Spooner Amendment, congressional amendment to the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 that called for the end of the

U.S. military government in the Philippines. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris (December 1898), sovereignty over the Philippine Islands had passed from Spain to the United States. Filipinos fought the imposition of American rule, and it was believed in the United States that their resistance was due to the harshness of military government. The Spooner Amendment authorized Pres. William McKinley to supplant military rule with civilian government, which was inaugurated in July 1901. Filipino guerrillas, however, continued hostilities for a number of years.