British Colonial Rule in the Philippines
In the 1890s, Emilio Aguinaldo joined an armed rebellion that advocated for the independence of the Philippines .after his exile in 1898, Emilio, with the encouragement of the Americans, returned from exile and proclaimed himself as the president. William McKinley, the American president at the time, denied the Philippines independence and decided to establish American rule. This was after Spain surrendered her longtime colony of the Philippines to the United States following her defeat in the Spanish-American war. This decision by the then-president led to a length, devastating war against the Filipinos. Emilio, who was reading the same script with the Americans during the Spanish-American war, was very disappointed by president McKinley’s disrespect to Filipinos’ right to freedom. In 1899, he published his grounds for objecting to American imperialism in the North America Review. He castigated the UNITED States for failing to grant Philippines independence. The rule of the United States in the Philippines was acquired in 1903, killing more than 4000 American soldiers and 100,000 Filipinos.
Emilio continued to reprimand the United States’ belief that the Philippines could not rule themselves. He accused them of going to the Philippines and perceiving the natives as ‘savages’ who needed to be ruled. He went on to challenge the Americans to treat them the way the British government treated them. Emilio makes it clear to the Americans that Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines are not part of the United States territory. Emilio believes that the Philippines can be independent. Independent in the sense that her production is much higher than her consumption. According to Emilio, Filipinos are not demanding the territories that were taken before the past century; instead, they are advocating for what they took in 1898. Emilio holds that the riches in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines are meant for the black sea district but not for foreign opportunists.
Emilio continued to reprimand the United States’ belief that the Philippines could not rule themselves. He accused them of going to the Philippines and perceiving the natives as ‘savages’ who needed to be ruled. He went on to challenge the Americans to treat them the way the British government treated them. Emilio makes it clear to the Americans that Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines are not part of the United States territory. Emilio believes that the Philippines can be independent. Independent in the sense that her production is much higher than her consumption. According to Emilio, Filipinos are not demanding the territories that were taken before the past century; instead, they are advocating for what they took in 1898. Emilio holds that the riches in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines are meant for the black sea district but not for foreign opportunists.