US Event: Philippine-American War

The Philippine-American War, which is also known as the Philippine War of Independence, was an armed conflict beginning and 1899 and continuing until 1902 between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United Sates of America. The war arose following a struggle by the First Philippine Republic, a short-lived insurgency revolutionary government created following the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule, to gain independence following annexation by the United States. Fighting began on February 4, 1899 and quickly escalated into the Battle of Manila. The painting above depicts this battle, which ended in an American victory. The War officially ended in July 1902 with the passing of the Philippine Organic Act, which established a bicameral legislature and extended the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos. Opposition to the war inspired Mark Twain to found the Anti-Imperialist League and British poet Rudyard Kipling to write "The White Man's Burden." 

The war and occupation by the United States would change the cultural landscape of the islands, as the people dealt with a large death toll, disestablishment of the Catholic Church as the state religion, and the introduction of the English language as the primary language of government and some businesses. In 1916, the United States granted the Philippines autonomy and finally allowed self-government in 1934. In 1946, the Philippines became an independent state.

This instance of American Imperialism was very similar to European imperialism in that the government used force to effect the politics and culture of a foreign country. Additionally, there was resistance to foreign control in the same way that Japan and China fought to keep out the western world.