Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution (1896 - 1898) was an armed military conflict between t he people of the Philippines

and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire. The Philippine Revolution began in August 1896 upon the discovery of the anti-co lonial secret organization Katipunan by the Spanish authorities. The Katipunan, led by Andrs Bonifacio, was a secessionist movement and shadow government spread throughout much of the islands whose goal was independence from Spain through ar med revolt. In a mass gathering in Caloocan, the Katipunan leaders organized the mselves into a revolutionary government and openly declared a nationwide armed r evolution. Bonifacio called for a simultaneous coordinated attack on the capital Manila. This attack failed, but the surrounding provinces also rose up in revol t. In particular, rebels in Cavite led by Emilio Aguinaldo won early victories. A power struggle among the revolutionaries led to Bonifacio's execution in 1897, with command shifting to Aguinaldo who led his own revolutionary government. Th at year, a truce was officially reached with the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and Aguina ldo was exiled to Hong Kong, though hostilities between rebels and the Spanish g overnment never actually ceased. In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Aguinaldo unofficially a llied with the United States, returned to the Philippines and resumed hostilitie s against the Spaniards. By June, the rebels had conquered nearly all Spanish-he ld ground within the Philippines with the exception of Manila. Aguinaldo thus de clared independence from Spain and the First Philippine Republic was established . However, neither Spain nor the United States recognized Philippine independenc e. Spanish rule in the islands only officially ended with the 1898 Treaty of Par is, wherein Spain ceded the Philippines and other territories to the United Stat es. The Philippine-American War broke out shortly afterward. Background When the revolution began in 1896, Spain had ruled the Philippines for 331 years . During the Spanish conquest in the 16th century; European missionaries and imm igrants steadily flowed to the colony. The inhabitants of the islands were conve rted to Christianity, and integrated into colonial society. The foundation was r ather a period of slow economic growth and the colony spent its early years in c onstant warfare, not only quelling native rebellions, but also invasions by othe r nations including the Dutch, British, Portuguese, and Chinese. The longest nat ive rebellion was that of Dagahoy which lasted more than a hundred years. In the late 1700s, Governor-General Basco introduced economic reforms and opened the i slands to world trade. Almost overnight, criollos, and mestizos in the islands a massed tremendous wealth and the Philippines became one of the most affluent soc ieties in the East Indies. This new breed of business and intellectual leaders b ecame the colony's middle class society. Rise of Filipino nationalism In 1789, the French Revolution began changing the political landscape of Europe as it ended absolute monarchy in France. The power passed from king to people th rough representation in the parliament. People in other European countries began asking for the same representation in parliament. In the Philippines, this idea l spread in the colony through the writings of criollo writers as Luis Varela Ro drguez who called himself "Conde Filipino" (Earl of the Philippines). This was th e first instance that a colonist called himself a Filipino rather than a Spanish subject. With the rising economic and political stability in the Philippines, t he Middle Class began demanding that the churches in the Philippines be national ized through a process known as Secularization. In this process, the control of Philippine parishes were to be passed from the religious orders to the secular p riests, particularly Philippine-born priests. The religious orders, or friars, r eacted and a political struggle between the friars and secular priests commenced

. The 1800s was also a new era for Europe. Church power was at a decline and friar s began pouring more to the Philippines, ending hopes for the friars ever relinq uishing their posts. With the opening of the Suez Canal, the voyage between Spai n and the Philippines was cut short. More peninsulares (Spaniards born in the Sp ain) began pouring into the colony and began occupying the various government po sitions traditionally held by the criollo (Spaniards born in the Philippines). I n the 300 years of colonial rule, the criollos have been accustomed to being sem i-autonomous with the governor-general being the only Spaniard (peninsulares) in the islands. The criollos demanded representation in the Spanish Cortes where t hey could express their agrievances. This together with the secularization issue gave rise to the Criollo Insurgencies. Criollo insurgencies In the late 1700s, Criollo (or Insulares, "islanders," as they were locally call ed) writers began spreading the ideals of the French Revolution in the Philippin es. At the same time, a royal decree ordered the secularization of Philippine ch urches and many parishes were turned over to Philippine-born priests. Halfway in the process, it was aborted with the return of the Jesuits to the Philippines a nd the religious orders retaking Philippine parishes. One instance that enraged the Insulares