manila, the
Americans won victories
in the Battle of La Loma,
near the Chinese Cemetery,
where Major Jose Torres
Bugallon died in combat.

31. with La Loma in his hands,
MacArthur proceeded to
Caloocan where he was met by
General Antonio Luna’s force. In
the battle that ensued, Luna was
defeated. The superior arms of
the Americans could not be
neutralized by bravery and
courage alone. Luna then planned
to recapture Manila on March 22,
he led the attack on the city.

32. American reinforcements arrived in
February and March. General Otis took the
offensive in the north, while General Henry
Lawton started his offensive in the south. In
a few days, Pulo fell to the Americans and
by March 30, they were at the door of
Malolos. Meanwhile, Aguinaldo evacuated
Malolos and transferred the Capitol to San
Isidro, Nueva Ecija.

33. The Filipinos had very few
victories, but these victories were
costly to the Americans. On March
25, the Filipino troops repulsed
General Lloyd Wheaton in the
Battle of Pulo and killed an
American colonel. In Quingua
(now Plaridel), Major Bell of the
American cavalry was killed in
combat with the troops led by
General Gregorio Del Pilar.

34. The Battle of

35. The capture of Malolos by MacArthur led by
General Luna to retreat farther North of
Luzon. He established his headquarters in
Calumpit, the town immediately north of
Malolos. Here, he prepared his defenses
against the Americans who were pursuing
him. General Luna sent a Telegram to
General Tomas Mascardo in Guagua asking
for reinforcements.

36. But, General Mascardo
refused. This angered
General Luna and ordered
his officers to leave for
Guagua to punish Mascardo.
He brought with him the
artillery units, the cavalry,
and elements of the infantry
battalion. During Luna’s
absence, General Gregorio
Del Pilar commanded the
sector at Bagbag, Calumpit.

37. The Americans swarmed all over the
place and defeated Del Pilar. When
General Luna returned to Calumpit at
twilight, the Americans had already
captured a large portion of the town.
Luna retreated farther north, to
Pampanga, and made preparations to
meet the advancing enemy.

38. The Fall of the
MABINI CABINET

39. was the next most powerful man in
the country, after Aguinaldo. He was
president of the Cabinet and, as
such, he was the Prime Minister. He
was also the Secretary of Foreign
Affairs. Aguinaldo depended on him
because he was honest, hardworking
and incorruptible. He never used his
high position to enrich himself in
office. He was poor when he entered
the government service. He was very
poor when died.
General Apolinario Mabini

40. When the Americans tried to win over the
Filipinos by promising them freedom and
autonomy, Mabini said this was a trick of the
enemy. He was for the independence of the
Philippines. He would not accept anything less
than independence. However, his enemies, like
Pedro A. Paterno, Ambrosio Rianzares
Bautista, Felipe Buencamino, and many
others who belonged to the wealthy and
the powerful, opposed him.

41. They believed that autonomy would be
good for the Filipinos. So they accepted
the American offer of Autonomy. Since
the group knew that Mabini was
opposed to their views, they persuaded
Aguinaldo to remove Mabini from
office. On May 7, Aguinaldo informed
Mabini that Paterno was forming a New
Cabinet. Mabini knew what it meant.

42. So he sent in the resignation of
the entire Cabinet he was
heading. Mabini spent his last
years in his armchair writing
articles against the Americans,
and his memoirs of the
Philippines struggle for
independence.

44. He was the most brilliant among the
Filipino military officers. Belonging to
an educated and a wealthy family of
Ilocos Norte, Antonio Luna was born in
San Nicolas, Manila. He studied
pharmacy in Manila and in Spain, where
he identified himself with the
propagandists. He was also a good
writer in Spanish.
General Antonio Luna

45. He asked Felipe Agoncillo, a family
friend, to give him a letter of
recommendation to General
Aguinaldo.
The members of the Luna Family had in common; he was
short-tempered. He was exiled to Spain by the colonial
government; and on his way back to the Philippines in
1898, he passed by Hongkong.

