| THE AMERICAN PERIOD |
| The Spanish-American war started when American warship USS Maine sunk in the waters off Cuba. The United States declared war against Spain on April 25,1898. Commodore George Dewey was ordered to attack the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, and that was where the first engagement between the US and Spain transpired. General Emilio Aguinaldo and his men fought alongside Commodore Dewey and the Filipinos routed out the Spanish forces from the provinces. On June 12,1898, Gen. Aguinaldo proclaimed the Philippine independence from the balcony of his house in Kawit, Cavite. On December 8, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Because of this, Cuba gained its independence while Spain gave up Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines for the sum of US$20 million. The Filipino people thought that they would finally be free. But instead, President McKinley ordered the War department to bring all the islands under military control because the Filipinos were too "uncivilized" to govern themselves. Because of the people's desire for their own government, Aguinaldo signed the Malolos Constitution and declared the first Philippine Republic on January 23,1899. The Phil-American war started on February 4,1899 when an American soldier, William Grayson, began shooting at people and killed a Filipino who was crossing the bridge in San Juan. The struggle for Philippine independence which was led by Aguinaldo lasted for 3 years. The Filipinos were defeated by the overwhelming forces of the Americans. The war took the lives of 4,234 Americans and 16,000 Filipinos. When William Howard Taft was appointed head of the Philippine Commission, he insisted that the Philippines is for the Filipinos. But despite their good governance and preparation for the country's independence, American atrocities did not end at once (like the Moro Massacre). The Americans ruled the country for 48 years and later declared the Philippines' independence on July 4, 1945. |
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