was the Franciscan take over of the richest parish in the islands which had been under the Philippine-born priests, that of Antipolo. In the early 1800s, Fathers Pedro Pelez and Mariano Gmez began organizing activities that dema nded the return of control of Philippine parishes to Filipino seculars. Father P elez, who was Archbishop of the Manila Cathedral, died in an earthquake while Fat her Gmez retired to private life. The next generation of Insular activists includ ed Father Jos Burgos who organized the student rallies in the University of Santo Tomas. In the political front, activists like Joaqun Pardo de Tavera and Jacobo Zobel. The unrest escalated into a large insurgency when Novales declared the in dependence of the Philippines from Spain and crowned himself Emperor of the Phil ippines. In 1872, the conflict of Insular uprisings came when soldiers and worke rs of the Cavite Arsenal of Fort San Felipe mutinied. They were led by Sergeant La Madrid, a Spanish mestizo. The soldiers mistook the fireworks of Quiapo as th e signal for a national uprising which had long been planned. The colonial gover nment used the incident to spread a reign of terror and liquidate subversive pol itical and church figures. Among them were Priest Mariano Gmez, Jos Burgos, and Ja cinto Zamora who were executed through the garrote. They are remembered in Phili ppine history as Gomburza. La Solidaridad and La Liga Filipina The Terror of 1872, its deportation of Filipinos to the Mariana Islands and Euro pe created a colony of Filipino expatriates in Europe, particularly in Madrid. F ilipinos in Europe founded the La Solidaridad, a newspaper that pressed for refo rms in the Philippines through propaganda. As such, this movement is also known in history as the Propaganda Movement. La Solidaridad included the membership of leading Spanish liberals such as Morayta. Among the pioneering editors of the p aper were Graciano Lpez Jaena, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and Jos Rizal. The Propaganda Movement in Europe managed to get the Spanish legislature to pass some reforms in the islands but the colonial government did not implement them. After years o f publication from 1889 to 1895, La Solidaridad had begun to run out of funds wi thout accomplishing concrete changes in the Philippines. Jos Rizal decided to ret urn to the Philippines and founded La Liga Filipina, the Manila chapter of the P ropaganda Movement. Merely days after its founding, Rizal was arrested by coloni al authorities and deported to Dapitan. Nevertheless, the Liga was continued in his absence but it eventually dissolved due to the ideologies of its members. Co nservative upper class members favoring reform, under the leadership of Apolinar io Mabini, set up the Cuerpo de Compromisarios which tried to revive La Solidari dad in Europe. Other, more radical members belonging to the middle and lower cla sses, led by Andrs Bonifacio, had already set up the Katipunan alongside the revi ved Liga.

Katipunan Andrs Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata and Valentn Daz fou nded the Katipunan (in full, Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan "Supreme and Venerable Society of the Children of the Nation") in Manila on July 7, 1892. The organization, advocating independence through armed revolt against Spain, was influenced by Freemasonry through its rituals and org anization; Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, and other leading members were also Free masons. From Manila, the Katipunan expanded into several provinces, including Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte , Pangasinan, Bicol and Mindanao. Most of the members, called Katipuneros, came from the lower and middle classes. The Katipunan had "its own laws, bureaucratic structure and elective leadership". For each province it involved, the Katipuna n Supreme Council (Kataas-taasang Kapulungan, of which Bonifacio was a member an d eventually head) coordinated provincial councils (Sangguniang Bayan) which wer e in charge of "public administration and military affairs on the supra-municipa l or quasi-provincial level" and local councils (Panguluhang Bayan), in charge o f affairs "on the district or barrio level". By 1895 Bonifacio was the supreme l eader (Supremo) or supreme president (Presidente Supremo) of the Katipunan and h eaded its Supreme Council. Estimates of the membership of the society by 1896 va ry from 30,000 to 400,000. Start of the Revolution The existence of the Katipunan eventually became known to the authorities throug h a member, Teodoro Patio, who revealed it to a Spanish priest, Father Mariano Gi l. Patio was engaged in a bitter personal dispute with fellow Katipunero Apolonio de la Cruz and exposed the Katipunan in revenge. Father Gil was led to the prin ting press of the newspaper Diario de Manila , where a lithographic stone used t o print the secret society's receipts was uncovered. A locker was seized contain ing a dagger and secret documents. As with the Terror of 1872, colonial authorities ensued several arrests which in cluded some of the wealthiest ilustrados, including Jos Rizal. Despite having no involvement in the secessionist movement, many of them were executed, notably Do n Francisco Roxas. Bonifacio had forged their signatures into Katipunan document s hoping that they would be forced to support the revolution. In the last days of August, Bonifacio called Katipunan members to a mass gatheri ng