The Treaty of Paris

As the conflict wound down, Spanish and American diplomats made arrangements for a peace conference in Paris. They met in October 1898, with the Spanish government committed to regaining control of the Philippines, which they felt were unjustly taken in a war that was initially only about Cuban independence. After Commander George Dewey’s victory over the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay, debates about how to proceed occupied President McKinley, political leaders from both parties, and the popular press.

American and Philippine forces (under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo) were in communication: would the Americans offer their support to the Filipinos and their ongoing efforts against the Spanish? Or would the Americans replace the Spanish as a colonial occupying force?

While the Teller Amendment ensured freedom for Cuba, President McKinley was reluctant to relinquish the strategically useful prize of the Philippines. He certainly did not want to give the islands back to Spain, nor did he want another European power to step in to seize them. Neither the Spanish nor the Americans considered giving the islands their independence, since, in keeping with the pervasive racism and cultural stereotyping of the day, they believed the Filipino people were not capable of governing themselves. William Howard Taft, the first American governor-general to oversee the administration of the new U.S. possession, accurately captured American sentiments with his frequent reference to Filipinos as “our little brown brothers.”

Figure 1. This cartoon from the Philadelphia Press, showed the reach of the new American empire, from Puerto Rico to the Philippines.

As the negotiations unfolded, Spain agreed to recognize Cuba’s independence, as well as American control of Puerto Rico and Guam. McKinley insisted that the United States maintain control over the Philippines as an annexation, in return for a $20 million payment to Spain. Although Spain was reluctant, they were in no position militarily to counter the American demand. The two sides finalized the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898 (though it would still need to be ratified by Congress). With the treaty came the international recognition that there was a new American empire that included the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The American press quickly glorified the nation’s new reach.

The Anti-Imperialist League

Domestically, the country was not unified in supporting the idea of the United States as a nation building an empire. Many prominent Americans, including activist Jane Addams, former President Grover Cleveland, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, author Mark Twain, and labor leader Samuel Gompers felt strongly that the country should not be pursuing an empire, and, in 1898, they formed the Anti-Imperialist League to oppose this expansionism. The reasons for their opposition were varied. Some felt that empire-building went against the principles of democracy and freedom upon which the country was founded, some worried about competition from foreign workers, and some held the xenophobic viewpoint that the assimilation of other races would hurt the country. Regardless of their reasons, this illustrious group commanded an audience and presented a substantive challenge.

Foreign treaties require a two-thirds majority in the U.S. Senate to pass, and the Anti-Imperialist League’s pressure led to a split, with the defeat of the Treaty of Paris seeming imminent. Less than a week before the scheduled vote, however, news of a Filipino uprising against American forces reached the United States (more on that below). Undecided senators were convinced of the need to maintain a robust American presence in the region and also wished to preempt the possible intervention of another European power. The Senate formally ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899.

More American Territories

Guam

After almost four centuries as part of the Kingdom of Spain, the United States occupied Guam following Spain’s defeat in the Spanish–American War. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it was an important waypoint for ships headed to the Philippines and became a key strategic point for the U.S. Navy as part of its Pacific strategy. After the war, it remained under the control of the U.S. Navy. It was taken over by the Japanese during WWII, who occupied the island for two and a half years before being recaptured by American forces in 1944. To this day, Guam is considered a territory of the United States. Guamanians elect their own governor and legislators and have their own court, but also send one representative to the U.S. House of Representatives, though they have no voting power. This remains controversial today, and there have been several attempts to petition for independence, commonwealth status, or statehood.

Puerto Rico

The Foraker Act of 1900 established Puerto Rico as an American territory with its own civil government. The territory was granted limited self-government through an elected house of representatives, but the governor and an executive council were appointed by the president. It was not until 1917 that Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship, but certain rights, especially those related to voting, remained limited. Even with a greater degree of self-government, Congress could veto or amend laws passed in Puerto Rico, leaving the island’s citizens with limited control over their own affairs. Puerto Ricans would spend the next several decades fighting for greater autonomy from the United States, culminating in a failed assassination attempt on President Harry Truman.

Cuba

Cuba, which after the war was technically a free country, adopted a constitution based on the U.S. Constitution. While the Teller Amendment had prohibited the United States from annexing the country, the subsequent Platt Amendment secured the right of the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs if threats to a stable government emerged. The Platt Amendment also guaranteed the United States its own naval and coaling station on the island’s southern Guantanamo Bay and prohibited Cuba from making treaties with other countries that might eventually threaten their independence. While Cuba remained a sovereign nation on paper, in practice, the United States governed Cuba’s foreign policy and economic agreements.