46. When the Philippine-American War broke
out, Luna was Chief of military zone that
included many provinces of Central
Luzon. He made many enemies because
of his short temper. He slapped Felipe
Buencamino, Aguinaldo’s Secretary of
Foreign Affairs, who disagreed with his.
He also slap soldier due to standard.

47. Aguinaldo recognized his brilliance and
appointed him to a high position in the
army. Luna saw that the army had no
discipline. So he tried to instill discipline in
the army, but the common soldiers
particularly the Kawit regiment did not like
him for it.

48. While he was in Bayambang, Pangasinan
inspecting the defenses against the advancing
Americans, he received a telegram from
Cabanatuan saying that he was wanted there. So
he went there with his aide, Colonel Francisco
Roman and some soldiers. On June 5, 1899, He
reached the Aguinaldo’s Headquarters in
Cabanatuan, he got angry.

49. Then he heard a rifle shot, rushed
downstairs, cursed the soldiers, and
slapped one of them. A captain
named Pedrong Kastila from Cavite,
hacked Luna with a Bolo.
The other soldiers, seeing that he was
wounded, started hacking him as well
with their bolos and some fired
gunshots at him. Luna drew his
revolver but he fell outside the
convent and died saying, “Cowards!
Assassins!” he died with more than
forty wounds in his body and head.

50. The Conquest of the
VISAYAS

51. Meanwhile, General Otis instructed
Miller to invade Iloilo. To Miller’s
demand that the Filipino troops
surrender, the Visayan patriots under
the leadership of General Martin
Delgado decided to fight instead.
To prevent the enemy from
capturing the city, Delgado
ordered his men to burn it. The
Cebu patriots, however, did not give
up the fight easily.

52. They resorted to guerilla warfare under the command of
General Arcadio Maxilom and Landro Fullon.
It took some time and much effort for the Americans
to completely subdue the brave Cebuanos.
Meanwhile in Negros, many wealthy Negrenses
sympathized with the Americans.
When the enemy came, they raised
the American flag.

53. A committee composed of prominent
Negrenses was sent to Manila to ask General
Otis to allow them to arm a battalion to
maintain peace and order. General Otis
approved the petition, for it was a
unusual act of collaboration with the
Americans. On March 1, General Otis
issued an order providing for the
creation of a military district to include
Panay, Negros and Cebu.

54. This was known as the Visayan Military District. The
Negrenses were allowed to meet in a convention to frame a
constitution. Known as the Negros Constitution, it was submitted
to President McKinley for approval. The American President did not
take it seriously and nothing came out of it.

55. The Kiram-Bates Treaty

56. Upon learning that the Spaniards
failed to completely subjugate the
Muslims, the Americans dealt with
them in a diplomatic way in order
to neutralize their offensive.
General John C. Bates
tried to win the friendship of the
Muslims by negotiating with them
and treating them equals.

57. The Sultan of Jolo,
Datu Kiram,
insisted that the Americans must
not be allowed to occupy any
other part of Sulu except the
town proper of Jolo.
Furthermore, the Sultan insisted
in collecting customs duties in
place that were not occupied by
the Americans.

58. On August 20, 1899 an agreement was signed by
General Bates, representing the United State and the
Sultan of Jolo and Datus, representing the Sulu
Sultanate.

59. Known as the Bates Treaty,
it provided that the “Sovereignty of the United States
over the whole archipelago of Sulu and its
dependencies is declared acknowledged” and that
“the rights and dignities of His Highness, the Sultan
and his Datus shall be fully respected.”

60. The American promised not to interfere in religious
matters and not to persecute anybody on
account of his religious beliefs. The Americans also
agreed to pay the Sultan and his leading Datus
monthly salaries. With the neutralizations of the
Muslims, the Americans proceeded with the so-called
pacification of the Christian areas of the Philippines.