in Caloocan, where they decided to start a nationwide armed revolution agains t Spain. The event was marked by a mass tearing of cedulas (community tax certif icates) accompanied by patriotic cries. The exact date and location are disputed , but two possibilities have been officially endorsed by the Philippine governme nt: August 26 in Balintawak and later, August 23 in Pugad Lawin. Thus the event is called the "Cry of Balintawak" or "Cry of Pugad Lawin". However the issue is further complicated by other dates such as August 24 and 25 and other locations such as Kangkong, Bahay Toro and Pasong Tamo. Furthermore, at the time "Balintaw ak" referred not only to a specific place, but also a general area which include d some of these proposed sites like Kangkong. Upon the discovery of the Katipunan Bonifacio sent a circular to all Katipunan c ouncils to a meeting in Balintawak or Kangkong to discuss their situation. This is dated by historian Teodoro Agoncillo to August 19 and by revolutionary leader Santiago Alvarez to August 22. On August 21, Katipuneros were already congregrating in Balintawak in Caloocan. Late in the evening amidst heavy rain, the rebels moved to Kangkong in Caloocan, and arrived there past midnight. As a precaution, the rebels moved to Bahay Tor o or Pugad Lawin on August 23. Agoncillo places the Cry and tearing of certifica tes at this point the house of Juan Ramos at Pugad Lawin. Alvarez writes that th

ey met at the house of Melchora Aquino (known as Tandang Sora, and mother of Jua n Ramos) in Bahay Toro on that date. Agoncillo places Aquino's house in Pasong T amo and the meeting there on August 24. In any case, rebels continued to congreg ate and by August 24, they were over a thousand strong. On August 24, it was decided to notify the Katipunan councils of the surrounding towns that a general attack on the capital Manila was planned for August 29. Bo nifacio appointed generals to lead rebel forces to Manila. Before hostilities er upted, Bonifacio also reorganized the Katipunan into an open revolutionary gover nment, with him as President and the Supreme Council of the Katipunan as his cab inet. On the morning of August 25, the rebels came under attack by a Spanish civil gua rd unit, the rebels having greater numbers but the Spanish being better armed. T he forces disengaged after a brief skirmish and casualties on both sides. Another skirmish took place on August 26 which sent the rebels retreating toward Balara. At noon, Bonifacio and some of his men briefly rested in Diliman. In th e afternoon, civil guards sent to Caloocan to investigate attacks on Chinese mer chants - done by bandits who had attached themselves to the rebels - came across a group of Katipuneros and briefly engaged them. The commander of the guards, a Lieutenant Ros, reported the encounter to the authorities and this report drove Governor-General Ramn Blanco to prepare for coming hostilities. From August 27 to 28, Bonifacio moved from Balara to Mt. Balabak in Hagdang Bato , Mandaluyong. There meetings were held in order to finalize their plans for the Manila attack the following day. Bonifacio issued the following general proclam ation: This manifesto is for all of you. It is absolutely necessary for us to stop at t he earliest possible time the nameless oppositions being perpetrated on the sons of the country who are now suffering the brutal punishment and tortures in jail s, and because of this please let all the brethren know that on Saturday, the 29 th of the current month, the revolution shall commence according to our agreemen t. For this purpose, it is necessary for all towns to rise simultaneously and at tack Manila at the same time. Anybody who obstructs this sacred ideal of the peo ple will be considered a traitor and an enemy, except if he is ill; or is not ph ysically fit, in which case he shall be tried according to the regulations we ha ve put in force. Mount of Liberty, 28th August 1896 - ANDRES BONIFACIO The conventional view among Filipino historians is that Bonifacio did not carry out the planned Katipunan attack on Manila on the following day and instead atta cked a powder magazine at San Juan del Monte. However, more recent studies have advanced the view that the planned attack did push through; according to this vi ew, Bonifacio's battle at San Juan del Monte (now called the "Battle of Pinaglab anan") was only a part of a bigger whole - a "battle for Manila" hitherto unreco gnized as such. Hostilities in the area started on the evening of August 29, when hundreds of re bels attacked the Civil Guard garrison in Pasig, just as hundreds of other rebel s personally led by Bonifacio were massing in San Juan del Monte, which they att acked hours later on the 30th. Bonifacio planned to capture the San Juan del Mon te powder magazine along with a water station supplying Manila. The defending Sp aniards, outnumbered, fought a delaying battle until reinforcements arrived. Onc e reinforced, the Spaniards drove Bonifacio's forces back with heavy casualties. Elsewhere rebels attacked Mandaluyong, Sampaloc, Sta. Ana, Pandacan, Pateros, M arikina, and Caloocan, as well as Makati and Tagig. Balintawak in Caloocan saw i ntense fighting. Rebel troops tended to gravitate towards fighting in San Juan d el Monte and Sampaloc. South of Manila, a thousand-strong rebel force attacked a small force of civil guards. In Pandacan Katipuneros attacked the parish church , making the parish priest run for his life.

