The Spanish-American War lasted from April 1898 to August 1898 and resulted in the U.S. acquiring territories from Spain in the western Pacific and Latin America. This included the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Fighting then broke out between the U.S. and Filipino revolutionaries from 1899-1902 as the Filipinos did not want to be ruled by the U.S. after the Treaty of Paris transferred control of the Philippines from Spain to America. This Philippine-American War involved conventional battles in 1899 followed by guerrilla warfare and resulted in over 20,000 Filipino and 4,300 American deaths, many from disease. The U.S. gained control of the Philippines by 1902,

1. AMERICAN OCCUPATION
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR (April 21, 1898 – August 13, 1898)
 It is a conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S.
acquisition of territories in the western Pacific (the Philippines and Guam) and Latin America.
 The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, which began in February 1895.
 The war broke out after the unexplainedsinking in Havana harbor of the battleship USS Maine (Feb. 15, 1898), which had been sent
to protect U.S. citizens and property after anti-Spanish rioting in Havana.
 Spain declaredwar on the United States on April 24, followedby a U.S. declaration of war on the 25th, whichwas made retroa ctive
to April 21. The ensuing war waspathetically one-sided, since Spain had readied neither its army nor its navy for a distant war with
the formidable power of the United States.
 Commodore George Dewey leda U.S. naval squadron into Manila Bay in the Philippines on May 1, 1898, and destroyed the anchored
Spanishfleetin a leisurely morning engagement, in whichonly seven American seamen were wounded. Manila itself was occupied by
U.S. troops by August.
 The elusive SpanishCaribbean fleetunder Admiral Pascual Cervera waslocated in Santiago harbor in Cuba by U.S. reconnaissance.
An army of regular troops and volunteers under Gen. William Shafter (and including Theodore Roosevelt and his 1st Volunteer
Cavalry, the “Rough Riders”) landed on the coast east of Santiago and slowly advanced on the city in an effort to force Cervera’s
fleet out of the harbor.
 By the Treaty of Paris (signedDec. 10, 1898), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States,
and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.
 The Spanish-American War was an important turning point in the history of both antagonists. Spain’s defeat decisively turned the
nation’s attention away from its overseas colonial adventures and inward upon its domestic needs, a process that led to both a
cultural and a literary renaissance and two decades of much-needed economic development in Spain. The victorious United States,
on the other hand, emerged from the war a worldpower with far-flung overseaspossessionsanda new stake in international politics
that would soon lead it to play a determining role in the affairs of Europe.
PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR (February 4, 1899 – July 4, 1902)
 It is a war between the United States and Filipino revolutionaries.
 The reason behind it was the suspicious intentions of Americans in the Philippines especially when they engaged in a mock battle
with Spanishsoldiersunder the supervision of Governor General Fermin Jaudenes. Another reason wasthe ratification of Treaty of
Pariswhich transferred Philippine sovereignty from Spain to the United States but was not recognized by Filipino leaders, whose
troops were in actual control of the entire archipelago except the capital city of Manila. Although an end to the insurrection was
declared in 1902, sporadic fighting continued for several years thereafter.
 The war began with shooting on the outskirts of Manila (specifically when Private William Walter Grayson fired the first shots
nearby San Juan Bridge) on the night of February 4, 1899. Throughout the spring of 1899, American troops pushed north into the
centralLuzon Plain, and by the end of that year Filipino Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo had retreated into the inaccessible northern
mountains. The period of conventional battles ended, but insurgent leaders in many provinces continued bitter guerrilla warfare
 Fighting flared with increased bitterness on the island of Samar in 1901. Gen. Jacob F. Smith, enraged by a guerrilla massacre of
U.S. troops, launched a retaliatory campaign of such indiscriminate ferocity that he was court-martialed and forced to retire.
 After 1902 the American civil government regarded the remaining guerrillas as mere bandits through Brigandage Act, though the
fighting continued. About 1,000 guerrillas under Simeón Ola were not defeated until late 1903, and in Batangas province, south of
Manila, troops commanded by Macario Sakay resisted capture until as late as 1906.
 The last organized resistance to U.S. power took place on Samar from 1904 to 1906. There the rebels’ tactic of burning pacifi ed
villages contributed to their own defeat. Although an unconnected insurgency campaign by Moro bands on Mindanao continued
sporadically until 1913, the US had gained undisputed control of the Philippines and retained possession of the islands until 1946.
 The human cost of the war was significant. An estimated 20,000 Filipino troops were killed, and more than 200,000 civilians
perishedas a result of combat, hunger, or disease. Of the 4,300 Americanslost, some 1,500 were killedin action, while nearly twice
that number succumbed to disease.
USS Olympia on the Battle of Manila Bay Filipino-American War (1899-1902)
LESSON
FOUR