Philippine Insurrection

“Imperialism in America” For a brief period of time, America became the exact thing it once strived to defeat: an imperialist. The moment the Treaty of Paris was signed on February 6, 1899, America became an imperialist. America was divided on the issue of imperialism. Some said that imperialism was wrong because it was against everything our nation was founded upon. Others saw imperialism as a chance to exploit people and land to earn power and prestige. The following paragraphs will explore America’s experimentation with imperialism in the Philippines. During the Spanish-American War, America outright won Puerto Rico and Cuba by defeating the Spanish in each area. At the end of the war, the Spanish were not defeated in the Philippines, so America compromised with the Spanish and paid them for the area. Meanwhile, Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence in the Philippines. McKinley asserted that the Philippines would not be granted their independence, and fighting broke out as a result. Emilio Aguinaldo appointed himself president of the Philippine Republic. The Filipinos did not fight conventionally; they were not skilled enough in battle, so they engaged in guerrilla warfare. Ending the war was a simple plan for the Americans. The main goal was to capture Emilio Aguinaldo, the heart of the Filipino people. One night at a party, two soldiers disguised as Filipino soldiers, surprised and captured Emilio Aguinaldo. Filipinos were willing to surrender the war in exchange for Emilio Aguinaldo, thus ending the Philippine Insurrection. The only way for America to effectively fight against the guerrilla warfare used by the Filipinos was to destroy their villages to cut off supplies from the guerillas. Because of the Filipino lack of leadership and supplies, the war was virtually over. President Theodore Roosevelt declared general amnesty on July 4, 1902. The same year, Congress passed the Philippine Government Act. It meant that a