After their defeat in San Juan del Monte, Bonifacio's troops regrouped near Mari kina, San Mateo and Montalban, where they proceeded to attack these areas. They captured these areas but were driven back by Spanish counterattacks, and Bonifac io eventually ordered a retreat to Balara. On the way, Bonifacio was nearly kill ed shielding Emilio Jacinto from a Spanish bullet which grazed his collar. Despi te his reverses, Bonifacio was not completely defeated and was still considered a threat. North of Manila, the towns of San Francisco de Malabon, Noveleta and Kawit in Ca vite rose in rebellion. In Nueva Ecija rebels in San Isidro led by Mariano Llane ra attacked the Spanish garrison on September 2-4; they were repulsed. By August 30, the revolt had spread to eight provinces. On that date, Governor-G eneral Blanco declared a state of war in these provinces and placed them under m artial law. These were Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Bataan, Laguna, Batang as, and Nueva Ecija. They would later be represented in the eight rays of the su n in the Filipino flag. The rebels had few firearms; they were mostly armed with bolo knives and bamboo spears. The lack of guns has been given as a possible reason why the Manila atta ck allegedly never materialized. Also, the Katipunan leaders from Cavite had ear lier expressed reservations about starting an uprising due to their lack of fire arms and preparation. As a result, they did not send troops to Manila but attack ed garrisons in their own locales. Some historians have argued that the Katipuna n defeat in the Manila area was (partly) the Cavite rebels' fault due to their a bsence, as their presence would have proved crucial.In their memoirs, Cavite reb el leaders justified their absence in Manila by claiming Bonifacio failed to exe cute pre-arranged signals to begin the uprising such as setting balloons loose a nd extinguishing the lights at the Luneta park. However, these claims have been dismissed as "historical mythology"; as reasoned by historians, if they were rea lly waiting for signals before marching on Manila, they would have arrived "too late for the fray". Bonifacio's command for a simultaneous attack is interpreted as evidence that such signals were never arranged. Other factors for the Katipu nan defeat include the capture of his battle plans by Spanish intelligence. The Spanish concentrated their forces in the Manila area while pulling out troops in other provinces (which proved beneficial for rebels in other areas, particularl y Cavite). The authorities also pre-empted a mass defection of 500 native troops by transferring their regiment to Marawi,Mindanao, which later rebelled there. Execution of Jos Rizal When the revolution broke out, Rizal was living as a political exile in Dapitan, and had just volunteered to serve as a doctor in Cuba, where a similar revoluti on was taking place. Instead of taking him to Barcelona from where he would be s ent to Cuba, his ship, acting upon orders from Manila, took him instead to the c apital where he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago. There he wrote his valedictory poem, and awaited his execution which came on December 30, 1896 after a military trial. Although Rizal opposed the Katipunan, his writings inspired the revoluti on. His execution escalated the anger of the Filipinos, and the revolution pushe d on. By December, the Spanish authorities in Manila recognized three major centers of rebellion: Cavite (under Emilio Aguinaldo and others), Bulacan (under Mariano L lanera) and Morong (modern-day Rizal, under Bonifacio). Bonifacio served as tact ician for the rebel guerillas though his prestige suffered when he lost battles he personally led. Cavite Meanwhile in Cavite, Katipuneros under Emilio Aguinaldo, mayor of Cavite El Viej o (modern Kawit) and Mariano Alvarez, Bonifacio's uncle by marriage, won early v

ictories. Aguinaldo commissioned Edilberto Evangelista, an engineer, to plan the defense and logistics of the revolution in Cavite. His first victory was in the Battle of Imus on September 1, 1896 with the aid of Jos Tagle defeating the Span ish forces under General Ernesto Aguirre. The Cavite revolutionaries, particular ly Aguinaldo, won prestige in defeating Spanish troops in set piece battles whil e other rebels like Bonifacio and Llanera were engaged in guerrilla warfare. Agu inaldo, speaking for the Magdalo ruling council, issued a manifesto proclaiming a provisional and revolutionary government after his early successes - despite t he existence of Bonifacio's Katipunan government. The Katipunan in Cavite was divided into two councils: the Magdiwang (led by Alv arez) and the Magdalo (led by Baldomero Aguinaldo, Emilio's cousin). At first th ese two Katipunan councils cooperated with each other in the battlefield, as in the battles of Binakayan and Dalahican. However rivalries