Despite recognizing Cuba’s transition into an independent republic, over the following twenty years the United States repeatedly intervened militarily in Cuban affairs. In 1912 U.S. forces were sent to quell protests by Afro-Cubans against racial discrimination. By 1926 U.S. companies owned 60% of the Cuban sugar industry and imported 95% of total Cuban output.  While Washington was generally supportive of successive Cuban governments, internal confrontations between the government of Gerardo Machado and political opponents led to his military overthrow by Cuban rebels in 1933. Machado’s replacement, Ramón Grau, assumed the Presidency and immediately nullified the Platt Amendment. In protest, the United States denied recognition to Grau’s government and supported Fulgencio Batista in a coup against Grau. Batista succeeded and ruled over Cuba on and off for the next two decades.

The Philippine-American War

Like the Cubans, Filipinos had waged a long war against their Spanish colonizers. The United States could have given them the independence they had long fought for, but instead, at the behest of President William McKinley, the U.S. occupied the islands and from 1899 to 1902 waged a series of conflicts against Filipino insurrectionists that cost far more lives than the war with Spain. Under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipinos who had fought for freedom against the Spanish now fought for freedom against the very nation that allegedly liberated them from Spanish tyranny.

The Philippine Insurrection, or the Philippine-American War, was a brutal conflict of occupation and insurgency. Contemporaries compared the guerrilla-style warfare in challenging and unfamiliar terrain to the American experiences in the so-called Indian Wars of the late nineteenth century. Whereas Filipinos saw themselves as a nation at war with a foreign power, Americans insisted the fighting was an illegal insurrection against their authority. That provided legal cover to treat Filipinos as criminal rebels rather than legitimate combatants. The war quickly turned ugly as a result.

Filipino forces outnumbered Americans but were badly underequipped and outgunned. Sometimes they resorted to bows and knives against rifles, machine guns, and artillery. Fighting was characterized by guerrilla combat and ambush by Filipinos, and retaliatory sweeps that included massacres, torture, burning of villages, and other atrocities by American forces. U.S. generals adopted excessivel “pacification” methods that Filipinos recognized from their hard-fought war against Spanish colonial occupation: suppression tactics meant to physically isolate the guerrilla fighters from the civilian population in designated “zones of protection.” Ultimately, that policy contributed to large-scale civilian deaths in disease-ridden internment camps.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Figure 2. Emilio Aguinaldo.

When the Americans first came to the Philippines, the islands were already in revolt against Spanish rule. One of the leaders of the revolt was Emilio Aguinaldo, who had declared a rebellion against the Spanish in 1896. By the time the U.S. navy arrived in Manila, Aguinaldo had defeated the Spanish in several battles, and hoped to work with the Americans to defeat the remaining Spanish and declare an independent republic. However, Aguinaldo and his supporters felt isolated by the United States, who had even blocked his troops from participating in the capture of Manila, the capital.

After Aguinaldo began fighting against the United States in 1899, Aguinaldo declared that fighting against the U.S. troops should be through guerrilla warfare, meaning small attacks against isolated groups of soldiers. The fighting in the war was extremely violent, and more U.S. troops died in the Philippines than had died fighting the Spanish. Aguinaldo declared the creation of an independent republic which lasted until 1901, when he was captured by U.S. troops and surrendered; fighting continued as some of his generals refused to lay down their arms.

Figure 3. Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo was captured after three years of fighting with U.S. troops. He is seen here boarding the USS Vicksburg after taking an oath of loyalty to the United States in 1901.

Why do the Imperialists wish to subjugate us? What do they intend to do with us? Do they expect us to surrender—to yield our inalienable rights, our homes, our properties, our lives, our future destinies, to the absolute control of the United States? What would you do with our nine millions of people? Would you permit us to take part in your elections? Would you concede to us the privilege of sending Senators and Representatives to your Congress? Would you allow us to erect one or more federal states? Or, would you tax us without representation? Would you change your tariff laws so as to admit our products free of duty and in competition with the products of our own soil?

-Emilio Aguinaldo, 1900

Aguinaldo is a controversial figure in the Philippines today because he collaborated with the Japanese during WWII, but he is also recognized as the first president of the Philippines and as a national hero for his role in resisting Spanish and U.S. rule.

In 1901, President McKinley appointed William Howard Taft as the civil governor of the Philippines in an effort to disengage the American military from direct confrontations with the Filipino people. Under Taft’s leadership, Americans built a new transportation infrastructure, hospitals, and schools, hoping to win over the local population. The rebels quickly lost influence, and Aguinaldo was captured by American forces and forced to swear allegiance to the United States.

The Taft Commission, as it became known, continued to introduce reforms to modernize and improve daily life for the country despite pockets of resistance that continued to fight through the spring of 1902. Much of the commission’s rule centered on legislative reforms to local government offices and national agencies, with the commission offering appointments to resistance leaders in exchange for their support. The Philippines continued under American rule until becoming self-governing in 1946.