61. AGUINALDO
Retreats to Palanan

62. With the death of General Luna,
many Filipino field commanders
were demoralized. A number of
Aguinaldo’s Generals surrendered
to the enemy. This development
led General Otis to make plans to
entrap, the recognized leader of
the Filipino people and his army
General Emilio Aguinaldo.

63. Because, the Americans were not familiar
with the local terrain and not used to the
tropical climate would be put to a great
disadvantage with this tactic. Meanwhile,
Aguinaldo and with some selected men, his
son, wife, mother, and sister fled to
Pangansinan. The Americans followed him
and tried to catch him, but they failed.

64. People cooperated Aguinaldo; they
contributed money, food and other supplies
to the Revolutionary Army. Later, he left his
family behind in order to spare them from
the hardships of travelling. Aguinaldo and a
handful of faithful followers walked to
Tierra Virgen, Cagayan. On September 6,
1990, he and his men reached Palanan,
Isabella where he established his
Headquarters.

66. While fleeing the Americans, Aguinaldo reached the Mountain
Province. He ordered his trusted General Gregorio Del Pilar, to
remain behind as they continued to advance. Del Pilar was to
intercept the Americans who were tracking them.

67. After the departure of Aguinaldo, Del Pilar chose to delay the enemy at
Pasong Tirad, a narrow pass of 4,500 feet high where he had a good
view of the surrounding country. So narrow was the trail that only one
man at a time could climb it. It was in this place that Del Pilar and sixty
loyal soldiers positioned themselves.

68. The American troops under Major Peyton march to
pursued Aguinaldo. In the morning of December 2,
1899 Major Peyton March and his well-armed men
proceeded toward Del Pillar’s position. The Filipino
troops guarding the narrow pass fired at the
Americans who had no recourse but to retreat.

69. Unfortunately, an Igorot guided the Americans to a
secret trail leading to Del Pilar’s men. The Americans
slowly and quietly went up the trail and surprised the
Filipino troops. A fierce battle ensued and Del
Pilar was killed by a bullet that passed
through his neck.

70. The American soldiers rushed to the
dead body of the young general and
looted his personal belongings for
souvenirs. The American left the body
there and for two days it remained
unburied. On the third day, the Igorots
buried his remains in a shallow grave.

72. Aguinaldo was no longer an
effective leader at this
stage of the war. Through
surprise attacks or ambush,
and with the support of the
townspeople including many of the
elites, the war lasted longer than
expected. Many Filipino military
officers were emboldened to fight with
renewed enthusiasm.

73. They took advantage of the
cooperative attitude of the
wealthy Filipinos to help the
people in the resistance. Faced
with the effective guerrilla
warfare, Americans used cruel
methods to persuade the Filipinos
to cooperate with them. For
Example, they used the “Water
Cure” on many Filipinos to punish
or extract information from them.

74. “Water Cure”
This form of torture was
done by forcing water into
the stomach of a person
until it gets filled. Then the
person would be made to
lie on his back and an
American soldier would
jump on his stomach.

75. Another form of torture was placing a
rope around a person’s neck and then
twisting it to choke him.
Garrote

76. Another form of torture was beating the
victim until he became blue in the face.

77. In Samar, the Americans also resorted to massacre
to avenge the death of their comrades who were
killed by the Filipino Guerrillas under the
command of General Vicente Lukban.

78. The Americans also burned down the whole
town of Balangiga and killed all men and
even boys over ten years old. Many are
surrendered/died because
they could not take any
more of these brutalities.

80. With the help of a Spaniard,
Lazaro Segovia, who joined
the Filipino forces against the
Americans, Colonel
Frederick Funston
planned the capture of Aguinaldo.
The Spaniard led some men from
Macabebe and pretended to have
captured some American soldiers.

81. They walked to Palanan
and informed Aguinaldo
through a courier that
they were bringing in the
American captives.
Aguinaldo was happy to
hear the news and made
preparations for the
soldiers who had captured
the enemy.