between command and te rritory soon developed and they refused to cooperate and aid each other in battl e. In order to unite the Katipunan in Cavite, the Magdiwang through Artemio Ricarte and Pio Del Pilar invited Bonifacio, who was fighting in Morong (present-day Ri zal) province to mediate between the factions. Perhaps due to his kinship ties w ith their leader, Bonifacio was seen as partial to the Magdiwang. It was not long before the issue of leadership was debated. The Magdiwang factio n recognized Bonifacio as supreme leader, being the head of the Katipunan. The M agdalo faction agitated for Emilio Aguinaldo to be the movement's head because o f his personal successes in the battlefield compared to Bonifacio's record of pe rsonal defeats. Meanwhile the Spanish troops, now under the command of the new G overnor-General Camilo de Polavieja, steadily gained ground. Tejeros Convention On December 31, an assembly was convened in Imus to settle the leadership status . The Magdalo insisted on the establishment of revolutionary government to repla ce the Katipunan and continue the struggle. On the other hand, the Magdiwang fav ored retention of the Katipunan, arguing that it was already a government in its elf. The assembly dispersed without a consensus. On March 22, 1897, another meeting was held in Tejeros. It called for the electi on of officers for the revolutionary government. Bonifacio chaired the election and called for the election results to be respected. When the voting ended, Boni facio had lost and the leadership turned over to Aguinaldo, who was away fightin g in Pasong Santol. Instead, he was elected to Director of the Interior but his qualifications were questioned by a Magdalo, Daniel Tirona. Bonifacio felt insul ted and would have shot Tirona had not Artemio Ricarte intervened. Invoking his position of Supremo of the Katipunan, Bonifacio declared the election null and v oid and stomped out in anger. Aguinaldo took his oath of office as president the next day in Santa Cruz de Malabon (present-day Tanza) in Cavite, as did the res t of the officers, except for Bonifacio. Execution of Bonifacio In Naic, Bonifacio and his officers created the Naic Military Agreement, establi shing a rival government to Aguinaldo's. It rejected the election at Tejeros and asserted Bonifacio as the leader of the revolution. When Aguinaldo learned of t he document, he ordered the arrest of Bonifacio and his soldiers (without Bonifa cio's knowledge). Colonel Agapito Benzon met with Bonifacio in Limbon and attack ed him the next day. Bonifacio, and his brother Procopio were wounded, while the ir brother Ciriaco were killed. They were taken to Naic to stand trial. The Consejo de Guerra (War Council) sentenced Andrs, and Procopio Bonifacio to de ath on May 10, 1897 for committing sedition and treason. Aguinaldo commuted the punishment to deportation, but withdrew his decision following pressure from Pio Del Pilar and other officers of the revolution. On May 10, Major Lazaro Makapagal, upon orders from General Mariano Noriel, exec

uted the Bonifacio brothers at the foothills of Mount Buntis, near Maragondon. A ndrs Bonifacio, and his brother were buried in a shallow grave marked only with t wigs. Biak-na-Bato Augmented by new recruits from Spain, government troops recaptured several towns in Cavite. As argued by Apolinario Mabini and others, the succession of defeats for the rebels could also be attributed to discontent that resulted from Bonifa cio's death. Mabini wrote: This tragedy smothered the enthusiasm for the revolutionary cause, and hastened the failure of the insurrection in Cavite, because many from Manila, Laguna and Batangas, who were fighting for the province (of Cavite), were demoralized and q uit... In other areas, some of Bonifacio's associates like Emilio Jacinto and Macario S acay never subjected their military commands to Aguinaldo's authority. Aguinaldo and his men retreated northward, from one town to the next, until they finally settled in Biak-na-Bato, in the town of San Miguel de Mayumo in Bulacan . Here they established what became known as the Republic of Biak-na-Bato, with a constitution drafted by Isabelo Artacho, and Felix Ferrer and based on the fir st Cuban Constitution. With the new Spanish Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera declaring, "I can take Biak-na-Bato. Any army can capture it. But I cannot end the rebellion," he proffered the olive branch of peace to the revolutionaries. A lawyer named Pedr o Paterno volunteered as negotiator between the two sides. For four months, he t raveled between Manila and Biak-na-Bato. His hard work finally bore fruit when, on December 14 to December 15, 1897, the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed. Made u p of three documents, it called for the following agenda: The surrender of Aguinaldo and the rest of the revolutionary