Finally Free

               On 4 February 1899, general hostilities began between Filipino and American forces when an American sentry patrolling near the border between the Filipino and American lines shot a Filipino soldier, after which Filipino forces returned fire, thus igniting a second battle for the city.[vi] Without the Spanish in the Philippines the Americans easily had the upper hand on the Nation that had just stolen from Spain. The American generals took a stance to control main trading points and central cities. Philippines being one of the few nations to have been “stolen” from another, Spain, allows for its uniqueness in the fact that without the presence of Spain in the first place it would not have led to its independence.  The Jones Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1916 to serve as the new organic law in the Philippines, promised eventual independence and instituted an elected Philippine senate, bringing in the way of the final Independence of the Philippines after having struggled with two other nations for hundreds of years. [vii]

Wanting a Change

               The Philippine Revolution against Spain began in August 1896, when the Katipunan group was started. Led by Andrés Bonifacio, the Katipunan was a secessionist movement whose goal was to make the Philippines independent. Without Spain, the Philippines would have never been able to spark these ideas of freedom, because what they knew prior to their arrival was Primal.  Hostilities broke out on February 4, 1899, after two American privates on patrol killed three Filipino soldiers in San Juan, a Manila suburb.[iii] Backed by the Americans, the Katipunan slowly gained control back over the archipelago. With the execution of Bonifacio the war escalated and a US ship was sunk. Caused by the sinking of their ship, the US declared war with Spain in 1898. [iv] The Philippine Declaration of independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo (presently Kawit), Cavite, Philippines. However, this act of freedom was passed yet their total independence was not .[v]

New People in the Philippines

The Philippines wouldn’t have developed as quickly without the influence of the Spanish.  Prior to 1521, the Filipino people were relatively Primitive and cut off, however, this all changed with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan. Upon his arrival, he claimed the archipelago in the name of Spain, yet he was doomed for he was shortly killed in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. This small exploration in the Philippines was a catalyst to the later colonization by  Miguel López de Legaspi.[i] With the colonization of the Islands, the Filipino people were heavily influenced by their Spanish “Conquistadors.”

The long period of Spanish rule of the Filipino people was however not a bad thing for the people.  In Manila a cathedral was built with an episcopal palace, Augustinian, Dominican and Franciscan monasteries and a Jesuit house, showing the stress of the Christian Religion the Spanish imposed on them. However the Spanish’s rule was interrupted in 1762, when the British battled Spain for seven years. [ii] This brief quarrel in the Philippines led to thoughts and sparks of rebellion.