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But, it was just the beginning of another nation’s expansion. The Philippines tasted its first supposed freedom after 300 years of being colonized. It led to Spain losing its sovereignty to its overseas colonies, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. The Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War and marked the end of the Spanish Empire. When the Americans waged war against Spain and won in 1898, both parties signed a treaty. In 1896, after centuries of slavery and oppression, the Filipinos were finally getting a grip of the chances of attaining freedom from Spain through guerilla warfare during the Philippine Revolution. With that, the insurgents were enraged, having been told to stand down and denied entry to claim their city. During the eve of the mock battle following the Spanish-American deal, the latter bluntly prohibited by the Filpino insurgents to enter the capital city, or they will open fire. The latter would surrender only to the American troops and not to the Filipino revolutionaries to not lose face. Moreover, Agoncillo said that the Americans made a secret deal with the Spanish forces. protection should he return to the Philippines and cooperate with the Americans to topple the Spanish rule once and for all, which Aguinaldo agreed.Īgoncillo further claimed that despite the secret arrangements to fight a common enemy, the Americans disproved the claims that there were such ‘political arrangements.’ In addition, they mistreated Aguinaldo as soon as they secured Spain’s surrender – implying that the Americans used Aguinaldo to further their ulterior motives. Opposite to the American’s claim that they avoided political dealings with Aguinaldo during his exile in Singapore, Filipino Historian Teodoro Agoncillo mentioned what he calls the ‘American Apostasy.’ The historian says the Americans themselves approached Aguinaldo during that time and assured him of the country’s independence and U.S. On the other hand, Americans lost around 4,200 of their men. About 20,000 Filipino revolutionaries died in the battle, and as many as 200,000 civilians more lost their lives due to famine, diseases, and atrocity – referred to by history books as ‘collateral damage. Historians account that the armed conflict was the bloodiest in all of Philippine history. The Philippine-American War fought from February 4, 1899, to July 2, 1902, was a pitched battle in favor of the United States (U.S.) forces and a bloody one. Little did Filipinos know, it was just the beginning of yet another invasion that will last for 48 years. With the help of Americans, the Filipinos were finally able to declare independence from the European imperialists on December 10, 1898, through the Treaty of Paris. Three Hundred and Thirty-Three years: that’s how long Spaniards have colonized and changed the course of destiny of the then humble islands of the Philippines.