corps. Amnesty for those who participated in the revolution.. Exile to Hong Kong for the revolutionary leadership. Payment by the Spanish government of $400,000 (Mexican peso) to the revolutionar ies in three installments: $200,000 (Mexican peso) upon leaving the country, $10 0,000 (Mexican peso) upon the surrender of at least 700 firearms, and another $1 00,000 (Mexican peso) upon the declaration of general amnesty. In accordance with the first clause, Aguinaldo and twenty five other top officia ls of the revolution were banished to Hong Kong with $400,000 (Mexican peso) in their pockets. The rest of the men got $200,000 (Mexican peso) and the third ins tallment was never received. General amnesty was never declared because sporadic skirmishes continued. The revolution continues Not all the revolutionary generals complied with the treaty. One, General Franci sco Makabulos, established a Central Executive Committee to serve as the interim government until a more suitable one was created. Armed conflicts resumed, this time coming from almost every province in the Philippines. The colonial authori ties on the other hand, continued the arrest and torture of those suspected of b anditry. The Pact of Biak-na-Bato did not signal an end to the revolution. Aguinaldo and his men were convinced that the Spaniards would never give the rest of the money as a condition of surrender. Furthermore, they believed that Spain reneged on h er promise of amnesty. The Filipino patriots renewed their commitment for comple te independence. They purchased more arms and ammunition to ready themselves for another siege. SpanishAmerican War The SpanishAmerican War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the Unit ed States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the

liberation of Cuba. The war began after American demands for the resolution of t he Cuban fight for independence were rejected by Spain. Strong expansionist sent iment in the United States motivated the government to develop a plan for annexa tion of Spain's remaining overseas territories including the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The revolution in Havana prompted the United States to send in the warship USS M aine to indicate high national interest. Tension among the American people was r aised because of the explosion of the USS Maine, and the yellow journalist newsp apers that accused the Spanish of oppression in their colonies, agitating Americ an public opinion. The war ended after victories for the United States in the Ph ilippine Islands and Cuba. On December 10, 1898, the signing of the Treaty of Paris gave the United States control of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Historical background The Monroe Doctrine of the 19th Century served as the political foundation for t he support of the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain in the United State s. Cubans had been fighting for self determination, on and off, since the Grito de Yara of 1868. Cuban struggle for independence In 1895, the Spanish colony of Cuba was the site of a small armed uprising again st Spanish authority. Financial support for the "Cuba Libre" rebellion came from external organizations, some based in the United States. In 1896, new Captain General for Cuba, General Valeriano Weyler ess the insurgency by isolating the rebels from the rest of the ing that the rebels would not receive supplies. By the end of 1897, more than 300,000 Cubans had relocated into concentration camps. These camps became cesspools of hunger and re than one hundred thousand died. pledged to suppr population ensur Spanish guarded disease where mo

A propaganda war waged in the United States by Cuban migrs attacked Weyler's inhum an treatment of his countrymen and won the sympathy of broad groups of the U.S. population. Weyler was referred to as "The Butcher" by yellow journalists like W illiam Randolph Hearst. The American newspapers began agitating for intervention with stories of Spanish atrocities against the Cuban population. USS Maine In January 1898, a riot by Cuban volunteers, most of whom were Spanish loyalists , broke out in Havana and led to the destruction of the printing presses of thre e local newspapers that were critical of General Weyler. These riots prompted th e presence of an American Marine force in the island: although there had been no attack on Americans during the rioting, there were still fears for the lives of Americans living in Havana. Concern focused on the pro-Spanish Cubans who harbo red resentment of the growing support in the United States for Cuban independenc e. Washington informed the Consul-General in Havana, Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of R obert E. Lee, that the Maine would be sent to protect United States interests sh ould tensions escalate further. The USS Maine arrived in Havana on January 25, 1898. Her stay was uneventful unt il the following month. On February 15, 1898, at 9:40 p. m. the Maine sank in Ha vana Harbor after an explosion, resulting in the deaths of 266 men. An American inquiry reported that it was caused by a mine but recent investigations have led people to believe that the explosion was indeed caused by an internal infusion of coal combustion and not a mine. At the time the Spanish attributed the event to an internal explosion. The Spanish inquiry, conducted by Del Peral and De Sal as, collected evidence from officers of naval artillery who had examined the rem