82. When Segovia arrived in the house where Aguinaldo
was staying, he and his men signaled to their
comrades to start firing. When Aguinaldo rushed to
the window to see what was happening, Funston and
his men told Aguinaldo to surrender.

83. Aguinaldo was brought to
Manila where, on April 1,
1901, he took the oath of
allegiance to the
government of the United
States. In a proclamation
of April 19, he appealed to
the Filipino people to
accept the “Sovereignty
of the United States.”
General Emilio Aguinaldo boarding the USS Vicksburg as a Prisoner of War

85. Upon Aguinaldo’s capture many
Filipino field commanders
surrendered, while the wealthy
Filipinos happily collaborated
with the Americans.
However, there were still a few
Filipino generals who refused to
give up the fight.

86. General Miguel Malvar of Batangas
took over the leadership of the Filipino Government and
fought the enemy in running battles. He was so successful
that the Americans tried to frighten the civilian population
by re-concentrating them in a place where food supply was
supposedly assured.

87. To live outside thse zones or sona
meant lack of protection and sure
hunger. At this time, Virus(rinderpest)
killed over 90% of carabaos, thus, rice
planting was greatly affected causing
severe shortage of food. The American
continued their relentless campaign
against the guerrillas.

88. On February 27, 1902, they
captured General Vicente
Lukban in Samar. This was
the end of the guerrilla
war-face in that province.
Two months later, on April
16, 1902 General Malvar
surrendered in order to
save his people from the
brutality of the enemy and
from hunger.

89. With the surrender of General Malvar,
systematic opposition to American
sovereignty ceased. The case of
Macario Sakay, patriots refused to
surrender, but at this point, their effect
on the Americans was negligible. The
guerrilla war-face was crushed.

91. Despite the official declaration of the end
of the war by President Theodore
Roosevelt on July 4, 1902, recent studies
point to the continuation of the fight
against the colonizers by politico-religious
groups called ladrones by the Americans,
which means thieves and bandits.

92. Composed of the poor and uneducated
peasants, these groups continued to
harass the newly-organized Philippine
Scounts or the Filipinos now serving in the
U.S. Army. These groups who believed in
the power of prayers, rituals, and amulets
(Anting-anting) were not only anti-
foreigners (Friars, Spanish and Americans)
but also anti-caciques and landlords.

93. Among them were the samahans and
confradias of Ruperto Rios in Tayabas;
Apo Ipe Salvador in Bulacan,
Pampangan, Nueva Ijica, Tarlac and
Pangasinan; and Papa Isio of Negros
who was greatly feared by the elite who
welcomed the Americans and put up
their own Republic.

94. There were also the
Pulajanes in Cebu (led by
the Tabal brothers), “Dios-
Dios” in Leyte led by
Faustino Ablen and by
Papa Pablo in Samar. War
was ended in these places
in piecemeal fashion 1903
to 1913, using violent
means.

95. The Non-Christian Filipinos like those in the Cordilleras of Luzon
and the Muslims in the Sulu archipelago on the south, were
“Pacified” through the creation of two special provinces; The
Moro Province in 1903 and the Mountain Province in 1908. In the
Moro Province warfare would continue for a decade up to 1916.

96. The brutal military campaigns of
the U.S. against them was revealed
in the massacre at Bud Dajo in 1906
in Sulu, where after four days of
fierce fighting,
the U.S forces suffered 20
casualties and 70 men wounded.
All the Tausugs – men, women
and children about a thousand of
them, were all killed.

97. REFERENCES
 The Philippine-American War (1899-1902)
Posted on April 16, 2015 accessed from
http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-
heritagesch/historical-research/the-philippine-american-war-1899-1902/
 PPT: The Philippine American War (1899 - 1902)
Published on Mar 6, 2014 accessed from
https://www.slideshare.net/jonreypineda/the-philippine-american-war-
1899-1902
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