A History of Conflict Between the United States and Philippines

American soldiers in a trench during the Philippine-American War. Photo from Wikimediacommons

The Philippine-American War, which took place from 1899-1902, featured the First Philippine Republic fighting for independence against the United States. Emilio Aguinaldo led the Philippine resistance, while the United States were under the leadership of presidents McKinley and Roosevelt.  The Filipinos had been fighting a guerrilla style war against the Spanish until the U.S won the Battle of Manila Bay, and when the U.S started occupying the land, the natives' focus switched towards its new opponent. The war ended when Aguinaldo was captured in March of 1902 (though the official date was July 4, 1902), and soon organized opposition from his supporters dwindled. The Filipinos suffered numerous casualties from the war and from disease. The Philippines became a base for U.S operations in the Pacific/Asia region, and the U.S. did its best to modernize the region.

For more information about this war, check out the following websites:

• Wikipedia: Philippine-American War
• The History Guy: Philippine American War
• National Archives website: Researching Service in the U.S. Army During the Philippine Insurrection By Trevor K. Plante
• Cato Institute: Filipino Lessons for America Strategy in Iraq
• Project for the New American Century: U.S. Counterinsurgency in Iraq: Lessons from the Philippine War
• A Brief History of the Philippines from a Filipino Perspective