ains of the Maine. Additional observations included that 1) had a mine been the cause of the explosion a column of water would have been observed; 2) the wind a nd the waters were calm on that date and hence a mine could not have been detona ted by contact but using electricity, but no cables had been found; 3) no dead f ish were found in the harbour as would be expected following an explosion in the water; and, 4) munition bunkers usually do not explode when mines sink ships. D el Peral and De Salas identified the spontaneous combustion of the coal bunker t hat was located adjacent to the munition stores in the Maine as the likely cause of the explosion. The conclusions of the report were silenced by the American p ress (Hugh Thomas, Memoria del 98, p. 104). In 1976, Admiral H.G. Rickover wrote a book (How the Battleship Maine was Destroyed, Naval History Division, Departm ent of the Navy) arguing persuasively that the origin of the explosion that sank the ship was indeed internal. A total of four USS Maine investigations were conducted into the causes of the e xplosion, with the investigators coming to different conclusions. The Spanish an d American versions would carry on with divergences. A 1999 investigation commis sioned by National Geographic Magazine and carried out by Advanced Marine Enterp rises concluded that "it appears more probable than was previously concluded tha t a mine caused the inward bent bottom structure" and the detonation of the ship . However there is still much contention over what caused the explosion. Path to war Upon the destruction of the Maine, newspaper owners such as William Randolph Hea rst came to the conclusion that Spanish officials in Cuba were to blame, and the y widely publicized this theory as fact. They fueled American anger by publishin g sensationalistic and astonishing accounts of "atrocities" committed by Spain i n Cuba. A common myth states that Hearst responded to the opinion of his illustr ator Frederic Remington, that conditions in Cuba were not bad enough to warrant hostilities with: "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." Lashed to fury, in part by such press, the American cry of the hour became, "Remember the Maine, To Hell with Spain!" President William McKinley, Speaker of the House Th omas Brackett Reed and the business community opposed the growing public demand for war. Senator Redfield Proctor's speech, delivered on March 17, 1898 thoroughly analyz ed the situation concluding that war was the only answer. Many in the business a nd religious communities, which had heretofore opposed war, switched sides, leav ing President McKinley and Speaker Reed almost alone in their opposition to the war. On April 11 President McKinley asked Congress for authority to send America n troops to Cuba for the purpose of ending the civil war there. On April 19, while Congress was considering joint resolutions supporting Cuban i ndependence, Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado proposed the Teller amendment t o ensure that the United States would not establish permanent control over Cuba following the cessation of hostilities with Spain. The amendment, disclaiming an y intention to annex Cuba passed Senate 42 to 35; the House concurred the same d ay, 311 to 6. The amended resolution demanded Spanish withdrawal and authorized the president to use as much military force as he thought necessary to help Cuba gain independence from Spain. President McKinley signed the joint resolution on April 20, 1898, and the ultimatum was forwarded to Spain. In response, Spain br oke off diplomatic relations with the United States and declared war on April 25 . On that same day, Congress declared that a state of war between the United Sta tes and Spain had existed since April 20 (later changed to April 21). Theaters of operation - Philippines The Spanish had first landed in the Philippines on March 17, 1521, though coloni zation did not start until 1565. Since then, the islands had been a key holding for the Spanish Empire. In the 300 years of Spanish rule, the country developed from a small overseas colony governed from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, to a mo dern partly-autonomous country, with infrastructures, schools, hospitals and uni

versities. The Spanish-speaking middle classes of the 19th century were mostly e ducated in the liberal ideas coming from Europe. Among these Ilustrados were nat ional hero Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, who demanded larger reforms from the Spanish authorities. This movement eventually led to the Philippine Revolution which the United States later backed. The first battle between American and Span ish forces was at Manila Bay where, on May 1, 1898, Commodore George Dewey, comm anding the United States Navy's Asiatic Squadron aboard the USS Olympia, in a ma tter of hours, defeated the Spanish squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pa sarn. Dewey managed this with only nine wounded. With the German seizure of Tsingtao in 1897, Dewey's Squadron had become the onl y naval force in the Far East without a local base of its own, and was beset wit h coal and ammunition problems. Despite these logistical problems, the Asiatic s quadron had not only destroyed the Spanish fleet but had also captured the harbo r of Manila. Following Dewey's victory, Manila Bay was filled with the warships of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan; all of which outgunned Dewey's force. The German fleet of eight ships, ostensibly in Philippine waters to protect German i nterests (a single import firm), acted provocativelycutting in front of American ships, refusing to salute the United States flag (according to customs of naval courtesy), taking soundings of the harbor, and landing supplies for the besieged Spanish. The Germans, with interests of their own, were eager to take advantage of whatever opportunities the conflict in the islands might afford. The America ns called the bluff of the Germans, threatening conflict if the aggressive activ ities continued, and the Germans backed down. Commodore Dewey had transported Emilio Aguinaldo to the Philippines from exile i n Hong Kong in order to rally Filipinos against the Spanish colonial government. U.S. land forces and the Filipinos had taken control of most of the islands by June, except for the walled city of Intramuros and, on June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo had declared the independence of the Philippines. On August 13, with American commanders unaware that the cease fire had been sign ed between Spain and the United States on the previous day, American forces capt ured the city of Manila from the Spanish. This battle marked an end of FilipinoAmerican collaboration, as Filipino forces were prevented from entering the capt ured city of Manila, an action which was deeply resented by the Filipinos and wh ich later led to the PhilippineAmerican War. Aguinaldo returns to the Philippines On May 7, 1898, the American dispatch-boat McCulloch arrived in Hong Kong from M anila, bringing reports of Dewey's May 1 victory in the battle of Manila Bay but with no orders regarding transportation of Aguinaldo. The McCulloch again arriv ed in Hong Kong on May 15, bearing orders to transport Aguinaldo to Manila. Agui naldo departed Hong Kong aboard the McCulloch on May 17, arriving in off Cavite in Manila Bay on May 19. Public jubilance marked Aguinaldo's return. Several revolutionaries, as well as Filipino soldiers employed by the Spanish army, crossed over to Aguinaldo's comm and. Soon after, Imus and Bacoor in Cavite, Paraaque and Las Pias in Morong, Macab ebe, and San Fernando in Pampanga, as well as Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Nueva E cija, Bataan, Tayabas (present-day Quezon), and the Camarines provinces, were li berated by the Filipinos. They were also able to secure the port of Dalahican in Cavite. The revolution was gaining ground. Philippine Declaration of Independence The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite e l Viejo (now Kawit), Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emi

lio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Isla nds from the colonial rule of Spain, which had been recently defeated at the Bat tle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. The declaration, however, was not recognized by the United States or Spain. The Spanish government later ceded the Philippines to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War. The United States recognize d Philippine independence on July 4, 1946 in the Treaty of Manila. July 4 was ob served in the Philippines as Independence Day until August 4, 1964 when, upon th e advice of historians and the urging of nationalists, President Diosdado Macapa gal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166 designating June 12 as the country's I ndependence Day. June 12 had previously been observed as Flag Day. Note: The following are information from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. For sources and more accurate and detailed information, you may visit their website at http ://www.wikipedia.org/